お知らせ • May 11
Ngex Minerals Reports Phase 4 Lunahuasi Drill Program Results Highlighting Size, Grade, and Upside
NGEx Minerals Ltd. reported its results for the three months ended March 31, 2026. The Company's Phase 4 drill program at Lunahuasi is now complete, with a total of 27,318 metres drilled in 32 holes. Phase 4 assay results received to date have continued to demonstrate the deposit's scale and high grades, particularly in the Mars and Saturn zones. Notable intersections released during the first quarter of 2026 include: Mars zone: DPDH054, which intersected 94.00 metres at 8.99% copper equivalent ("CuEq"), including 21.70 metres at 31.92% CuEq; and Saturn zone: DPDH051, which intersected 327.40 metres at 3.74% CuEq and DPDH059, which intersected 335.15 metres at 4.08% CuEq. Final Phase 4 assays, representing approximately 50% of the drilling completed, are expected to be released as received until the third quarter of 2026. Phase 4 drilling has also confirmed and begun to define two new high-grade zones, which reaffirm a key feature of the Lunahuasi system: the occurrence of multiple mineralized zones and multiple overlapping styles of mineralization. At the northern limit of the current drill pattern, DPDH058 intersected 109.00 metres at 3.37% CuEq, including 6.00 metres at 14.53% CuEq; and 300m east of the Mars zone, geotechnical hole DPGT004 intersected 23.10 metres at 4.71% CuEq including 4.20 metres at 17.94% CuEq. In March 2026, NGEx Minerals received approval from the Mining Authority of San Juan Province, Argentina, for a proposed exploration adit at the Lunahuasi project. Approval of the Environmental Impact Statement for the adit was a crucial step in the Lunahuasi story, which will enable the Company to proceed with underground development once additional sectoral permits are received. When complete, the adit is expected to provide a platform to conduct exploration and definition drilling, metallurgical sampling, and geotechnical assessment, which are all key inputs for future technical studies and project evaluation. The approval significantly increases NGEx's optionality for future exploration and development at the project. During the three months ended March 31, 2026, the Company was focused on execution of its Phase 4 drill program at Lunahuasi, which has been another successful endeavour and is now complete. Phase 4 drilling is the Company's fourth exploration campaign at Lunahuasi, and has continued to expand, delineate and define the four distinct styles of mineralization found to date at Lunahuasi, while continuing to test the potential for additional discoveries at the project. The objectives of Phase 4 program were to test the Lunahuasi system at three distinct scales: short-range definition drilling – to further define and expand the Mars, Saturn and Jupiter zones; mid-range step-out holes – to extend the outer edges of the Lunahuasi deposit, and also identify new zones of mineralization outside of the current drill pattern; and long-range exploration drilling – to test anomalies and district scale targets, with the objective of discovering new components of the Lunahuasi system and demonstrating the system's true potential. Phase 4 drilling has been successfully completed across all three scales. To date, Phase 4 assay results received and released by the Company have only covered short-range definition drilling and some of the mid-range step-out holes completed during the program. Highlights of Phase 4 assays released during the three months ended March 31, 2026, and subsequent period thereto, include: Confirmation and delineation of new zones DPDH058 intersected 109.00 metres at 3.37% CuEq (1.77% Cu, 1.65 g/t Au, and 45.4 g/t Ag), including 6.00 metres at 14.53% CuEq (6.13% Cu, 8.17 g/t Au, and 277.7 g/t Ag), and is helping to outline a new zone located at the northern limit of the current drill pattern that was first intersected by DPDH043 from the Phase 3 campaign. Further analysis will be required to fully delineate this new zone, however preliminary indications are that it remains open in all directions and exhibits high-grade intersections and sub-intervals with even more elevated grades, as seen in the Saturn, Mars and Jupiter zones. DPGT004 was a geotechnical hole drilled along the centreline of the proposed exploration adit to provide geotechnical and hydrogeological data needed for the adit design. The highlight of the hole was the discovery of a previously unknown high-grade zone some 300 metres to the east of Mars. This new zone, starting at only 187.9 metres down the hole, returned 23.10 metres at 4.71% CuEq (2.75% Cu, 2.08 g/t Au, and 50.9 g/t Ag) including a 4.20 metre interval of 17.94% CuEq (11.67% Cu, 5.95 g/t Au, and 219.2 g/t Ag), showing all the characteristics of other high-grade zones in the deposit and demonstrating clear exploration potential. This intersection confirms that Lunahuasi remains open to the east of current drill collars and opens up a new front for future exploration. Saturn zone: continued expansion and consistent intersection of high-grades throughout DPDH051 intersected 327.40 metres at 3.74% CuEq (2.43% Cu, 1.53 g/t Au, and 21.8 g/t Ag), which is punctuated by multiple very high-grade sub-intervals such as 7.30 metres at 14.50% CuEq (10.98% Cu, 2.49 g/t Au, and 193.3 g/t Ag) and 5.80 metres at 14.40% CuEq (11.97% Cu, 2.73 g/t Au, and 50.8 g/t Ag). DPDH051 was drilled north to south to test the geometry of the Saturn zone perpendicular to most other holes, and its results were consistent with the zone's geological interpretation with high-grade gold intervals correlating well with other holes. DPDH056 targeted the Saturn zone at depth, confirming its extension 50 metres to the north beyond the previous northernmost intersection, intersecting 294.10 metres at 2.41% CuEq (1.87% Cu, 0.62 g/t Au, and 9.9 g/t Ag), including 8.05 metres at 17.82% CuEq (14.09% Cu, 4.06 g/t Au, and 87.1 g/t Ag). DPDH057 successfully expanded the Saturn zone vertically above the mineralization intersected previously in hole DPDH049, intersecting 131.00 metres at 5.09% CuEq (3.10% Cu, 2.03 g/t Au, and 58.2 g/t Ag), including 30.00 metres at 7.91% CuEq (4.00% Cu, 4.58 g/t Au, and 64.5 g/t Ag) and 40.20 metres at 6.09% CuEq (4.41% Cu, 1.48 g/t Au, and 68.8 g/t Ag). DPDH059 tested continuity, geometry and grade distribution within the Saturn zone, filling a gap between previous drillholes DPDH044 and DPDH051. DPDH059 intersected 335.15 metres at 4.08% CuEq (2.25% Cu, 2.17 g/t Au, and 27.6 g/t Ag), which included several narrower intervals with significantly higher-grade as seen in other holes completed in this area such as 19.50 metres at 18.96% CuEq (6.83% Cu, 15.64 g/t Au, and 82.3 g/t Ag). Mars zone: Outlining a very high-grade core within an expanding envelope DPDH054 intersected 94.00 metres at 8.99% CuEq (3.88% Cu, 6.66 g/t Au, and 29.6 g/t Ag), including 21.70 metres at 31.92% CuEq (12.70% Cu, 25.21 g/t Au, and 95.5 g/t Ag).