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Altair Minerals (ASX:ALR) has confirmed the presence of a fourth major copper porphyry system at Venatica West, part of the high-grade Peruvian Venatica West project it acquired in early 2025, based on recent exploration.
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Assays taken from the Irka Sur target show high-grade copper across 700 metres of strike, with grades of up to 2.9%copper, 0.62 g/t of gold and 105 g/t of silver.
Crucially, 66% of samples yielded copper grading above 1.2%. Much of the enriched copper outcrops at surface, with mineralisation open in all directions.
The exploration work at Irka Sur entailed sampling across a 16-metre width of exposed porphyry outcrop, focusing on four separate and individual points. This exploration resulted in spot samples of 16 metres worth of outcrop, with these averaging 1.8% copper and 52g/t of silver.
Initial prospecting at Irka Sur had suggested it contained just a copper porphyry. However, the recent assay work has indicated the presence of a multi-commodity system, with gold potential particularly marked.
Significant levels of gold have been found at surface within an outcrop of monzonite porphyry; this suggests the deeper porphyry core will be deeply enriched, opening the door to discovery of a massive copper-gold-silver porphyry system to be uncovered at Irka Sur.
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Chief executive officer Faheem Ahmed said these results were beyond the company’s expectations. “To confirm high grade copper mineralisation across a 700m strike length –open in all directions – underscores the immense prospectivity of the Venatica West project,” he said.
“The discovery of multiple high-grade samples, including 2.9% copper, 0.24 g/t gold, and 92 g/t silver, is a significant breakthrough.
“What’s most exciting is that this target was identified through simple prospecting just last month, and we have begun to scratch the surface.”
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