en.Wedoany.com Reported - Andina Copper Corporation has released assay results for drill holes PIU12 and PIU13 at the new target area Piuquenes North, located in San Juan Province, Argentina, confirming the discovery of a new copper-gold porphyry system. The drilling was designed to test a discrete magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical target identified during the company's 2026 geophysical survey program.

Assay results from drill hole PIU13 returned 0.50% copper, 0.30 g/t gold, and 3.04 g/t silver over 468 meters from 700 meters downhole, including 0.70% copper, 0.44 g/t gold, and 4.19 g/t silver over 164 meters from 924 meters downhole. Mineralization occurs within a strongly developed multi-stage porphyry system intersected between 664 meters and 1,168 meters downhole. Gold is a significant co-product, with lower silver grades. Drill hole PIU12, located approximately 600 meters east-northeast of PIU13, encountered short intervals of mineralization within a pre-mineral porphyry and is interpreted to be on the margin of the mineralized system.

Drill holes PIU12 and PIU13 tested only a small portion of the magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical anomaly, which measures approximately 800 meters by 700 meters, trends north-northeast, and remains open for expansion in all directions. With this discovery, Piuquenes is now confirmed to host multiple porphyry centers, including the newly discovered Piuquenes North, as well as the previously reported Piuquenes Central and Piuquenes East systems, all located directly north of Aldebaran Resources Inc.'s Altar copper-gold porphyry project.

Joseph van den Elsen, President and CEO of Andina Copper, expressed satisfaction with the initial drill results from Piuquenes North, stating that the high-grade copper and gold values in PIU13 confirm a new discovery near the near-surface high-grade copper-gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central. Only a small portion of the large-scale geophysical anomaly at Piuquenes North has been tested, and the company is designing the next phase of drilling to expand this area. Since January 2025, the company has rapidly advanced the Piuquenes project, having drilled three porphyry centers directly north of the Altar project to date. Other major copper projects within the Miocene porphyry belt of San Juan include: El Pachón (Glencore), approximately 30 kilometers to the south; Chile's Los Pelambres copper mine (60% owned by Antofagasta plc); and Los Azules (McEwen Copper), 50 kilometers to the northeast.