AusQuest Limited (ASX:AQD) has released the results of a new geophysical survey over its Cangallo Porphyry Copper Project in southern Peru, which the company said points to a mineralised system considerably larger than the area tested by drilling so far.

According to the announcement, released on 6 October 2026, a Controlled Source Audio-frequency Magnetotelluric (CSAMT) survey completed by Quantec Geoscience has outlined an interpreted porphyry footprint of at least 2.5km by 1km. The company said "large portions of the interpreted mineralised footprint remain untested", and that the survey also identified deeper targets and two new target areas.

What the survey found

According to the announcement, one of the low-resistivity zones outlined by the survey appears to be closely associated with known copper mineralisation, defining a contact zone the company attributes to alteration, including sericite, white mica and sulphides, linked to the porphyry system. Higher resistivities within the porphyry outline appear to relate to quartz diorite intrusions, both mineralised and unmineralised, occupying the central portion of the system.

AusQuest said surface mapping and rock-chip sampling support this interpretation.

The survey also defined deeper targets, with resistivities of 250 to 400 ohm-metres at depths of more than 500m, at both the northern and southern ends of the defined copper mineralisation. The company said these may reflect increased alteration related to untested porphyry centres and represent priority areas with potential to expand the system at depth.

Two new target areas

Beyond the main system, AusQuest identified two further targets with resistivity signatures similar to the known porphyry. Target Area 1 lies on the eastern side of a regional north-north-west trending fault and, according to the company, "could reflect a new porphyry centre". Much of it is under cover, although small outcrops of quartz diorite containing pyrite have been mapped.

Target Area 2, to the west, is characterised by a zone of low resistivities several hundred metres thick, which the company said could reflect more intense alteration related to another possible porphyry system.

Managing Director Graeme Drew said the geophysics "clearly shows drilling to date has only tested part of the broader porphyry system, leaving large areas still to be evaluated." He added that the additional targets suggest "potential for a cluster of porphyries at Cangallo".

Context and next steps

Cangallo, located about 25km east of the town of Chala, comprises 14 granted mineral concessions held through AusQuest's Wholly Owned Subsidiary Questdor.

AusQuest said follow-up drilling to test the priority targets is planned once Stage 4 permits are received, expected "shortly". Diamond drilling also continues to test for hypogene copper mineralisation below the roughly 350m depth limit of earlier reverse circulation drilling, with further assay results expected over the coming weeks.

Analysis: The survey adds a useful layer of interpretation, but it is important to note what it does not show. Geophysical anomalies are indirect indicators and do not confirm the presence or grade of copper. No Mineral Resource has been reported for Cangallo, and statements about potentially increasing the "copper inventory" remain conditional, prefaced by "if successful". The JORC Table 1 notes that any bias from survey line orientation is "unknown at this early stage of exploration", and that further work will depend on additional modelling and ongoing assessment of results.

For now, the survey mainly provides a framework for targeting. Whether the deeper anomalies and new target areas translate into mineralisation will only be determined once permitted drilling tests them.