The Huemul project has begun to generate its first analytical exploration results. Jaguar Uranium reported the analyses corresponding to a surface sampling campaign conducted across eight areas of the project located in Malargüe, where it identified samples with high concentrations of uranium, copper, silver and vanadium. The company emphasized that the results correspond to an early stage of exploration and do not allow mineral resources to be estimated or represent the grade of the deposit, since they were obtained from outcrops with visible mineralization.
By Panorama Minero
The campaign is part of the exploration program that the company is carrying out at Huemul, a project covering more than 27,000 hectares located within the historic Huemul-Agua Botada district. The project is advancing through a phased work scheme that includes geological, geochemical and geophysical studies as the basis for defining future drilling targets.
The First Laboratory Results
The program included the collection of 200 samples, of which 188 corresponded to rock and channel samples, complemented by six blanks and six duplicates incorporated into the quality assurance and quality control protocol. The work was carried out in the Huemul Min, Agua Botada, Uryco, Rosa, Vega Larga, Zona Negra, Cerro Mirano and Lucy areas.
Among the results released, Jaguar reported samples that exceeded the laboratory's upper detection limit, equivalent to 25,000 ppm for both uranium and copper. As a result, these analyses will be subjected to a new analytical procedure to determine their final values.
The report also provides values of up to 708 g/t silver and 1.27% vanadium, in addition to multiple samples with elevated concentrations of uranium and copper distributed across different areas of the project.
What These Results Represent
Together with the publication of the analyses, the company emphasized the technical scope of the information released. According to the company, the program consisted of selective surface sampling carried out on outcrops with visible mineralization and other areas considered priorities within the district.
Under this methodology, the results make it possible to confirm the presence of mineralization at surface and provide information to guide the next stages of exploration, but they do not represent the average grade of the deposit, nor do they allow the continuity of the mineralization, tonnages or mineral resource estimates under international standards to be established. The company also clarified that Huemul does not yet have a resource estimate compliant with NI 43-101.
During the campaign, sampling was also carried out on historic waste dumps associated with the former mine workings, and a possible copper mineralization trend extending approximately 4 kilometers between the Uryco and Rosa areas was identified. This target will continue to be assessed during the next stages of the program.
A Program Advancing Toward Drilling
The results released correspond to one of the first stages contemplated within the exploration program approved for Huemul. The technical plan presented by Jaguar includes an estimated investment of US$1.1 million and an initial 12-month timeframe to carry out detailed geological mapping, geochemical sampling, geophysical studies, drone-based airborne radiometry and the integration of all the information into three-dimensional geological models.
On that basis, the company plans to define targets for a future diamond drilling campaign of approximately 2,000 metres, initially distributed across ten drill holes, in addition to trenches and further validation work. Progress toward that stage remains subject to compliance with the environmental and technical requirements established under the Environmental Impact Declaration.
Huemul is being developed within the district where Argentina's first uranium-producing mine operated between 1955 and 1975 under the administration of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). Jaguar states that the observations made during the campaign are consistent with the historical background of the area, although it clarifies that those records have not yet been verified under modern exploration standards and, therefore, do not constitute current technical information for characterizing the deposit.
With the first analytical results now available and reanalysis still pending for the samples that exceeded the laboratory's detection limit, the program will begin integrating the geochemical, geological and geophysical information to define the project's next exploration targets.
