Toro–Malambo–Tambo Project

Argentina

Located in the Valle del Cura region within the San Juan province in Argentina, the Toro–Malambo–Tambo (TMT) Project is an extensive 32,000 hectares project with potential for large scale Base Metal mineralisation and untested porphyry targets.

The Province of San Juan has recently been rated by the Fraser Institute as the Number 1 Mining destination in Latin America.

TMT Project is located in an underexplored gap between two world-class metallogenic belts, the El Indio and Maricunga belts in the Central Andes. These world-class metallogenic belts are rich in precious and base metals including high-profile advanced copper-gold porphyry projects. Both the Chilean and Argentinean side of the border host large mines and are being actively explored by large mining companies. These include Filo del Sol (Lundin), Josemaria (Lundin), Altar (Aldebaran Resources), Los Azules (McEwen Mining) and El Pachon (Glencore) as well as the high-sulphidation gold-silver deposits Veladero and Pascua Llama (Barrick-Shandong).

The Andean copper belt is host to over 40% of the world’s copper production.

Previous exploration companies have identified a Zn-Pb mineralised zone within the TMT Project area, with homogeneous high zinc grades in an extensive vein system and related stockworks associated with igneous units. This zinc mineralisation is spatially linked to a geophysical IP anomaly possibly related to a deeper porphyry system. High grade gold and copper values in rock chip samples and breccias with high gold values were also reported.

TMT project area in the San Juan Province of Argentina, in close proximity to world class projects such as Filo del Sol, Josemaria, Pascua Lama and Veladero. Source: Modified from the Argentinian Geological and Mining Survey (SEGEMAR).
TMT project area in the San Juan Province of Argentina, in close proximity to world class projects such as Filo del Sol, Josemaria, Pascua Lama and Veladero. Source: Modified from the Argentinian Geological and Mining Survey (SEGEMAR).

Whilst containing confirmed zinc mineralisation, the project area is also prospective for porphyry and epithermal deposits.

Some of the untested targets in the TMT project are located in areas that belonged to Rio Tinto during the 1990s and have remained unexplored. Not only do they show a conspicuous colour anomaly in satellite images, very similar to the colour anomalies observed in other renown projects located close by, but more importantly, they also show a very similar hydrothermal alteration in multiband processed images to the Filo del Sol deposit and other deposits of the area.

TMT project area in relation to major exploration projects in the Maricunga and El Indio mineralised belts. Source: Internal Fomo presentation.
TMT project area in relation to major exploration projects in the Maricunga and El Indio mineralised belts. Source: Internal Fomo presentation.

ASTER and Sentinel-2 Satellite Spectral Study

Eleven prospective targets identified from satellite spectral imagery and geological interpretation of hydrothermal alteration zones defined the TMT Project. Garwin (2023) utilised two different multispectral spaceborne datasets: Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Sentinel-2.

Fathom Geophysics (Core & Core, 2023) processed the ASTER and Sentinel-2 data for use in the study. Eleven (11) prospective targets were identified from the satellite spectral imagery with geological interpretation completed on the TMT project by Independent Hydrothermal Systems Specialist Dr Steve Garwin. The 11 prospective targets have been ranked for prospectivity based on spectral response and geological interpretation, resulting in the delineation of prospective targets that show potential for high-sulphidation epithermal mineral systems and/or porphyry-style mineral systems. The selected targets have been ranked for prospectivity across six (6) categories with the A-class category considered to be of higher potential than the B-class; the targets within each class are prioritised from 1 (highest) to 3 (lowest).

Eleven prospective targets identified from satellite spectral imagery and geological interpretation of hydrothermal alteration zones. Modified from Garwin, 2023.
Eleven prospective targets identified from satellite spectral imagery and geological interpretation of hydrothermal alteration zones. Modified from Garwin, 2023.