Brazil's Nexa looks to step up Peru drilling in Q3

Brazilian mining and metals company Nexa Resources, which also has operations in Peru, plans to step up exploration this quarter after lower than expected activity in Q2.

The company plans to drill up to 13,221m in Peru through eight rigs focusing on brownfield exploration at its polymetallic Cerro Lindo and El Porvenir mines. Nexa also plans to drill 8,050m at projects in Brazil and 1,500m in Namibia, according to the company’s Q2 results report.

Exploration drilling in Peru totaled 10,848m in Q2, lower than expected due to rains that limited work at Cerro Lindo.

In Peru, Nexa – part of Brazil’s Votorantim group – has four mining units and five development projects. The focus is on zinc and, according to its website, Nexa accounts for 4% of global production of the metal.

COMING UP  

According to Nexa, the exploration work at Cerro Lindo – a mine in Ica region – is focused on extending the deposits located to the southeast of the current operation and on the orebodies identified in the Patahuasi Millay area. Although the objective of drilling 7,609m in Q2 was not achieved – 7,360m were drilled – the goal for Q3 is more feasible, the company says.

“For 3Q24, we plan to continue drilling the extensions of orebody 8B (1,620m) and orebody 8C (1,700m) with three underground rigs, as well as to continue the exploration drilling program at the Patahuasi Millay target (1,801m) with one rig, totaling 5,121m,” states the report.

Regarding El Porvenir, in Pasco region, the company will continue with brownfield drilling in the area called Integración. According to the report, another 1,800m are expected to be drilled with three rigs.

Although Nexa did not break down the rest of the drilling planned for Peru, the company said it carried out greenfield drilling in the country and in Brazil (1,957m) in Q2, and hopes to continue doing so given the good projections.

“Nexa’s drilling strategy for 2024 focuses on near-mine expansion, brownfield and infill drilling. Additional exploratory drilling is also planned for greenfield projects with favorable prospects,” the report says.

According to the energy and mines ministry, Nexa has 10 exploration projects in Peru involving a total of US$57.9mn. Of these, three – El Carmen (US$1.6mn), Los Perdidos II (US$6.8mn) and Pucasalla (US$8.6m) – have drilling permits in place.