Aldebaran spins out greenfield assets in Argentina

Aldebaran Resources (TSXV: ALDE) has officially spun out its exploration-stage assets in northern Argentina while it continues to work on the more advanced Altar project in San Juan province as its sole asset.The Vancouver-based copper-gold developer first announced its intention to spin out the assets in September, a move that it said would “unlock additional value” for its shareholders by creating a new company focused on advancing a portfolio of exploration projects that have been on hold for the past several years.The new company — called Centauri Minerals — will hold six greenfield projects spanning over 430 sq. km across Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca provinces. Currently, the most advanced is Rio Grande, located 9 km from the Lindero gold-copper mine owned by Fortuna Mining. Based on drilling last completed in 2012, the project has a resource of 71 million tonnes grading 0.30% copper and 0.36 g/t gold in the indicated category and 41 million tonnes at 0.23% copper and 0.28 g/t gold in the inferred category.Another notable project is Aguas Calientes, which has a well-mineralized surface but has not seen drilling since 2019.New subsidiaryLeading the new subsidiary will be Sam Leung, a director at Aldebaran who previously worked at Adventus Mining (sold to Silvercorp Metals last year) and Lundin Mining, both of which have projects in South America.As part of the spin-off, Aldebaran will “sell” the exploration assets to Centauri in exchange for 40 million shares of the subsidiary, representing 78.1% of those outstanding. The remaining shares will be sold at C$0.50 each to investors as part of a private seed financing for around C$5.7 million.The funds would allow Centauri to execute its exploration initiatives, including the completion of a technical report on Rio Grande and field programs at Rio Grande and Aguas Calientes in preparation for drilling. It also plans to use the proceeds for administrative purposes ahead of a proposed initial public offering or go-public transaction in 2026.Meanwhile, Aldebaran will continue to develop the 80%-owned Altar project as its lone asset. A resource update last year outlined 2.4 billion tonnes in measured and indicated resources grading 0.42% copper and 0.07 g/t gold, for 22 billion lb. of contained copper and 5.1 million oz. of gold. The company’s goal for next year is to advance the project towards a prefeasibility study.Aldebaran plans $1.5 billion capex for Argentina copper projectAldebaran Resources’ stock inched 0.6% higher on the spin-off announcement, giving the company a market capitalization of C$580.5 million ($414.3 million).Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com