Copper: McEwen Copper invested US$230 million in the exploration of Los Azules

McEwen Copper, the company developing the Los Azules copper project, announced that it has reached the milestone of US$230 million in investment over the nearly three years it has been exploring the mega-project located in Calingasta. The latest drilling program, which began last October, has successfully completed 69,200 meters across 22 on-site platforms, with the aim of better understanding the resource, metallurgy, geotechnics, and hydrogeology of the deposit. With the onset of winter, the machinery is currently being demobilized, and the drilling season is coming to an end, having recorded solid results.

By Panorama Minero

The Canadian capital company reported that preliminary reports from the 2023-2024 drilling season have been received and analyzed, recording significant copper values that correspond to the block resource model used in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of Los Azules, presented in June 2023. Some highlights of the drilling included:

-257 meters of 0.76% copper in the enriched zone (Hole AZ23205)
-446 meters of 0.63% copper including 76 meters of 0.92% Cu (Hole AZ23228)
-250 meters of 0.68% copper in the enriched zone, including 192 meters of 0.83% Cu (Hole AZ23230)

Improvement in copper recovery

In addition, heap leach metallurgical tests conducted by SGS Chile supported an average copper recovery of 76.0% using conventional technology. This 3.2% increase compared to the recovery rate used in the 2023 PEA represents a potential increase in the NPV (8%) after taxes of approximately US$262 million.

Meeting with the Argentine President

After presenting the exploratory results of the season and the progress made at Los Azules, McEwen Copper highlighted the meeting that the company's senior management had with President Javier Milei. They specified that during the meeting, the president shared his plans to improve the quality of life for citizens and stimulate the country's economy through disciplined fiscal policies favorable to foreign investment. "The conversation addressed the need to promote significant capital flows that invest in productive assets, thus generating a solid tax base and quality long-term jobs. Among the topics discussed, the Los Azules copper project stood out, highlighting the considerable investments made to progress towards the production of pure green copper cathodes by 2030," they reported in a recent statement.

"The optimistic climate surrounding Argentina since President Milei's designation has generated positive expectations in various sectors such as mining. The potential relaxation of exchange controls and ongoing legislative reforms are seen as a boost for large-scale infrastructure projects, including the mining industry. These signals are viewed favorably by the industry, heralding a favorable outlook for assets such as Los Azules and the San José mine," added the Canadian company.

The Los Azules project, located in the province of San Juan, is one of the largest undeveloped copper porphyry deposits in the world and is on track to deliver its Feasibility Study in the first quarter of 2024.