The mapping scale will be increased in the hydrothermal gap in the northeastern area of Cerro Apero. Additional information will also be gathered while negotiating with two parties interested in joining the project.
By Panorama Minero
The Cerro Amarillo copper project, owned by Wincul Argentina S.A., will proceed with sampling and geological mapping in Mendoza for the remainder of the exploration season, as reported by the company.
The porphyry cluster located in the Malargüe department was the first metal mining project to drill after 17 years in the Mendoza territory, making it a landmark project.
At the beginning of the season, the company announced that they were negotiating with two companies interested in partnering with the junior company to advance in the exploration process. Emiliano Gatti, one of the project’s partners (Grupo Alberdi), mentioned at the start of the season that the interested companies requested more field information, which led them to decide not to proceed with drilling during this period in favor of focusing on prospecting.
The project spans an area of 14,000 hectares, where five mineralized zones have been identified: Cerro Apero; Vaca de Cobre; Cerro Choro; Cajón Grande; and La Blanca. In the 2023-2024 campaign, exploration was carried out with a team at Cerro Apero, one of the five porphyries that make up the copper project, achieving a total of 2,500 meters of diamond drilling. The drilling period was limited by the time it took to build a 22-kilometer road, which allowed machinery access to the area where the porphyries are located.
Lack of access to the project has always been one of the main issues, and of the nearly US$4 million invested in the first exploration campaign, most of it was allocated to building access.
Initially, the plan was to begin drilling in the northwest area of Cerro Apero. However, during the construction of the road—which started in the Las Leñas area—and with the time constraints, some indications were found that led to the decision to drill in the northeastern area. However, the main target of the exploration is Cajón Grande, a porphyry located to the southwest of the area where the first drillings were carried out.
In this new phase, sampling will be done in the watercourses of the area, and the mapping scale will be increased in the hydrothermal gap in the northeastern area of Cerro Apero. The sampling density will also be increased in the gorge located behind the same porphyry. Fieldwork will then move forward at Cajón Grande, and a geochemical sampling campaign will be conducted, along with mapping of lithologies and hydrothermal alterations, looking for potential new mineralized zones.
Connection with the Malargüe District
Although the approval of Cerro Amarillo's exploration was not linked to the creation of the Malargüe Occidental Mining District (MDMO), the copper project is located within the polygon defined by the provincial government through Impulsa Mendoza, the entity that proposes all batches of projects seeking legislative approval.
For geographical reasons, Cerro Amarillo ended up surrounded by other projects, so Wincul moved forward with a strategic decision. They acquired two nearby projects, both of which are within the 34 that have been granted an approved Environmental Impact Declaration. In addition to the 14,000 hectares of the Cerro Amarillo project, they added another 46,000 hectares through the Minué and Cerro de la Virgen projects, which they negotiated with the Mendoza-based company AgAuCu, one of the most active companies in the movement of the Mendoza district.
Beyond the work to be done during this campaign, the immediate objective for the project is to reach an agreement with some of the interested parties to advance with a strategic partner in the next exploration campaign, focusing on drilling in the Cajón Grande area. In parallel, one of the partners in Cerro Amarillo, Grupo Alberdi, holds a 10% stake in PSJ Cobre Mendocino, a project they are carrying out with the Swiss company Zonda Metals, which is processing the Environmental Impact Declaration to produce copper concentrate in the mountain town of Uspallata.
