New Round of Exploration Launched for 14 Gold and Silver Projects in Santa Cruz, Argentina

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 16, the provincial government of Santa Cruz, Argentina, announced that with the improvement of local weather conditions, a new mineral exploration season has begun in the Macizo del Deseado. Currently, a total of 14 gold and silver projects in the region are in the active exploration stage, and multiple companies are preparing to resume or expand drilling, geological mapping, sampling, and geophysical exploration work.

The 14 projects are Cerro Bayo, Cerro León, El Águila, El Dorado-Monserrat, El Pantano, El Zanjón, Joaquín, La Flora, La Manchuria, Lolita, Luna Roja, Sascha/Marcelina, San Agustín, and Venidero. The Mining State Secretariat under the Ministry of Energy and Mining of Santa Cruz Province is responsible for the technical and administrative supervision of the relevant projects.

Compared with May of this year, the number of active exploration projects in the Macizo del Deseado has increased from 12 to 14. The official project list published in May included El Águila, El Dorado-Monserrat, El Zanjón, Cerro Bayo, La Flora, Luna Roja, Joaquín, Cerro León, La Manchuria, San Agustín, Meseta Sirven, and El Pantano; the latest list newly includes Lolita, Sascha/Marcelina, and Venidero, while Meseta Sirven is not included in this round's list of 14 active projects.

Among them, FOMICRUZ, the state-owned mining company of Santa Cruz Province, plans to carry out a new round of drilling of approximately 4,000 meters at the San Agustín project. The company completed 622 meters of drilling at the project in the first half of 2026, then suspended operations due to winter conditions; the new round of drilling will continue the previous exploration work.

The El Dorado-Monserrat project will also expand its exploration investment. Canadian company Fredonia Mining recently announced an additional investment of approximately CAD 10 million to continue on-site exploration and drilling work. The project is still in the exploration and resource evaluation stage.

The La Manchuria project launched its third phase of drilling in April this year, and operator Astra Exploration plans to complete at least 5,000 meters of drilling in this phase. As winter ends, Santa Cruz Province expects multiple projects to gradually increase on-site personnel and drilling rig inputs in the coming weeks.