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Overview
The Altar Project is located in Argentina, within the Province of San Juan, approximately 10 km from the Argentina–Chile border, and approximately 180 km in a direct line west of the city of San Juan. Elevations within the Project area range between 3,100 metres above sea level (MASL) and 4,000 MASL. The centre(s) of the deposit is at an elevation of approximately 3,400 MASL. The project is approximately 46 km to the south of McEwen Copper’s Los Azules project and 30 km to the north of Glencore’s El Pachon project.
Altar consists of a cluster of porphyry centres across 7 km of strike length, with six know mineralized zones to date – Altar East, Altar Central, Altar North, Altar United, QDM & Radio.
In 2023, Aldebaran completed US$30 million of expenditures on Altar (inclusive of 2018 drilling that was conducted between February and May 2018) and earned a 60% interest in the Altar project. Aldebaran has committed to earn an additional 20% in the Altar project by spending an additional US$25 million over a three-year period following the initial earn-in.
CRA (Rio Tinto) originally held the Altar project from 1995-2004, completing 2,841 metres of drilling on the project. In 2005, Peregrine Metals optioned the Altar property from Rio Tinto and from 2005-2011, completed 56,761 metres of drilling on the project. Peregrine Metals was acquired from Stillwater Mining, in 2011 for ~US$ 487 million dollars. From 2012-2018, Stillwater Mining and subsequentially Sibanye-Stillwater (following the acquisition of Stillwater Mining by Sibanye Gold in 2017) completed 53,864 m of drilling on the project. In 2018, Aldebaran Resources entered an option agreement to acquire a 80% interest in the Altar Project.
As per the NI-43101 MRE prepared by Independent Mining Consultants, Inc, in 2021, Altar has measured and indicated resources of 1,198.2 million tonnes grading 0.43% Cu, 0.09 g/t Au and 1.00 g/t Ag, as well as inferred resources of 189.2 million tonnes grading 0.42% Cu, 0.06 g/t Au and 0.80 g/t Ag. See technical report for further details.
Measured &
Indicated
Inferred
Cu
Copper
11.4 Billion lbs
0.43%
1.8 Billion lbs
0.42%
Au
Gold
3.4 Million Oz
0.09 g/t
0.4 Million Oz
0.06 g/t
Ag
Silver
38.6 Million Oz
1.00 g/t
4.8 Million Oz
0.8 g/t
Notes:
- For further details, see 2021 NI 43-101 technical report on the Altar project by IMC
project by IMC (QDM Gold not reported on this slide). - Resource reported on a 100% basis, Aldebaran currently has a 60% interest and can earn up to an 80% interest in the project.
The Company is currently advancing the Altar project towards an updated Mineral Resources Estimate (MRE) in H2 2024, a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in 2025, and a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) in 2026.
San Juan, Argentina, was ranked as the number one jurisdiction in Latin America for mining investment attractiveness in 2023 (Fraser Institute). As of February 2024, there were 64 active drill rigs working on copper projects in the province.
Aldebaran, including its executives, employees and contractors, ensure each decision is made based on our core values and good governance practices in support of the project, the community and the environment.