Fitzroy Minerals Inc. (TSXV: FTZ, OTCQX: FTZFF, FSE: C3Y) has released exploration results from its 100%-owned Buen Retiro Copper Project near Copiapo, Chile, highlighting channel samples averaging 2.96% copper from the historical open pit and ongoing drilling that continues to intersect extensive visible copper mineralization. The company is advancing the project toward a Heap Leach Development Plan, with an Environmental Permit Application scheduled for October 2026 and a Pre-Feasibility Study targeted for completion in Q1 2027.
Twenty-one one-metre channel samples collected from locations distributed throughout the historical Buen Retiro open pit returned an average grade of 2.96% Cu, with a maximum of 10.68% Cu. Seventeen of the samples returned above 1.0% Cu, and four exceeded 5.0% Cu. Historical drill hole BRT-DDH-013, located approximately 30-55 metres below the current pit floor, returned 7 metres at 2.78% Cu from 130 metres and 30 metres at 3.52% Cu from 141 metres downhole, indicating that significant mineralization remains at depth beyond the previous mining limits.
Drill hole BRT-DDH099, situated 70 metres south of the historical pit, intersected 113 metres of tenorite (CuO) mineralization from 3.5 metres downhole. The intercept is estimated to average approximately 1.0% Cu and has been submitted for over-limit analysis as it exceeds regular exploration assay limits of 1% Cu. Fitzroy has drilled 10,048 metres at Buen Retiro so far in 2026, exceeding its original 7,000-metre plan due to continued shallow mineralized intersections. A further 5,000-metre drilling program targeting the Pit Area is underway, with four rigs on site as of June 20.
Merlin Marr-Johnson, President and CEO of Fitzroy, commented: "Channel sample results averaging around 3.0% Cu and historical drill results of 30 metres at 3.52% Cu showcase the type of copper mineralization that Fitzroy is targeting in the Pit Area. Historical production focused on Cu-oxide material only, and our analysis shows that a meaningful amount of mixed and transition copper material was left behind, which can be recovered with our planned chloride-leach process." He also noted the project's advantages: "Not all copper mineralization is equal, and the copper that Fitzroy is delineating at Buen Retiro has extraordinary advantages such as proximity to processing and transport infrastructure, low elevation, no human habitation, and being located at a brownfields site in Chile, which has a pro-mining legislation and a copper industry looking for new production."
The company is mitigating delays at ALS Global laboratory, which has experienced congestion and border issues affecting sample shipments from Chile to Peru. Fitzroy is now sending samples from the Pit Area to SGS Laboratories in Santiago, Chile, for faster turnaround, and is using visual grade estimation to expedite over-limit analysis. Metallurgical test work is ongoing, with mini-column results expected in July, and one-metre and three-metre column results due in Q4 2026 for inclusion in the Pre-Feasibility Study.
Fitzroy also completed a Fleet Space Technologies Ambient Noise Tomography passive seismic infill survey in May, which identified zones of elevated fracturing and host-rock alteration. The company continues to work with Pucobre S.A. on engineering and commercial aspects of the Heap Leach Development Plan under a Letter of Intent signed in April.
