LSR adds third Chilean copper project - maiden drilling next year

Our exploration Investment Lodestar Minerals (ASX: LSR) just secured an option over a third copper project in Chile.

The new project is called Pacifico - a copper-molybdenum-gold porphyry target in Chile's Atacama Region.

Pacifico sits 42km north of the Relincho deposit, a 1.1BNtonne copper reserve owned by a $45BN Teck Resources and $187BN Newmont in a JV.

(source)

The interesting part here is that the project comes with ~8,000m of historical diamond drilling by two major mining companies, First Quantum ($37BN) and Hudbay Minerals ($17BN).

That drilling hit mineralisation from near surface down to more than 700m, with grades up to 1.03% copper equivalent.

Hudbay withdrew from Chile altogether in 2020 before it even received the assays from its final drilling program, and the ground has sat idle since.

And the central part of the ~6km porphyry corridor has never been drilled - LSR's recent reconnaissance found porphyry dykes outcropping at surface there.

(source)

The same playbook that LSR used at Los Loros

As part of today’s option, LSR paid just US$30,000 at signing to secure the option.

Annual option payments step up from US$60,000 in year one,and a $US3M exercise payment (plus a 1.5% royalty) only falls due if LSR exercises within five years.

LSR can walk away at any time if results don't stack up.

We have seen this before with Los Loros, which LSR optioned in February 2026 for the same US$30,000 upfront - and that project is now about to be drilled.

Because these projects come with historical data, it takes minimal work and spend to get them drill ready, especially with the historical dataset.

That usually takes 12 to 24+ months from acquisition - target generation, permits, then drilling.

LSR is targeting maiden drilling at Pacifico in Q2 next year, funded from existing cash - inside 12 months of signing.

LSR, which got the option on Los Loros in February, is about to drill there near 6 months later .

What else is LSR up to?

Here is a quick overview of everything happening on LSR’s assets:

• Three Saints (Chile copper) - assays from the second drill hole are pending, after hole 1 confirmed a large IOCG mineralising system.
• Los Loros (Chile copper) - maiden drilling across the five porphyry targets was to have started but has been delayed due to poor weather so could be about to start very soon. (source).
• Ned's Creek (WA gold) - drilling is complete and resource modelling is underway, with a maiden resource due before the end of this year. (source)
• Virgin Mountain (US heavy rare earths - the reason we Invested) - airborne surveys are planned to define drill targets over the newly expanded project area

What’s next from LSR?

🔄 Chile copper drilling

LSR has two projects in Chile, Los Loros and Three Saints.

The first one LSR drilled was Three Saints - here are the milestones we are tracking for that project:

• ✅ Maiden drill hole completed (600m)
• ✅ Assay results from hole 1
• 🔄 Assay results from hole 2 (Assays expected “within the next month”) (source)

The next one to be drilled will be Los Loros - here are the milestones we are tracking for that project:

• 🔲 Drilling date confirmation, drill rig secured
• 🔲 Drilling underway (expected within the next week or 2)
• 🔲 Assay results

🔄 10,000m drilling program on WA gold project

Drilling on this asset started a few weeks ago.

We are hoping to see the 250,000 to 300,000 ounce exploration target converted into a maiden resource estimate post drilling.

Here are the milestones we are tracking on that project:

• ✅ Drilling starts
• 🔄 Assay results
• 🔲 Resource estimate

🔄 Target generation on the US rare earths project

We want to see LSR continue to advance its US asset with mineralogical studies and then plan the next round of exploration.

Here are the milestones we are tracking for the US asset:

• ✅ Mapping and sampling (soil and rock chips)
• ✅ Mineralogical studies
• 🔄 Geophysics/ follow up field work
• 🔲 Drill targets confirmed