2.48% Copper Nativo Area to Feature in Fitzroy's Maiden Resource
Fitzroy's Nativo drilling returned 30.5 meters at 2.48% copper from surface as Buen Retiro heads to a maiden resource and economic assessment in late 2026.
- Drilling at the Nativo area of Buen Retiro returned 30.5 meters (m) at 2.48% copper from surface, ending in mineralization.
- A second Nativo intercept returned 18 m at 2.50% copper, including 10 m at 4.00% copper.
- As of September 30, 2026, Fitzroy had completed 22,697 m of diamond drilling at Buen Retiro since February 2026, with 3 rigs still active.
- A maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE), a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), and an environmental permit application are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026.
- A pre-feasibility study (PFS) with a maiden mineral reserve statement is planned for the second quarter of 2027.
Company Overview
Fitzroy Minerals Inc. (TSXV: FTZ | OTCQX: FTZFF | FSE: C3Y) explores and develops copper assets in Chile. Its 2 lead properties are the Buen Retiro Copper Project near Copiapó and the Caballos Copper Project in Valparaiso. The shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FTZ and on the OTCQX under the symbol FTZFF.
Nativo Leads the Latest Drill Results
The latest batch of 28 drill holes, all exploration holes apart from 1 geotechnical hole, continues to intersect copper mineralization, including high-grade zones beneath the historical Manto Negro open pit. At Nativo, drilling returned 30.5 meters (m) at 2.48% copper from surface to the end of the hole. The hole ended in mineralization after being stopped early due to technical issues, and it includes 22 m at 3.21% copper.
Eighteen of the holes were drilled at Nativo. Further results there include 18 m at 2.50% copper from 163 m depth, including 10 m at 4.00% copper, and 166 m at 0.37% copper from 81 m depth, including 105 m at 0.52% copper and 30 m at 1.23% copper. Another hole returned 43 m at 0.83% copper from a depth of 115 m, including 32 m at 0.98% copper. All Nativo intersections were in oxide and mixed zones hosting leachable mineralization, and reported intervals are estimated at 80% to 90% of true thickness.
At Tenorita, 6 holes were completed. A southern infill hole intersected 63 m at 0.56% copper from 63 m depth, and a hole at the northern end of the trend near the historical waste dump returned 80 m at 0.33% copper from 16 m depth. Four holes were completed at Ortúzar, where mineralization below 75 m downhole consisted predominantly of chalcopyrite, a copper sulfide mineral.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Fitzroy, Merlin Marr-Johnson, links what 24 months of fieldwork have defined to the project's potential for low-capital-intensity production:
"Buen Retiro continues to improve as our understanding of the scale and potential of the Project grows. In just 24 months of fieldwork, we have defined a remarkably continuous body of leachable copper mineralization, and we are advancing multiple avenues of study in parallel.
Thanks to the notable infrastructure advantages of the Project, we are confident that Buen Retiro has the potential to deliver the kind of low-capital-intensity, near-term copper production that the market urgently needs. At a time when many new copper projects require billions of dollars and a decade or more to reach production, Buen Retiro offers a very different proposition: a simple heap leach, in an established mining district, with the potential to produce copper cathode quickly and efficiently."
Three Geological Domains Take Shape
Drilling has now defined 3 distinct geological domains at Buen Retiro, each with its own geological and geostatistical characteristics. Tenorita strikes north-northwest, dips steeply to the east, is consistent along strike, and remains open to the southeast. Nativo strikes north-south, is near-vertical, merges with Tenorita to the south, and continues north into the middle of the historical Manto Negro open pit.
Mineralization at both Tenorita and Nativo is centered on ferric breccias, zones of broken rock cemented by iron-rich minerals, approximately 70 m wide. Where the 2 trends merge, a third ferric breccia hosts a wide zone of shallow copper mineralization. Most mineralization intersected in these areas has been copper oxide and mixed material, meaning copper oxides with secondary, leachable sulfides, down to depths of 120 to 150 m.
Ortúzar shows greater variability and complexity. Its dominant mineralization is disseminated manto-style, meaning copper is spread through layers of host rock. It is controlled by rock type, dips at approximately 30 degrees to the northwest, and has a relatively shallow oxidation depth of 60 to 80 m before chalcopyrite becomes the dominant copper mineral down-dip. The north-south structure observed at Nativo appears to continue into Ortúzar, which forms an oxidized zone to the north and east of the historical open pit.
Drilling Program & Development Workstreams
As of September 30, 2026, Fitzroy had completed 168 diamond drill holes for 22,697 m since the start of February 2026, plus 2,780 m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling this year. Two diamond rigs and 1 RC rig remain active: 1 diamond rig is at Ortúzar, while the other diamond rig and the RC rig are testing regional exploration targets. The company is likely to complete a further 4,000 m of drilling in 2026. The current program is focused on defining measured and indicated resources at Tenorita and inferred resources at Nativo, Ortúzar, and the Tenorita extensions.
In parallel, Fitzroy is advancing geotechnical studies, drilling to confirm planned infrastructure sites hold no mineralization, environmental baseline studies, metallurgy, mineral processing, and engineering to support a potential near-term heap leach development, in which crushed ore is stacked and irrigated with an acid solution to recover copper. As the project's potential scale has grown, the company has expanded both its environmental baseline studies and the scope of the proposed Buen Retiro heap leach development program.
Marr-Johnson names the 2 fourth-quarter studies that should begin to quantify the project:
"We expect to demonstrate the significance of this broader opportunity through two important milestones in Q4: a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate and a Preliminary Economic Assessment. Together, these studies should begin to quantify what we believe makes Buen Retiro unusual: leachable copper mineralization, excellent infrastructure, low capital intensity, and the potential for a rapid pathway to production."
Next Steps
In the fourth quarter of 2026, Fitzroy plans to submit its statement of environmental impact together with its environmental permit application, and to publish a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) and a preliminary economic assessment (PEA). The PEA will incorporate inferred resources across Tenorita, Nativo, and Ortúzar.
In the second quarter of 2027, the company plans to publish a pre-feasibility study (PFS) with an updated MRE and a maiden mineral reserve statement based on the central portion of Tenorita.
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