Andina Copper Corp. (TSX-V:ANDC) announced a wide intercept of copper-gold-silver mineralization at its Piuquenes East project in San Juan Province, Argentina, significantly expanding the vertical extent of the mineralized envelope. Drill hole PIU09, the third hole drilled at Piuquenes East, intersected 126 meters grading 0.46% copper, 0.53 g/t gold, and 2.14 g/t silver from 529 meters depth, within a broader 402-meter interval of 0.25% Cu, 0.21 g/t Au, and 1.19 g/t Ag from 253 meters. The mineralization is hosted within strongly veined dioritic porphyry with intense sericitic alteration overprinting potassic assemblages, indicating proximity to the porphyry core.
The results confirm the presence of a new vertically extensive gold-rich porphyry Cu-Au-Ag system within the Piuquenes-Altar cluster. Higher gold grades and increasing intensity of A and B-type veining observed at depth suggest the system remains open. Bornite-rich potassic alteration with higher gold grades may be preserved beneath the sericitic overprint. Follow-up drilling is underway to evaluate the northern continuity of the mineralized porphyry system at Piuquenes East, with hole PIU11 designed to test a geophysical chargeability anomaly defined by Induced Polarization (IP) surveying and a coincident conductive feature identified in Magnetotelluric (MT) data.
Additionally, a second drill rig has commenced testing a strong, discrete geophysical anomaly at Piuquenes North, immediately adjacent to the Piuquenes Central deposit. The anomaly, characterized by low-resistivity contrast and significant vertical extent, may represent a deep intrusive or magmatic-hydrothermal source. Integration of MT data with existing IP datasets suggests that the Piuquenes East and Central mineralization may represent upper-level expressions of a deeper source at Piuquenes North. The Company's corporate presentation is available at Andina Copper Corporate Presentation.
Drill hole PIU09 was collared using a PQ drill bit and reduced to HQ diameter. Core was logged, photographed, and sampled at two-meter intervals under QA/QC protocols including certified reference materials, blanks, and duplicates. Samples were analyzed by ALS Minerals in Mendoza and Lima. Gustavo Zulliger, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed the technical information. Andina Copper holds two significant discoveries along the Andean porphyry belt in Argentina and Colombia, and a target in Chile.
