(Pan Pacific Copper)Lundin Group company, NGEx Resources (NGQ:TSX), released an updated resource estimate for their Josemaria copper-gold project located in San Juan province, Argentina.  According to the company, the Lundin Family Trust controls 19.9% of NGQ's shares.  NGEx is the 60% operator of the project with JOGMEC (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation) holding the other 40% interest. The deposit is located 12km southwest of the Los Helados deposit which the company recently put a updated resource estimate out on (see: Lundin’s NGEx Expands Los Helados).  Combined, the two projects host roughly 21.4 billion pounds of copper, 15.5 million ounces of gold and 107 million ounces of silver in the indicated category.

Dr. Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO of NGQ, commented, "We have more than doubled the resource over the last two years and the deposit remains open to the northwest. Josemaria has a robust high grade core of more than 450 million tonnes at a copper equivalent grade of 0.63%, which is very close to surface. With the Josemaria mineralization outcropping along a ridge, the deposit is an ideal configuration for open pit mining. In addition, the upper part of the deposit is oxide mineralization which preliminary metallurgical test work suggests is amenable to heap leaching of gold.”

Drilling at Josemaria (Company)

Drilling at Josemaria (Company)

This updated resource was based off of an additional 8,242m of drilling in 18 holes.  The Josemaria project includes sulphides and oxides.  Total sulphide resources include 789Mt at 0.35% copper and 0.24g/t gold for roughly 6.1 billion pounds of copper and 6.1 million ounces of gold in the indicated category and another 1.9 billion pounds of copper and 1.7 million ounces of gold in the inferred category at average grades of 0.28% copper and 0.17g/t gold, respectively.  This represents an increase in both contained copper and gold of nearly 20%.

Here’s the release: NGEx Announces Significant Increase in Resource at Josemaria

NGEx raised $34 million at $3.40 per share in January 2013 of which the company has $20 million left.  Management expects to drill test the higher grade components of the deposit as well as release a maiden resource at the Filo Del Sol deposit.