Andina Copper Corporation (TSX-V: ANDC | FSE: FIR | OTCQB: PMMCF) announced assay results from diamond drillholes PIU12 and PIU13 at the Piuquenes North target in San Juan, Argentina, confirming a new copper-gold porphyry discovery. Drillhole PIU13 intersected 468 meters grading 0.50% copper, 0.30 g/t gold, and 3.04 g/t silver from 700 meters depth, including a higher-grade interval of 164 meters at 0.70% copper, 0.44 g/t gold, and 4.19 g/t silver from 924 meters. The mineralization is hosted within a multiphase porphyry system characterized by intense quartz vein stockwork and potassic alteration, with chalcopyrite and bornite as the primary copper minerals.
The discovery is significant because it adds a third porphyry center to Andina's Piuquenes project, alongside the previously identified Piuquenes Central and Piuquenes East systems, all located immediately north of Aldebaran Resources Inc.'s Altar copper-gold porphyry project. The Piuquenes North target was generated from a magneto-telluric (MT) geophysical survey that delineated a large anomaly measuring approximately 800 by 700 meters. Drillholes PIU12 and PIU13 tested only a small portion of this anomaly, leaving the bulk of the target untested along strike and at depth.
“We are extremely pleased with the results received from our first drillholes at Piuquenes North. High-grade Cu-Au values from PIU13 confirm a new discovery, proximate to the high-grade, near surface Cu-Au mineralization at Piuquenes Central,” said Joseph van den Elsen, President and CEO of Andina Copper. “Significantly, only a fraction of the large geophysical anomaly at Piuquenes North has been tested, and we are now designing the next phase of drilling to expand on what is potentially a significant new porphyry discovery along the emerging San Juan Miocene belt.”
Drillhole PIU13 was drilled to a depth of 1,235 meters and intersected a mineralized multiphase porphyry system from approximately 664 to 1,168 meters. The intrusive complex includes pre-mineral, early mineral, and intermineral porphyry phases, all affected by potassic alteration with local sericite-chlorite overprints. The highest-grade interval is associated with the early mineral porphyry between 914 and 1,045 meters. In contrast, drillhole PIU12, located about 600 meters east-northeast of PIU13, intersected only short intervals of mineralization within a pre-mineral porphyry, interpreted as the periphery of the system. PIU12 returned 14 meters at 0.38% copper, 0.12 g/t gold, and 1.81 g/t silver from 864 meters.
The Piuquenes project is situated within the Miocene porphyry belt of San Juan Province, approximately 190 kilometers west of San Juan city. Other major porphyry deposits in the region include El Pachon (Glencore) 30 kilometers to the south, Los Pelambres copper mine (Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Copper) 50 kilometers to the northeast. Andina Copper plans to integrate the assay results into a refined geological model to design follow-up drilling targeting the north-northeast continuation and depth extent of the MT anomaly.
The company’s corporate presentation is available at Andina Copper Corporate Presentation. For the latest news and releases, visit Mailing List.
