Infinitum Copper Corp. (INFI:TSX) said it had started its 2023 drilling campaign at its flagship La Adelita project in Mexico.
A total of 15 diamond drill holes totaling 2,500 meters are being sunk to expand the high-grade mineralized area at the Cerro Grande zone and test for mineralization at depth in the Las Trancas zone.
The results, which will start being available as early as July, will build on the company's 12 holes drilled there last year.
Hole AD-22-0028 returned 48.7 meters (true width) of 1.22% copper equivalent (Cu eq) starting at 199.4 meters downhole, while hole AD-22-0021 returned 20.9 meters of 0.67% Cu eq from 34.5 meters downhole. Both holes were drilled in the Cerro Grande Zone.
"There is significant potential for this project, returning very high copper grades at sizeable widths," M Partners analyst Eric Carstairs wrote in a fact sheet in March. "With copper demand expected to rise and exceed the supply over the next decade, we believe that this project could turn into a very valuable high-grade asset in the near future as INFI plans to have steady news flow when drilling begins (~every 10 days). La Adelita has blue sky potential as only about 6-8% of the property has been touched."
"There is significant potential for this project, returning very high copper grades at sizeable widths," M Partners analyst Eric Carstairs wrote.
Other highlights from 2022 drilling included hole AD-22-0018, which returned 36.65 meters of 2.75% Cu eq from 153 meters downhole, and hole AD-22-0019, which returned 34.65 meters of 1.98% Cu eq from 36.65 meters downhole.
"Historic drilling has demonstrated that the mineralized body at Cerro Grande has significant vertical extent," Infinitum Chief Executive Officer Matt Hudson said. "The current drill program has the potential to extend the north-south strike to over 500 meters, while drilling on the western flank could demonstrate mineralization 700 meters away from the 2022 high-grade drill holes. We want to show that it’s high-grade and large."
Technical analyst Clive Maund of CliveMaund.com rated the stock a Speculative Buy in February.
The Catalyst: Showing the Project's Size
La Adelita is in the Alamos Mining District near the Alamo Dorado Mine in Southern Sonora, Mexico.
The Las Trancas zone is about 5 kilometers southwest of Cerro Grande and is home to the feature called "Sangre del Toro," or "Bull's Blood."
Infinitum plans to drill six diamond core holes there, totaling 1,200 meters, to test for the source of mineralization below the feature. The other nine holes will be drilled in the Cerro Grande zone.
Technical analyst Clive Maund of CliveMaund.com rated the stock a Speculative Buy in February.
No holes have been drilled in Las Trancas, but a 2022 trenching program found 9.5 meters of 16.45 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) and 1.9% Cu at Trench 2.
The Sangre del Toro feature has been mapped at the surface for more than 2.8 kilometers north-south and up to 600 meters east-west.
"The holes at Sangre del Toro are designed to investigate the potential extent of mineralization," Hudson said. "La Adelita has shown its high-grade potential; now we hope to show it has substantial size. There is a striking coincidence of evidence at Sangre del Toro, and we are very excited to start drilling."
Exploration 'Exceeded Expectations'
Infinitum is working toward a resource estimate for La Adelita, which is 6,446 hectares and made up of seven mining claims. The company has identified three zones of significant copper, silver, gold, and zinc mineralization at the Cerro Grande Footwall, Las Trancas, and Pericos zones.
It noted hole AD-22-0028 is open to the north, east, and west and was the only hole that intersected a large and distinct magneto-telluric anomaly on the eastern flank of the Cerro Grande anticline.
Infinitum believes the anomaly is driven by highly conductive magnetite, which is strongly related to high-grade gold and copper mineralization. The mineral, detectable with magnetometer surveys, should help locate more mineralization.
Last year's "exploration program certainly exceeded expectations with half of the holes drilled returning high-grade intercepts over meaningful widths," Hudson said. "The evidence of the strong correlation between magnetite and mineralization continues to build, and as it does, the number of targets continues to grow."
More Capacity Needed for Green Economy
More of the red metal, also known as "the metal of electrification" because of its conductivity, is needed to help power the new green economy. Electric vehicles (EVs) use at least three times as much copper as fuel-burning cars.
Streetwise Ownership Overview*According to a report by S&P Global, The Future of Copper, demand is expected to double from about 25 million metric tons (Mmt) today to about 50 Mmt by 2035.
"The implications are that high copper prices (relative to history) are likely to continue and will need to be high enough to encourage additional new greenfield capacity or brownfield expansions to come on stream," a copper market analysis by RFC Ambrian said in 2022.
Ownership and Share Structure
About 16% of the company is owned by management and insiders, including Director Ivan Po Kwong Chan with 2.73% or 2 million shares, and Board Chair Steve Robertson with 2.24% or 1.64 million shares.
About 17% belongs to institutions, and strategic investor Minaurum Gold Inc. owns 8.33% or 6.11 million shares. The rest, 55%, is retail.
Infinitum has 73.34 million shares outstanding, 59.78 million free-floating, according to the company. Its market cap is CA$2.97 million, and it trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.32 and CA$0.04.
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