Canadian Surface Mining Company Polar Star Completes 16 hole, 2,500-Metre Drill Program at Chépica Site In Chile

Polar Star mining (PSR.TO), a gold/copper exploration and mining company with a strong presence in Chile, has completed a 16-hole, 2,500-metre surface drill program at its Chépica gold/copper mine project, near Talca, Chile.

According to a statement released by the company, its Chépica property hosts epithermal vein systems, where to date 4 kilometers (2.49 miles) of veins and stockwork mineralized structures have been identified within a kilometer radius of the mine. The company is in the process of progressively exploring these vein systems.

"The surface drilling results exceeded our expectations and achieved the goals of further defining the No. 1 vein system to aid future mine development planning and confirmed the continuity of the surface identified new veins,” Polar Star President and CEO Colin Bird said in a statement. “With the process plant upgraded the focus is on the development of the underground mine opening up more ore faces and moving towards full commercial production."

While Polar star hosts an additional mining site in Montezuma, the company completed an upgrade of the process plant at the Chépica mine just last month. The addition of a second ball mill increased the plant throughput capacity from 160 tons per day to 260 tons per day.

With the installation of extra float cells and a larger filtration system, the plant is expected to exceed the nameplate 260 tons per day throughput by the end of May.