Aguia hits best copper interception yet at Andrade, targeting Rio Grande Copper Belt

Multi-commodity player Aguia (ASX:AGR) has reported the best copper intersection yet while wearing the explorer hat at its south Brazil Andrade copper project, located in the Rio Grande Copper Belt. 

Company shares have risen 6.56% in early afternoon trade to 6.5c. 

Agricultural equity watchers may recognise Aguia as being the same company developing its Pampafos natural fertiliser product, on which recent studies suggested outperformance of chemical products. 

That ESG focus extends to the company’s copper play, with management working on a sustainability strategy that seeks to title Andrade a green copper project. 

Let’s get back to today’s assay results from the company’s freshest round of diamond drilling at Andrade. 

Making sense of grades 

Investor information provider Undervalued Equity notes high grade copper is considered that with concentrations exceeding 1.5% in core samples. 

The Andrade project also boasts silver mineralisation; Undervalued Equity notes high-grade silver is that exceeding 50 grams per tonne (50g/t). 

With that in mind, Aguia reports the following: 

• 38.2m @ 1.42% copper and 3.64g/t silver from 76m (AND-22-019) 

• 11.0m @ 0.60% copper and 9.83g/t silver from 83m (AND-22-018) 

A previous drillhole assay reported at Andrade included: 

• 28.7m @ 1.83% copper, including: 

  • 19.4m @ 2.55% copper 

Results from the latest diamond drill run will ultimately be used to boost resource estimates at Andrade. 

ESG focus lends itself to EV potential

What is clear at this relatively early stage is that Aguia sits on acreage boasting areas of thick copper mineralisation ranging between mid-to-high grade. 

While silver grades on-site fall well below high-grade thresholds, the ongoing prospectivity for silver boasts interesting commercial implications for the Andrade project. 

After all: silver, one of the most conductive metals on earth, is coming to the fore as an emerging battery metal constituent.

Over 55Moz of silver are used each year in EV battery supply chains.

Copper, too, is an often overlooked battery materials metal, but that reputation is slowly pivoting towards the electrification market. 

Management wasting no time 

“We continue to be very excited about overall results at Andrade…this last assay batch returned the best copper intercept so far, drilled along the western portion of the orebody,” Aguia MD Dr. Fernando Tallarico said. 

“These results not only prove our [modelling] but will contribute to improve the quality of our resource. In parallel to the diamond drilling program, we continue to advance with different testwork to improve the processing of our green copper project.” 

Well placed to continue early exploration 

At the end of the June quarter, Aguia held $3.7m in cash. Shareholders should note that due to currency exchange, that $3.7m can go further in Brazil with regards to opex than it would in an Australian jurisdiction. 

The company has a market cap of $26m and is ranked 477 of 912 players in the materials sector. 

Investor interest in Aguia through 2022 is clear: 

• One week returns up 27.4%

• One month returns up 30% 

• Year to date (YTD) performance up 18% 

Important to note here is that one year returns are up by only 4.8%. 

As of today, the share price has recovered losses incurred through July and the first half of August. 

In early June, the company’s share price hit a one year high of 8.4c, though, has since receded to 6.5c, where it sat in early July.

A snapshot of Aguia's charts over the last six months reveal a quick recovery of July losses