Torq Resources is a Vancouver-based copper and gold exploration company with a portfolio of premium holdings in Chile. The Company is establishing itself as a leader of new exploration in prominent mining belts, guided by responsible, respectful and sustainable practices. The Company was built by a management team with prior success in monetizing exploration assets and its specialized technical team is recognized for their extensive experience working with major mining companies, supported by robust safety standards and technical proficiency. The technical team includes Chile-based geologists with invaluable local expertise and a noteworthy track record for major discovery in the country. Torq is committed to operating at the highest standards of applicable environmental, social and governance practices in the pursuit of a landmark discovery.
The Santa Cecilia project is located approximately 100 km east of the city of Copiapo, Chile, in the southern region of the world-class Maricunga belt which hosts world-class multi-million-ounce deposits such as Salares Norte, La Coipa, Cerro Maricunga, Marte, Lobo, La Pepa, El Volcan, Caspiche and Cerro Casale. The 3,250-hectare Santa Cecilia property is immediately adjacent to the Norte Abierto project, held by Newmont and Barrick, which is comprised of the Caspiche and Cerro Casale gold – copper porphyry deposits. Collectively, these deposits contain proven and probable reserves of 23.2 million ounces of gold and 5.8 billion pounds of copper and measured and indicated resources of 26.6 M ounces of gold and 6.7 B pounds of copper. In 1988 – 1990 a major international mining company drilled 47 holes, totalling approximately 14,000 metres, and completed 1,200 m of exploration tunnel development that clearly defined epithermal gold and gold – silver mineralization as well as gold – copper porphyry mineralization at surface and shallow depths, respectively. A subsequent operator of Santa Cecilia then drilled two deeper holes in 2012 that successfully encountered gold – copper – molybdenum porphyry mineralization underlying the shallow mineralization defined by the previous operator’s drilling. Following this work, ground-based Quantec Orion 3D induced polarization and magneto – telluric surveys were conducted to further define porphyry and epithermal targets across the property, which remain untested.
The Santa Cecilia project has multiple historical discoveries on the property that have been frozen in time for decades, including 925 metres of 0.45% copper equiv., which was drilled immediately below an epithermal gold system. Torq is the first junior exploration company to conduct an exploration program on this property since it was drilled in the late eighties by a major mining company. Torq's technical team believes that there are multiple porphryry targets on the property, all of which remain untested, and that Santa Cecilia is the big brother to the immediately adjacent Caspiche deposit, owned jointly by Newmont and Barrick. Torq plans to initiate its inaugural drill program at Santa Cecilia toward the end of Q1 of this year.
The company has also made a greenfields IOCG discovery at its Margarita project near Copiapo (90 m of 0.94% copper and 0.84 g/t gold at a depth of 50 m – 140 m). In a follow-up drill program, an extension to that discovery was drilled (98 m of 0.94 g/t gold and 0.68% copper). Torq plans to initiate a third drill program at Margarita in the summer of 2023.
