ATERRA Metals launches phase one drilling at Totora copper-gold project in Chile

The company has started a 3,000-metre drilling campaign at its Totora Copper-Gold Project in the Atacama Region, aiming to support a maiden resource update in the third quarter of 2026.

ATERRA Metals has officially launched its phase one drilling program at the Totora Copper-Gold Project in Chile, marking a new step in the advancement of one of its key copper-gold assets in the country.

The program will include 3,000 metres of drilling and will focus on the Totora and Frontera porphyry deposits, two of four identified near-surface porphyry targets within the company’s 1,811-hectare project, located about 60 kilometres south of Vallenar, in Chile’s Atacama Region.

Totora drilling campaign aims to support 2026 resource estimate

According to ATERRA Metals, the new campaign follows an extensive re-logging of historical drill cores, which helped improve the company’s understanding of the geological controls behind mineralisation at the project.

CEO Carl Hansen said the current program is designed to integrate new assay results with the large volume of historical drilling completed over the last 15 years.

“Our goal is to publish a resource estimate during the third quarter of 2026 integrating our phase one drill assay results with the significant historical drilling completed on the Totora Project over the past 15 years,” Hansen stated.

At the Totora porphyry, the company has launched a 2,500-metre reverse circulation drilling campaign to build on approximately 10,000 metres of historical drilling, which previously outlined copper-gold mineralisation along an 800-metre strike length and to a depth of 500 metres.

Among the standout historical results at Totora is an intercept of 142 metres grading 0.58% copper equivalent, including 72 metres at 0.83% copper equivalent, recorded in drill hole DDHTP-02.

Frontera deposit to receive diamond drilling ahead of updated estimate

In parallel, ATERRA plans to complete around 500 metres of diamond drilling at the Frontera deposit, with the objective of confirming historical drilling results ahead of an updated mineral resource estimate.

The Frontera deposit currently hosts a historical indicated resource of 16 million tonnes grading 0.38% copper and 0.22 grams per tonne gold, containing approximately 134.4 million pounds of copper and 116,000 ounces of gold.

In addition, the project includes an inferred resource of 34 million tonnes grading 0.36% copper and 0.22 g/t gold, containing around 275.5 million pounds of copper and 239,000 ounces of gold.

ATERRA sharpens focus on Totora project in Chile

As part of its strategic prioritisation, ATERRA Metals also announced it has terminated its option agreement on the Angie Property, allowing the company to concentrate its efforts and capital on advancing the Totora Project.

The decision underscores the company’s focus on unlocking value from its Chilean copper-gold portfolio at a time when investor interest in copper projects continues to grow amid the global energy transition.

With drilling now underway and a resource estimate targeted for Q3 2026, Totora is emerging as a key project to watch in Chile’s copper-gold exploration space.