Lara Exploration Announces 14,000 Metre Validation Drilling Program Underway at the Planalto Project
Lara’s 14,000-metre drill campaign reveals thick near-surface chalcopyrite, with assay results pending to confirm the significance of the mineralisation.
Lara Exploration Ltd. (LRA) has launched a 14,000-metre diamond drill program at its Planalto copper-gold project in Brazil, deploying seven rigs to the site. To date, the company has completed 29 holes totaling 10,186 metres on the Homestead-Cupuzeiro trend and four holes for 761 metres on the Silica Cap trend.
Geological logging has identified a wide zone exceeding 100 metres of near-surface strong chalcopyrite mineralization in the core of the Cupuzeiro sector, a feature not apparent in earlier drilling. Permits for the newly acquired Atlantica licence are currently being finalized, with future infill drilling planned to target resource classification upgrades to Indicated and Measured categories. No assay results have been released.
Lara Exploration Ltd. (LRA) announced a follow-up to its February 2026 news that drilling had resumed, confirming the aggressive deployment of the C$33.75-million financing that closed in April. The company is now executing a 14,000-metre program, a significant expansion from the originally planned 3,000 metres.
The update identified a zone of strong chalcopyrite mineralization near surface in Cupuzeiro that is wider than 100 metres. This identification is based on visual logging only; without grade assays, it does not materially change the project’s resource base or the economics established by the 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
The market had already anticipated an active drill campaign following the financing, meaning this update serves as a routine operational progress report rather than a game-changing development. No strategic investor changes, new analyst coverage, or material revisions to the public narrative occurred.
Lara Exploration Ltd. (LRA) is a prospect-generator and royalty company focused on South America. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Planalto Copper-Gold Project in the Carajás Mineral Province, Pará State, Brazil.
The October 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), filed in November 2025, outlines an 18-year open-pit mine with an 8 Mtpa processing plant, producing 560 kt Cu and 111 koz Au over life-of-mine. Key financial metrics include an after-tax NPV (8%) of US$378 million, an IRR of 21%, and a payback period of 3.5 years. The project requires an initial capex of US$546 million, sustaining capex of US$170 million, and carries an average AISC of US$5,920/t Cu payable.
Mineral Resources from the 2024 MRE include Indicated resources of 47.7 Mt at 0.53% Cu and 0.06 g/t Au (253 kt Cu), and Inferred resources of 154 Mt at 0.36% Cu and 0.04 g/t Au (549 kt Cu).
The company also holds royalty interests in Celesta and Picha, the Lara Copper project in Peru following Minsur’s relinquishment of its option, and a stake in the Bifox phosphate project in Chile.