Solaris Resources rises on new targets near Warintza in Ecuador

Shares of Solaris Resources (TSX: SLS; US-OTC: SLSSF) rose 10% in Thursday morning trading after the company reported identifying three new copper-molybdenum porphyry targets, five skarn targets s and a high-sulphidation epithermal gold target  near its Warintza project in southeastern Ecuador.

Solaris is exploring the project with seven drill rigs in a bid to expand Warintza’s mineral resource estimate, recently reported in April.

This is the company’s first update since a protest in Ecuador against rising fuel prices and mining expansion, which saw Indigenous groups block roads across the country in mid-June. The protests ended on June 30.

“The flow of samples from the company’s core processing facility to its prep lab, which has now resumed operations, and onward for final assay in Lima has restarted, with a considerable backlog of assays pending,” Solaris said in a press release.

The 268-sq-km Warintza project is located about 60 km north of Lundin Gold’s (TSX: LUG) Fruta del Norte mine, which produced 428,514 oz. of gold in 2021, and about 30 km north of the Mirador copper-gold mine, which began production in 2019. 

 The project is situated within a low elevation-mining district with access to a highway, affordable hydroelectric power and fresh water.

The new porphyry targets include Mateo and Cora near Warintza East and Medio Camino, 5 km to the west of Warintza West. The high sulphidation epithermal gold target, Caya, which the company describes as a large 5 km x 3 km gold anomaly in stream sediments, is located 6 km northeast of Warintza East. The skarn targets, Playas and Justo, were identified near Warintza West, while the Betty and Yawi targets are near Warintza Central and La Celestina is located south of Yawi.

Solaris’ goal is to add value to its project through exploration and then “crystallize it through an exit transaction.” The company is managed by the Augusta Group, which has successfully executed over $4.5 billion in exit transactions from different projects over the last decade.

In April, Solaris completed an updated resource estimate for the Warintza Central deposit that expanded inferred tonnage seven fold. The estimate also included a first-ever indicated resource and outlined a potential starter pit.

The project now has indicated resources of 579 million tonnes grading 0.47% copper, 0.03% molybdenum and 0.05 gram gold per tonne for 2.7 million tonnes of copper, 150,000 tonnes of molybdenum and 930,000 oz. of gold. Inferred resources add 887 million tonnes grading 0.39% copper, 0.01% molybdenum, and 0.04 gram gold for 3.5 million tonnes of copper, 0.13 million tonnes of molybdenum and 1.1 million oz. gold.

In other news, the company continues to work on its proposed exploration spin-out by transferring its non-core assets to a wholly-owned subsidiary named Solaris Exploration Inc. The non-core assets will include properties in Ecuador outside of the Warintza porphyry cluster, as well as its assets in Peru, Chile and Mexico.

Scotiabank analyst Eric Winmill described the company’s latest update as positive. “In the near term, we expect Solaris to continue its focus on expanding the footprint of the Warintza deposits through ongoing drilling,” he wrote in a research note to clients.

At noon in Toronto, Solaris Resources was trading at $7.75 share, up 90¢ or 13.13%, within a 52-week trading range of $6.50 and $17.17. The company has 113.4 million common shares outstanding for a market cap of $878.8 million.