Fitzroy Minerals Provides Exploration Update for Copper Projects
Vancouver, British Columbia — February 9, 2026 — Leads & Copy —
Fitzroy Minerals Inc. (TSXV: FTZ, OTCQB: FTZFF) has updated its exploration progress at the Buen Retiro and Caballos copper projects in northern Chile.
Drill hole BRT-DDH041 at Buen Retiro intersected 108 meters at 0.41% Cu (mainly chalcopyrite) and 156 ppm Co, from 30 meters, including 48 meters at 0.77% Cu and 241 ppm Co, from 60 meters. Reverse Circulation drill hole BRT-RCD008 intersected 213 meters at 0.19% Cu and 199 ppm Co from 3 meters to 216 meters, including 85 meters at 0.33% Cu from 17 meters, extending the Southwest oxide target to 1.7 km at Buen Retiro.
At Caballos, drill hole CAB-DDH009 intersected 70 meters at 0.41% CuEq from 85 meters in the Estero Chincolco hydrothermal breccia.
Fitzroy Minerals President and CEO Merlin Marr-Johnson said drill holes 41 to 45 are defining a new exploration target of Candelaria-style mineralization at Buen Retiro. He noted that the sulphide intersections are relatively shallow and with some results similar to the Candelaria open pit grades reported by Lundin Mining. He added that even sterilisation drill holes in the Southwest area intersected copper and have extended the oxide trend by another 300 meters to 1.7 kilometers in length.
Fitzroy has signed new drilling contracts for an exploration and infill program that will be underway shortly. The company is planning passive ground magneto-telluric (“MT”) geophysics to improve resolution on deeper targets.
At Caballos, final drilling results from the 2025 drilling program extend the strike length of the mineralized breccias. The Caballos drill core exhibits porphyry textures, alteration, and mineralization. Part of the 2026 exploration plan will be trying to find the source of the mineralized clasts in the breccias. The company is looking forward to the imminent airborne MobileMT geophysical survey to learn more about the architecture of this porphyry system, allowing it to continue its discovery journey with more drilling.
Phase 2 drilling is complete at Buen Retiro, with 8,300 meters of diamond drill (“DD”) core across 29 drill holes. Results for drill holes 40 to 43 are reported here (Table 1), and assays are pending for drill holes 44 and 45. The reverse circulation (“RC”) campaign was completed with 9,822 m drilled, of which 2,050 m were condemnation drill holes aimed at testing areas for future infrastructure. New drilling contracts have been signed for a minimum of 10,400 m of diamond drilling and 3,000 m of reverse circulation drilling planned for 2026. A ground geophysical survey (passive seismic) is planned to assist with sulphide drill-targeting at depth.
Drilling has identified a copper-mineralized trend extending for approximately 1 km north of the historical Manto Negro open pit, hosted within a volcanic sequence dominated by andesitic rocks, interbedded with volcanic breccias and tuffs.
Drill holes 41 and 43 are particularly encouraging as they validate the potential of the Candelaria-style sulphide exploration target in the North area at Buen Retiro. These recent sulphide intersections are relatively shallow and some results are similar to the Candelaria open pit grades as shown in the 2024 Lundin Mining annual report (Open Pit M&I: 591.6 Mt @ 0.37% Cu, 0.09 g/t Au).
Separately, RC sterilization drilling identified that oxide mineralization in the Southwest area continues to the northwest further than anticipated. This is no longer the case, as drill holes BRT-RCD007, BRT-RCD008 and BRT-RCD011 intersected copper mineralization.
RC drill hole 8 was particularly impressive, including a shallow interval of 85 metres from a downhole length of 3 metres averaging 0.33% Cu and containing 111 ppm Co. RC drill holes 9, 10, and 12-18 were sterilization holes over potential leach pad and waste dump areas and did not intersect significant copper mineralization.
Fitzroy has extended the strike-length of the Southwest area by 300 m from 1,400 m to 1,700 metres.
New DD and RC drilling plans for 2026 are being finalised. The diamond holes will be split between exploration drilling for infill and larger diameter HQ (63.5 mm diameter) core for metallurgical sampling drill holes. Existing geophysical data is being re-interpreted, and a deep-penetrating ground survey (seismic) is being designed.
Discussions regarding a Heap Leach Joint Venture Copper Project with Sociedad Punta del Cobre S.A. (“Pucobre”) continue, and a decision has been made that the associated Technical Report to be completed by Fitzroy will be a Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”), meeting the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) disclosure requirements.
At Caballos, Phase 1 drilling was completed with a total of 3,154 metres of diamond drill core across nine holes. An airborne geophysical survey (Mobile MagnetoTellurics or Mobile MT) has been commissioned and is scheduled for completion in Q1 2026. Mapping is continuing ahead of the airborne geophysical survey. Phase 2 drilling is scheduled for later in the year once the geophysical data is integrated into the Company’s geological model.
Drill hole CAB-DDH009 is located 180 m north of CAB-DDH001 and drilled to the west, with a dip of 80. The drill hole intersected volcanic and intrusive rocks that have been overprinted by multiple tectonic, hydrothermal, and mineralizing events. The core exhibits pervasive alteration and disseminated chalcopyrite with lesser molybdenite, occasionally higher molybdenite and lower chalcopyrite content, and later cross-cutting veining. The central zone of mineralization returned 70 m @ 0.41% CuEq1 (0.18% Cu, 374 ppm Mo, 0.04 g/t Au) from 85 metres. The geology is consistent with a long-lived, structurally complex copper system. Certain areas display potassic alteration, veining, stockworks, and brecciation, which are hallmarks of economic porphyry copper deposits.
Expert Geophysics is scheduled to start an airborne MobileMT geophysical survey imminently. Once information from the survey is integrated into the Company’s geological model, Phase 2 drilling will be planned. The geophysical survey should help to map subsurface geology, especially conductive features like faults, fractures, and concentrations of sulphide mineralization.
Buen Retiro drill core is picked up from the drilling site by Company personnel and transported by truck from the drill rig to the core processing facility in Copiapó. Core lengths are checked, after which geotechnical logging is performed.
Using an electric core cutting diamond blade saw, primary half core samples are collected from HQ- or NQ-sized drill core with the remaining half-core stored in the original wooden core trays at the rented core storage warehouse in Cuesta Cardones, south of Copiapó.
A silica blank is inserted every 20 samples (~20 m); a blank is always inserted immediately after a section that contains native copper. Sample identifications are changed and coded by the Company. The Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) samples prepared by the Company represent about 12% of the total primary core samples.
Sampling and assaying QA/QC protocols employed by the Company for this drill hole include routine insertion of certified reference materials (“CRM”) including certified standards and blanks. Results for each CRM are assessed to monitor the accuracy and precision of the assay data for the core samples.
Dr. Scott Jobin-Bevans (P.Geo., Ph.D., PMP), a QP as defined by NI 43-101 and independent geological consultant to the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical information provided in this news release and verified the data disclosed.
Fitzroy Minerals is focused on exploring and developing copper-focused mineral assets with substantial upside potential in the Americas. The Company’s current property portfolio includes the Buen Retiro Copper Project located near Copiapó, Chile, the Caballos Copper and Polimet Gold-Copper-Silver projects located in Valparaiso, Chile, the Taquetren Gold Project located in Rio Negro, Argentina, and the Cariboo Project in British Columbia, Canada. Fitzroy Minerals’ shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FTZ and on the OTCQB under the symbol FTZFF.
Source: Fitzroy Minerals
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