Atico Mining extends El Roble ore body with 18.6m at 7.65% copper
True widths are estimated at 90 to 95 per cent of drilled intervals as the Colombian mine approaches a reserve update in early 2027.
Mara Quinlan
Atico Mining Corporation CVEATY OTCMKTSATCMF reported on Wednesday that drilling extended the ore body at its El Roble mine in Colombia, including 18.6 metres grading 7.65 per cent copper and 2.22 grams per tonne gold. The 32-hole batch precedes a planned reserve and resource update in early 2027, while the existing mine-life estimate extends only through that year's first quarter.
Google Finance showed Atico shares CVEATY at C$0.22 on the TSX Venture Exchange as of 3:52 p.m. EDT on Oct. 26. That quote predates Wednesday's announcement and does not establish a market reaction to the drilling.
The headline interval came from hole ATDM-150, starting 15.9 metres downhole. Atico estimates true widths at 90 to 95 per cent of drilled intervals, subject to uncertainty about the local orientation of the mineralization.
The assays are exploration results rather than a new reserve estimate or a quantified mine-life extension. Atico's Oct. 22 operating release reiterated that its reserve estimate, effective March 12, 2024, supports mining until the first quarter of 2027.
The underground program targets mineralization left unmined by earlier operators within the historical massive sulphide body, while also testing adjacent areas and looking for new bodies. Atico completed 1,689.3 metres across the reported holes during 2026, continuing a program begun in early 2023.
"The deposit remains open at depth and along strike, confirming further potential both within and outside the previously defined mineralized shell," chief executive Fernando E. Ganoza said in the release.
Other highlights in Wednesday's results included 9 metres grading 8.44 per cent copper and 3.58 grams per tonne gold. That interval came from hole ATDM-171, starting 28.5 metres downhole.
Hole ATDM-121 returned another highlighted interval. It assayed 8.48 per cent copper and 7.41 grams per tonne gold over 5.7 metres. The interval began 7.9 metres downhole. The release's results table uses a copper cutoff of 1 per cent.
Read more: Copper Giant Resources drills 135m at 1.60 per cent copper equivalent at Mocoa
El Roble is an underground copper-gold operation producing concentrate in Colombia's Choco department. The March 2024 estimate put proven and probable reserves at 828,000 tonnes, averaging 2.49 per cent copper. The same estimate put gold grade at 2.20 grams per tonne.
The mine produced a preliminary 2.08 million pounds of copper and 2,472 ounces of gold in concentrate in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Copper output fell 7 per cent from the same quarter of 2025, while gold output rose 30 per cent.
Atico expects drilling to continue through 2026 and 2027, with its updated El Roble reserve and resource statement due in early 2027.
