Vicuña: The Greatest Mineral Discovery of Our Lifetime – Fat Tail Daily
James Cooper returns to his geologist roots, revealing the industry’s most critical exploration discovery made in decades…The Vicuña District in Argentina.
There’s one place in the world you’ll continue to hear a lot about in the coming years…The Vicuña District in Argentina.
That’s because a large portion of future global copper supply is set to come from this one spot.
A place sitting aloft in the high-altitude Andes, straddling the border between Argentina and Chile.
Throughout 2023 and 2024, I was deep in the weeds of Vicuña, covering this region in depth for my paid readership group.
The bulk of our copper exposure sat in this one location.
Two Canadian-listed companies, sitting side-by-side, that I believed held the world’s most prospective projects in the mining sector.
One was called Filo Mining [TSX: FIL].
And the other one was called NGEx Minerals [TSX-V: NGEX].
Both companies have been notoriously successful, pulling in stunning results.
Drill hits exceeding 1000 metres of economic copper, silver, and gold grades.
As anyone with their pulse on the sector would tell you, this has been the most crucial region for discovery in decades.
The world’s largest miner, BHP, agreed. It finalised the purchase of Filo Mining earlier this year.
But as I continue to remind my paid readership group, there’s a good chance it will swallow up its neighbour, NGEx.
Anyway, why bring it up?
It pays to revisit what works in junior mining investing and how to shortlist the stocks in your portfolio so you’re sitting in clear winners.
And the key aspect here has been the people behind these discoveries.
The Vicuña District was uncovered by a notoriously successful mining group known as the Lundin’s.
A family enterprise based in Canada, the Lundin’s and their close-knit team of geologists recognised a ‘gap’ in the copper porphyry corridor, which runs north-south along the Chilean-Argentina border.
By ‘gap’ I mean an area where established mines and thorough exploration work had been performed over decades to the north and south, but very little in between.
I’ve circled the area below (in purple):
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| Source: NGEx Minerals |
The Lundin’s took full advantage, rapidly turning this underexplored region into perhaps the most significant discovery area over the last several decades.
That’s not a hyperbolic statement.
Early in its exploration drilling, Filo Mining delivered a 1,296.5 metre hit grading over 1% copper. That’s over a kilometre of economic mineralisation!
For geologists, Vicuña was like stepping back in time….
To an era when near-surface discoveries were rich, thick and far more abundant than they are today. Vicuña is genuinely unique, and that’s why the world’s largest miner, BHP, recently made its claim.
It’s also hard to imagine there’ll ever be another discovery like this.
But that doesn’t mean these notorious ore hunters won’t try…
The Lundin’s
Now, full disclaimer here: While I was happy introducing my readers to Filo and NGEx, admittedly, we were a little late to this story… That’s despite sitting on a solid 130% gain from our original recommendation in NGEx.
But being earlier would have delivered far bigger rewards.
And that’s the ‘pay-day’ I’m trying to deliver for my premium readership group now…
We’ve deployed several strategies across our early-stage explorer portfolio to try and make that happen. One of those is to follow notoriously successful ore hunters, like the Lundin’s.
Yet, even here, this group isn’t always hitting on a success.
The Lundin’s have their fingers in several early-stage exploration projects across the globe.
But as a former exploration geologist, one project has caught my attention. One that I believe has the best chance of delivering an NGEx or Filo-style discovery.
But the key difference for my readers (this time) is that we’re getting into this story far earlier. This is an early-stage exploration company, fully backed by the Lundin Group.
A project worthy of the Lundin reputation.
If you’d like to learn more, you can check out my premium junior mining advisory service here.
Until next time.
Regards,
 |
James Cooper,
Editor, Mining: Phase One and Diggers and Drillers
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All advice is general advice and has not taken into account your personal circumstances.
Please seek independent financial advice regarding your own situation, or if in doubt about the suitability of an investment.
James Cooper has been a working geologist in mines across Australia, Canada, and Africa since the early 2000s. He’s led the operations of tiny explorers through to huge producer outfits. He’s seen booms and busts firsthand and he also understands the cyclical nature of individual commodities. For example, James was right there when Barrick Gold launched an enormous $7.5 billion takeover bid for Equinox. That was the peak of the last cycle.
With his background as a geo and finance professional, he brings a unique insight and experience to Fat Tail Investment Research. He writes the broader resource-focused investing letter Diggers and Drillers and the ultra-speculative explorer-focused trading service Mining: Phase One.
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