{"id":138968,"title":"Great Southern Copper Highlights Transformational Year at Especularita","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2026-07-29T15:48:46+00:00","modified":"2026-07-29T15:48:46+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/great-southern-copper-highlights-transformational-year-at-especularita/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/great-southern-copper-highlights-transformational-year-at-especularita.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/great-southern-copper-highlights-transformational-year-at-especularita.json","category":"Mining","categories":["Mining"],"tags":["Cerro Negro","Chile","COPPER","diamond rigs","Especularita Projects","Gold","Great Southern Copper","GSCU","La Serena","Lithium","Mostaza Mine","R. Muñoz","Salar de Atacama","Sam Garrett","San Lorenzo"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/gscu-18-feb.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"[Great Southern Copper PLC  (LON: GSCU)](https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/great-southern-copper--gscu/full-year-results-and-publication-of-annual-report/9693951) has reported a year of significant exploration progress at its **Especularita copper-gold-silver project** in Chile, with successive drilling campaigns confirming high-grade mineralisation at Mostaza and opening up broader district-scale porphyry potential.\n\nFor the year ended **31 March 2026**, the company completed three phases of drilling at the **Mostaza mine**, with all 25 holes across the first two phases intersecting the target mineralised zone.\n\nThe strongest Phase I result came from hole **CNG25 DD007**, which returned **33 metres grading 1.96% copper and 60.6 grams per tonne silver** from 87 metres, including individual assays of up to **16.15% copper and 646g/t silver**.\n\nPhase II drilling comprised **16 holes for 1,701.7 metres** and returned grades of up to **10.4% copper and 672g/t silver**. The programme identified a previously unrecognised near-surface mineralised body beneath the historical workings, with grades exceeding those of the previously mined lenses.\n\nThe larger Phase III campaign comprised **17 diamond holes for 2,923 metres** and six reverse-circulation holes for **1,032 metres**, returning grades of up to **9.76% copper and 778g/t silver**.\n\nGreat Southern Copper said the drilling extended the high-grade Lens 2 mineralisation along strike and at depth while identifying a series of stacked copper-silver lenses within a broader system that thickens at depth.\n\nGeophysical work also defined a **2.5-kilometre mineralised trend** south of Mostaza, generating multiple new drill targets, while scout drilling extended mineralisation by as much as **1.5 kilometres along strike**.\n\nAt the nearby **Monolith target**, rock sampling returned grades of up to **271g/t silver and 2.05% copper**, with the mineralised footprint subsequently expanded to around **700 metres by 400 metres**.\n\nThe company also confirmed a near-surface porphyry gold discovery at the **Viuda prospect**, described as the first recognised occurrence of this mineralisation style in Chile’s coastal belt. Sampling at Viuda Negra returned grades of up to **4.2g/t gold, 145g/t silver and 0.56% copper**.\n\nPost-period work has included further drilling across four porphyry copper targets, expansion of the company’s ground position at the **La Colorada lithocap**, and geophysical surveys designed to identify buried porphyry systems.\n\nGreat Southern Copper raised **£2.5 million** in November 2025, its largest fundraising since listing, to support the expanded exploration programme.\n\nChief executive **Sam Garrett** said the year had been transformational, with Mostaza emerging as a potentially scalable high-grade copper-silver system while the wider Especularita project continued to demonstrate district-scale porphyry potential.\n\nThe company’s next phase will focus on a **Phase IV drilling programme** aimed at advancing Mostaza towards mineral resource definition while continuing to test additional targets across Especularita."}