Fitzroy’s near-term Chile copper mine: heap-leach concept and PFS lens for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Fitzroy Minerals has extended broad, shallow copper mineralisation along the 1.7 km Tenorita trend at its Buen Retiro project in Chile, with hole BRT-DDH072 cutting 111.9 m at 0.97% Cu from 21.1 m depth, including 18 m at 1.59% Cu from 84 m, and BRT-DDH070 returning 147.7 m at 0.41% Cu from 26.3 m. The company has completed 78 diamond holes for 13,036 m since February and plans a further 9,000 m this year to deliver a maiden resource and prefeasibility study by mid-2027 under its earn-in with Pucobre and SCM Buen Retiro. Fitzroy is evaluating a near-surface heap-leach operation supplying existing SX-EW capacity about 90 km away, targeting production from this brownfield Atacama IOCG system in 2028.
Technical Brief
- Four diamond rigs are operating concurrently at Buen Retiro, targeting completion of Tenorita drill-out by August.
- Current campaign totals 78 diamond holes for 13,036 m since February, with a further 9,000 m planned in 2026.
- Earn-in terms require delivery of a prefeasibility study by mid-2027 with Pucobre and SCM Buen Retiro.
- Planned ownership structure envisages Fitzroy holding 70% and Pucobre 30% in the eventual project JV.
- Buen Retiro covers 132 km² in the Punta del Cobre IOCG belt, 60 km south of Copiapó, Atacama Region.
- The licence hosts the past-producing Manto Negro mine, which yielded 34.4 Mlb Cu between 2005 and 2009.
- Nearby benchmark: Lundin Mining’s Candelaria mine, in the same belt, produced 145,000 t Cu in 2025.
- March drilling (BRT-DDH045) intersected 384 m at 0.23% Cu from 4 m, supporting a large Candelaria-style system.
- June assays included 59 m at 1.73% Cu with 12 m at 5.39% Cu, strengthening high-grade, near-surface leach potential.
Our Take
Buen Retiro’s shallow copper intercepts over a 1.7km Tenorita trend, combined with a 90km tie-in to existing processing, suggest Fitzroy Minerals could pursue a relatively low-capex, tolling or satellite-mine style development compared with standalone greenfield plants elsewhere in Chile’s Atacama Region.
Pucobre’s role in the JV, alongside its ongoing underground fleet renewal in the Atacama Region reported in February 2026, indicates Buen Retiro can likely leverage an operator already investing in modern mobile equipment and local workforce, which tends to shorten ramp-up curves for near-term copper projects.
Lundin Mining’s presence in the same Punta del Cobre iron oxide copper-gold belt and its appearance across multiple copper-price and project pieces in our database underscores that any resource definition success at Buen Retiro could be strategically relevant for larger regional players looking for bolt-on feed or district consolidation.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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