Southern Hemisphere, FMR drilling zeroes in on Chilean porphyry prizeAndrew ToddSponsoredThu, 26 February 2026 4:30PM
ASX-listed partners FMR Resources and Southern Hemisphere Mining have wrapped up the third deep diamond hole into a monster copper-gold porphyry target at their Llahuin project in Chile.
The companies say the latest 1038-metre hole at Target K has cut through several wide sections of porphyry-linked mineral-bearing rock type, hinting at a mammoth copper-gold porphyry mineralisation style.
Visual copper and moly were picked up in several spots from 251m to 825m downhole, with the company geologists noting copper and molybdenum sulphide minerals in quartz-sulphide veins around the rock intrusions, bearing all the hallmarks of a mineralised porphyry system.
The data collected so far suggests the rock structures are trending south and east from the current drilling site towards what the geos believe is the main mineralised porphyry area, with brand new plans for a follow-up mega hole already in the works.
The joint venture pair formalised their link-up over the project in June last year, with FMR earning up to 60 per cent of Southern Hemisphere’s southernmost ground by spending $13 million on exploration and drilling over five years.
This third hole was positioned about 250m southwest of Target A and 400m east-southeast of Target C to help trace the mineralised pathways between those earlier targets and piece together the clues for where the higher-grade porphyry may be lurking.
Several porphyry-related intrusive rock types were intersected downhole, with handheld XRF readings lighting up strong copper-molybdenum signatures. The intrusive package suggests the hole has pierced the mineralised footprint of the system and is tracking closer to the heart of the porphyry source than earlier drilling at Targets A and C.
Downhole geophysical information from Target K will now be collected and reviewed before blending with data from the earlier targets.
Earlier logging showed consistent veining in the first two holes, striking north-northeast and dipping moderately to the east-southeast.
Conversely, veins in the latest hole vary more, trending mostly in an east-northeast direction with a moderate dip to the south-southeast. The structural change has flagged a move closer to the fluid engine, sharpening the company’s focus south, east and deeper from Target K.
The partners plan to share more on lab assay results, interpretations and drill planning as they come to hand. However, the overall take on the treasure hunt now places the porphyry origin south, east and below the current spot, impatiently waiting for follow-up drilling.
(This drillhole) has intersected multiple porphyry intrusive phases with visible copper and molybdenite sulphides, confirming that we have intersected the outer mineralised zones of this extensive system.’
FMR Resources managing director Oliver Kiddie
The Southern Porphyry target lies in a six-kilometre, north-south trending mineralised belt at the Llahuin project and is home to several copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry hubs. Mid-2025 surface mapping identified clay-style alteration, silica hardening and epithermal quartz veining – classic signatures of hotter fluids near the upper levels of the system – alongside patches of secondary copper minerals typically developed in the shallow parts of a porphyry.
Re-examination of older drill cores verified these traits deeper down, with sections displaying fluid-altered rock, silica buildup and scattered chalcopyrite-pyrite minerals.
The historic work pointed to a compressed system, with epithermal vein and alteration styles sitting above a deeper porphyry centre.
Immediately north of the joint venture zone, Southern Hemisphere holds three shallow deposits – Central, Ferro and Cerro – along the same mineralised stretch, rounding out the Llahuin project.
The combined copper resource across these areas totals 218 million tonnes grading a lower grade 0.38 per cent copper equivalent, holding 496,600 tonnes of copper, 654,900 ounces of gold and 12,500 tonnes of molybdenum.
If this latest hole is anything to go by, the drilling is edging closer to the system’s high-temperature core. Should the hunt be successful, Llahuin could move from an emerging porphyry prospect to a monster Chile copper story very quickly.
With geophysics and geochemistry lighting the path and visible copper-moly sulphides in hand, the JV partners seem to be closing in on the prize of a fabled Andean porphyry copper discovery.
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