Andina Copper Corporation (TSX-V: ANDC | FSE: FIR | OTCQB: PMMCF) has announced assay results from drillholes PIU12 and PIU13 at the Piuquenes North target in San Juan, Argentina, confirming a new porphyry copper-gold system. The discovery, which remains largely untested, highlights the potential for a significant mineralized body along the emerging San Juan Miocene belt.
Drillhole PIU13 returned 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 sulfide minerals. Gold is a significant co-product, with lesser silver. In contrast, hole PIU12, collared approximately 600 meters east-northeast of PIU13, intersected only short intervals of mineralization on the periphery of the system, returning 14 meters at 0.38% copper, 0.12 g/t gold, and 1.81 g/t silver from 864 meters.
The discovery is the result of testing a large, discrete magneto-telluric (MT) geophysical target measuring approximately 800 by 700 meters, which remains open in all directions. The two drillholes tested only a small portion of the anomaly, indicating substantial upside for expansion. Andina Copper's President and CEO, Joseph van den Elsen, stated that the results confirm a new discovery proximate to the high-grade, near-surface mineralization at Piuquenes Central, and the company is now designing the next phase of drilling to expand on what is potentially a significant new porphyry discovery.
The Piuquenes district now comprises three recognized porphyry systems: Piuquenes North, Piuquenes Central, and Piuquenes East, all located immediately adjacent to the north of Aldebaran Resources Inc.'s Altar copper-gold porphyry project. Other large porphyry copper projects in the region include El Pachon (Glencore) approximately 30 kilometers to the south, the operating Los Pelambres copper mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Copper) 50 kilometers to the northeast. Mineralization on adjacent properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization at Piuquenes.
Geologically, PIU13 intersected a broad mineralized multiphase porphyry system from approximately 664 to 1,168 meters downhole, comprising pre-mineral, early mineral, and intermineral porphyry phases affected by potassic alteration. The highest-grade interval is associated with the early mineral porphyry between 914 and 1,045 meters. PIU12 intersected andesitic volcanic rocks with dikes and apophyses of pre-mineral porphyry, confirming lateral extension of the system but at lower grades, interpreted as the periphery.
The company plans to integrate final assay results with geological logging to refine the three-dimensional model and design a follow-up drill program targeting down-dip and along-strike extensions, with priority on the north-northeast continuation and untested depth extent of the MT anomaly. Andina Copper is a South America-focused copper explorer listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV:ANDC), Frankfurt (FSE:FIR), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCF), holding significant discoveries along the Andean porphyry belt in Colombia and Argentina.
