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Overview
Aldebaran is advancing the Altar copper-gold project, one of the largest undeveloped copper assets held by a junior company. Altar is in the pro-mining province of San Juan, Argentina, ranked one of the top jurisdictions for mining investment attractiveness in the world and number two in Latin America in 2024 by the Fraser Institute. The Altar project forms part of a larger cluster of world-class porphyry copper deposits, which includes Los Pelambres in Chile (Antofagasta Minerals), along with El Pachón (Glencore), and Los Azules (McEwen Copper) in Argentina.
In 2018, Aldebaran entered an option agreement to earn an 80% interest in the Altar project from Sibanye-Stillwater. In 2024, Aldebaran completed its obligations and moving forward the project will be a joint venture with Aldebaran funding 80% of expenditures and Sibanye-Stillwater funding the remaining 20%.
In November 2024, Aldebaran entered into an option to joint venture agreement with Nuton, a Rio Tinto venture, whereby Nuton can acquire a 20% indirect interest in the Altar project by making staged payments totaling US$250 Million. The use of Nuton’s proprietary primary sulphide leaching technologies is currently being evaluated on the Altar copper-gold project. Furthermore, the Company continues to de-risk the project for future development through measures such as environmental studies and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs in the San Juan-Calingasta region.
Altar hosts a cluster of large porphyry copper-gold systems with mineralization currently defined in six distinct zones (Altar North, Altar Central, Altar East, Altar United, QDM Gold, Radio) along 7 km of strike. A total of 318 drill holes (173,095 m) were completed at Altar between 2003 and 2024. In November 2024, an updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate was prepared for Altar by Independent Mining Consultants Inc. (Tucson, Arizona), based on the drilling completed up to June 2024. The 2024 ME revealed M&I Resources of 22.01 billion Is copper, 5.08 million oz gold and 93.76 million oz silver; and Inferred Resources of 9.83 billion lbs copper, 1.71 million oz gold and 49.04 million oz silver. This report is available on Aldebaran’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
In October 2025, Aldebaran announced the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Altar, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 by SRK Consulting Inc. (as lead consultants) and Knight Piesold (as a subcontractor). Highlights of the PEA include a 48-year mine life, after tax NPV (8%) of US$2 Billion, and a 20.5% IRR. The base case scenario utilizes a 60,000 tonnes per day (“tpd”) concentrator, processing mineralized material from both open pit and underground sources. The results of the PEA are reported on a 100% basis, while Aldebaran owns an 80% interest in the project, with the remaining 20% held by Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd. For more information, please see the news release dated October 30, 2025.
Aldebaran’s primary focus is advancing the Altar project to a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), expected to be released by the end of 2026.