Peru-focused Cerro de Pasco Resources (CDPR) has received authorisation from the Energy and Mines Ministry to initiate exploration activities, marking the first approval for a new mining exploration project within a tailings storage facility in the country.

The company is set to start its Phase I drilling programme at the Quiulacocha Tailings project (QT project) with the installation of its first drill rig.

The company has also completed initial geophysical studies to map the bottom surface of the tailings deposit.

CDPR CEO Guy Goulet said on Tuesday that the authorisation was a significant milestone, highlighting that this was the first drilling approval granted for a mining exploration project over tailings in Peru, not tied to a beneficiation concession.

Goulet emphasised the importance of this stage in unlocking the true value of the QT tailings and developing a master plan for the Quiulacocha resource.

CDPR has contracted Ingetrol Comercial, a Peruvian subsidiary of Grupo Ingetrol, to execute the Phase I drilling campaign. Over the next eight weeks, Ingetrol will drill 40 holes to collect more than 1 000 tailings samples, aiming for comprehensive data across the entire depth of the Quiulacocha tailings.

Geochemical and metallurgical testing will be conducted by Inspectorate Services Perú, a Peruvian subsidiary of Bureau Veritas, at laboratories in Lima, Peru, and Antofagasta, Chile. Tailings samples collected at every meter will undergo a 60-element ICP analysis and other assays before being composited and sent to Chile for further metallurgical testing. This programme aims to establish the mineral resource estimate and determine metallurgical methods for reprocessing the tailings.

Geomain Ingenieros, a Peruvian firm specialising in geophysics for mineral exploration, has completed over 9 000 m of geophysical surveys on the Quiulacocha tailings' dry section. Preliminary results suggest that the tailings deposit exceeds 40 m in depth in some areas, surpassing initial expectations.

CDPR holds the concession known as “El Metalurgista,” which grants it the rights to explore and exploit the Quiulacocha tailings. Covering about 115 ha, the facility contains an estimated 75-million tonnes of material processed from the 1920s to the 1990s. Initially, the tailings were produced from mining over 16-million tonnes of copper/silver/gold mineralisation, followed by zinc/lead/silver extraction.