FMR Expands Chile Targets Ahead of 2,000m La Lorena Drill Campaign

La Lorena Moves from Targeting to Drilling

FMR Resources Limited (ASX:FMR) is preparing to put its most advanced Chilean targets to the drill bit, with a first-pass program of at least 2,000 metres planned at the La Lorena Project in the fourth quarter of 2026. The program is designed to test mineralised structures and geophysical features beneath and around the historical La Martuca artisanal workings, rather than simply extend surface sampling.

The plan follows a quarter of increasingly detailed targeting. A helicopter magnetic and radiometric survey identified a previously unrecognised northwest-trending Eastern Structural Corridor, or ESC, containing five discrete magnetic features interpreted by FMR as possible intrusive centres prospective for porphyry-style mineralisation. At La Martuca, preliminary three-dimensional modelling of five induced polarisation lines refined a central chargeability anomaly beneath known mineralisation, as well as a second, larger target about 550 metres northeast of the historical workings.

The modelling is still preliminary, and the company says further surveying and full three-dimensional inversion are needed, particularly for the northeastern target. Even so, the results have advanced the project to drill planning: proposed holes are intended to test continuity of interpreted mineralised structures and the geological source of multiple chargeability responses at depth. The work builds on FMR’s La Martuca 3D IP modelling, which previously advanced a Q4 2026 first-pass drilling plan.

Esperanza Anomaly Remains an Untested Signal

Esperanza is supplying a second set of targets, but with more unanswered questions. IP surveying identified a strong chargeability response directly beneath the historical Esperanza workings, most pronounced at about 500 metres below surface and within the footprint of the Esperanza I helicopter magnetic anomaly. FMR has not yet established the response’s geological or economic significance; three-dimensional inversion, fieldwork and drilling remain necessary.

That caution matters because shallow low-resistivity zones across the Esperanza survey may reflect clay alteration, weathering or alluvial cover and could influence the modelling of deeper responses. FMR plans to complete the Esperanza inversion, undertake infill IP and continue geological mapping and sampling before ranking the Esperanza I and II targets for drilling. The latest result updates the earlier Esperanza deep IP anomaly, but does not turn a geophysical anomaly into a mineral resource.

Los Warbos Adds Scale and High-Grade Surface Results

FMR’s second Chilean focus is Los Warbos, a largely unexplored district covering approximately 3,300 hectares of granted mining concessions alongside about 5,250 hectares of contiguous exploration applications. Rock-chip sampling during due diligence returned up to 10.77% copper, 4.01 grams per tonne gold and 148 grams per tonne silver, while a separate sample area produced a 5.94% copper result within the same prospective carbonate horizon.

The company’s helicopter magnetic and radiometric survey identified anomalies associated with dioritic intrusive centres and favourable carbonate rocks that host the Los Molles copper-gold-silver skarn mineralisation. FMR says the combined geological, geochemical and geophysical evidence supports an intrusion-related hydrothermal model with both skarn and porphyry-style targets. Those are encouraging exploration indicators, but the project has never been drill tested and the rock-chip results are selective surface samples rather than evidence of deposit-wide grades. The quarter’s work extends the earlier Los Warbos survey and sampling.

Cash Funds the Push, But Not Indefinitely

FMR exercised its three-month option to acquire Los Warbos after the reporting quarter, although some concessions remain described in the tenement schedule as held under an option agreement. The company is also pursuing the conditional sale of its Fairfield Canadian project to MFM Resources for A$200,000 in MFM shares, subject to MFM securing an ASX listing, approvals and due diligence. The proposed transaction would further concentrate FMR on Chile, but the consideration is non-cash and its value depends on the conditions being met.

At 30 September, FMR held A$3.786 million in cash after spending A$1.445 million on investing activities during the quarter, including A$1.076 million on exploration and evaluation and A$369,000 on tenements. On the Appendix 5B calculation, that cash represented an estimated 2.51 quarters of funding based on relevant quarterly outgoings of A$1.510 million. That runway provides room for the planned drilling, but leaves the company’s exploration timetable sensitive to spending rates, drilling costs and the pace of future work at Los Warbos.