ATEX Resources: New Emerging Copper District in Chile | Chris Beer and Jimmy Connor

Jimmy Connor Jun 15, 2026 25:15

Summary

ATEX has grown Valeriano to 2 billion tonnes at 0.8% CuEq, located in the Atacama copper belt that already produces 25% of global supply.

Hole 19A stepped 200 metres south and stayed in mineralization, extending the high-grade B2B breccia to roughly 700 metres of strike.

Clean initial metallurgy delivered 94-95% recoveries, a 33% copper concentrate, and no deleterious elements like arsenic.

Agnico Eagle holds 15% and Pierre Lassonde 10%, backing a $150 million treasury that funds two more years of drilling.

An updated resource is targeted for fall 2027, alongside first drilling at the newly acquired Nuevo Horizonte porphyry cluster.

The guest cites Agnico Eagle as a 15% shareholder in ATEX, alongside Pierre Lassonde at 10% and institutional investors at 50%, framing this as the strong shareholder base supporting ATEX's funding.

The 2025 Valeriano resource stands at 2 billion tons at 0.8% copper equivalent (about 20Mt CuEq and 15Moz gold in situ), with the guest framing the grade as roughly twice the global copper-gold porphyry average of about 0.4%.
The guest argues ATEX has made one of the largest copper discoveries in Chile in over a decade, with the market cap rising from about $35M in early 2022 to over $1B at the time of recording.
The high-grade B2B breccia, sitting 500m above the main porphyry, has expanded to about 700m of strike this season, with hole 34 returning 1,100m of 0.72% CuEq in surrounding rhyolite wall rock and the zone open to the south, east, and southeast.
The treasury holds about $150M in cash plus roughly $140M of potential warrant proceeds (stock around $3-$4 at the time of recording), which the guest says is enough to fund about two more years of exploration.
The recently acquired Nuevo Horizonte property (10,000 hectares added in January) plus 14,000 hectares of surface rights give ATEX at least four untested porphyry targets in the district, with first drilling on Nuevo Horizonte targeted for 2027.

The guest describes NGEx as part of the Lundin Group operating in the Vicuña district about 100km north of Valeriano, characterizing it as a high-sulfidation system with high-grade copper and gold and a likely underlying copper porphyry.

Top takeaway He argues ATEX has delivered one of the largest copper discoveries in Chile in over a decade, with 0.8% CuEq grades roughly twice the global copper-gold porphyry average of about 0.4%.
He frames the B2B breccia — high-grade, 500m above the main porphyry, and open to the south, east, and southeast — as the priority expansion target for the next drilling season starting in September.
He highlights unusually clean metallurgy: two rounds of testing show 94-95% recoveries, a 33% copper concentrate (versus a global ~24% average), about 14 grams of gold in concentrate, and no deleterious elements like arsenic.
He points to a fortress balance sheet with about $150M cash plus roughly $140M in potential warrant proceeds, enough to fund approximately two more years of exploration.
He positions the new district — including the just-acquired Nuevo Horizonte ground, four untested porphyry targets on ATEX's 25,000-hectare land package, and 14,000 hectares of surface rights — as the key upside before the next resource update targeted for fall 2027.