ATEX extends B2B breccia 200m south; hole ends in 1.72% CuEq

ATEX Resources just closed the book on Phase VI drilling at its Valeriano project in Chile’s Atacama copper belt, and the final assays pushed the high-grade “B2B” breccia about 200 metres further south in hole ATXD19A. A companion hole, ATXD19B, drilled straight down and never left the mineralization — it ended in 37 metres grading 1.72% copper-equivalent (a single number that blends copper, gold and other metals into one grade). That’s a signal the zone keeps going deeper. All told, the breccia now stretches roughly 600 metres along strike and stays open to the south and at depth.

Here’s the mechanism. In porphyry deposits, what counts is grade multiplied by thickness — fat, continuous rock is what feeds a mine. Some of these intercepts are genuinely large: hole ATXD25E cut 884 metres at 0.79% copper-equivalent, with a 294-metre core at 1.05%. That is bulk-tonnage class, not exploration filler. Five holes across B2B returned similar continuity, which quiets the worry that early hits were lucky. Two new scout holes 400 metres north (ATXD37) and to the south (ATXD39A) came back weaker — 0.39% to 0.50% copper-equivalent and heavy on molybdenum — so those are directional pointers, not ore yet. The register carries some weight too: Agnico Eagle became an approximately 13% shareholder via a US$40M placement in October 2024; current ownership after the November 2025 C$110M financing was not confirmed at press time. Yet the stock fell 6.2% over three months while copper rose 6.0% and the copper-miner index climbed 12.2% — the sector caught the rally and ATEX sat it out, with a mid-period dip near C$2.19.

Now the honesty. The reported B2B intercept widths are core lengths, not true widths. The release disclosed a true width of approximately 150 metres for one northern zone; per-hole true widths for the headline B2B intercepts were not tabulated in the release, so the tonnage-relevant thickness for those intervals may be less than the reported core lengths suggest. ATXD19B was drilled within three metres of ATXD19A over a long stretch, meaning some of that footage samples effectively the same rock, not two independent hits. The provided results name no lab, no QA/QC sample rates, and no qualified person. Management is unsettled: Ben Pullinger resigned in February 2026 and Chris Beer runs the company on an interim basis while a permanent search continues. Phase VII drilling starts “shortly,” with program details due in the near future and an updated resource estimate pushed to the second half of 2027.

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