Andina Copper Corporation (TSX-V: ANDC | FSE: FIR | OTCQB: PMMCF) has reported assay results from drillholes PIU12 and PIU13 at the Piuquenes North target in San Juan, Argentina, confirming a new porphyry copper-gold discovery. The drilling targeted a large magneto-telluric (MT) geophysical anomaly identified in the company's 2026 survey program.
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. Mineralization is hosted within a multiphase porphyry system intersected between 664 and 1,168 meters downhole, characterized by intense quartz vein stockwork and potassic alteration with chalcopyrite and bornite, indicating a high-temperature porphyry core.
Drillhole PIU12, located approximately 600 meters east-northeast of PIU13, intersected shorter intervals of mineralization within a pre-mineral porphyry, interpreted as the periphery of the 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. The Piuquenes district now hosts three porphyry centers: the new North discovery, and the previously reported Central and East systems, all adjacent to Aldebaran Resources Inc.'s Altar copper-gold project.
President and CEO Joseph van den Elsen stated, “We are extremely pleased with the results 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 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 company plans to integrate results into a refined geological model and design follow-up drilling targeting down-dip and along-strike extensions, with priority on the north-northeast continuation and depth extent of the MT anomaly. The Piuquenes project is located within the Miocene porphyry belt of San Juan, approximately 190 km west of San Juan city, alongside major projects such as El Pachon (Glencore) 30 km south, Los Pelambres mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Copper) 50 km northeast.
