Andina Copper Corporation (TSX-V: ANDC | FSE: FIR | OTCQB: PMMCF) has announced assay results from drillholes PIU12 and PIU13 at the newly generated Piuquenes North target in San Juan, Argentina, confirming a new porphyry copper-gold discovery. The drilling targeted a large, discrete magneto-telluric (MT) geophysical anomaly identified in the company's 2026 survey program.
Drillhole PIU13 intersected 468 meters grading 0.50% copper, 0.30 g/t gold, and 3.04 g/t silver from 700 meters downhole, 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. Mineralization occurs within a strongly developed multiphase porphyry system between 664 and 1,168 meters downhole, characterized by an intense quartz vein stockwork in potassic altered early mineral porphyry. Chalcopyrite and bornite are present in M, A, and B quartz veins and disseminations, consistent with a high-temperature potassic porphyry core. Gold is a significant co-product, with lesser silver.
Drillhole PIU12, collared approximately 600 meters east-northeast of PIU13, intersected shorter intervals of mineralization within a pre-mineral porphyry, interpreted to be on the periphery of the mineralized system. The two holes tested only a small portion of the MT anomaly, which measures about 800 by 700 meters and trends north-northeast, remaining largely untested in all directions.
Andina Copper's President and CEO Joseph van den Elsen stated: '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. 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.'
The Piuquenes project now comprises three recognized porphyry systems: the newly discovered Piuquenes North, together with the previously identified Piuquenes East and Piuquenes Central systems. These lie immediately adjacent to the north of Aldebaran Resources Inc.'s Altar copper-gold porphyry project. Other major porphyry deposits in the region include El Pachon (Glencore) about 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.
The company plans to integrate final assay results into a refined three-dimensional geological model to 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. The company's Corporate Presentation is available at Andina Copper Corporate Presentation.
