Hannan Metals already making good progress at Peru's San Martin copper-silver project

Hannan Metals Ltd (CVE:HAN) (OTCPK:HANNF) hasn’t been long at the San Martin copper-silver project in Peru, but  exploration has already thrown up signs of the site’s big copper potential.

In the group’s first month of prospecting at the Sacanche area, Hannan has found a new zone of sediment-hosted copper mineralization over 7km of strike, the firm said Monday.

READ: Hannan Metals kicks off exploration at San Martin copper-silver project in Peru

Hannan’s team have prospected 8 km of the 24 km long Sacanche claim and today’s  results stem from 67 rock samples from outcrops and boulders and 37 stream sediment samples.

Highlights included that two areas of high-grade copper and silver were found over 3.5 km within creeks at the Sacanche prospect.

Meanwhile, a 50-plus-metre-wide gossanous zinc-lead outcrop was discovered with over 50 metres strike length. From here, four grab samples from different parts of the outcrop ranged in grade from 0.1% to 2.4% zinc  and 0.2% to 1% lead and averaged 1.0% zinc and 0.7% lead.

“We are encouraged by the first discovery of high-grade copper in outcrop and thick (>50 metre wide) lead-zinc gossans on the project,” said chief executive Michael  Hudson in a statement Monday.

“This is an important proof of concept in defining potential for a large high-grade mineral system.  Importantly, we interpret a zonation between lead-zinc and copper rich areas and observe mineralization formed at multiple stratigraphic levels. Field work continues and results will follow.”

Sampling results

Another highlight was sampling of copper-mineralized outcrops over 1km strike, with results including 3 metres at 2.5% copper and 22g/t (grams per ton) silver.

The firm says a team will  be stationed at San Martin until late September this year exploring the vast land holding.

Since the 1970′s the area has been explored mainly for petroleum, so there are large seismic datasets, which can now be re-interpreted in the context of sediment-hosted copper mineralization.

Peru is the planet’s second largest copper producer and output is forecast to increase from 2.5 million tonnes (Mt) in 2018 to 3.8Mt by 2027, averaging 4.7% annual growth.
And sediment-hosted deposits are the world’s second-most important source of copper accounting for around 20% of world production.

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Story by ProactiveInvestors