Avispa Copper–Molybdenum Project
Overview
The Avispa Copper–Molybdenum Project (Avispa Project) is situated in the Atacama region of northern Chile, approximately 220 km northeast of Antofagasta, the country’s largest commercial deep-water port. The project is accessible via an asphalt road connecting to the ports of Tocopilla and Antofagasta.
Montero holds 203 km² of Exploration Mining Concessions in an almost contiguous area south of the main highway between Calama and Tocopilla. This area was previously held by Spence Mining (a subsidiary of BHP), CODELCO, and Quantum Pacific Exploration Chile (Quantum), a private exploration company.
History
The Avispa project area has a notable exploration history. Previously, Spence Mining and Quantum Pacific Exploration Chile explored the region for porphyry copper-molybdenum mineralization. BHP conducted approximately 38 widely spaced reconnaissance drill holes, Quantum drilled an unspecified number of holes, and CODELCO drilled around 19 closely spaced holes in the southern part of Avispa. The Avispa license is strategically located near major mining companies such as CODELCO, Antofagasta, Freeport, and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM).
Geology
The Avispa Project is situated within the north-south trending Paleocene Porphyry Copper Belt, also known as the Sierra Gorda-Spence-Cerro Colorado Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Belt. It is located 40 km north of BHP’s Spence Cu-Mo mine, 50 km north of KGHM/South32’s Sierra Gorda Cu-Mo mine, and 50 km west of CODELCO’s super-giant Chuquicamata Cu-Mo mine. The project is also 8 km south of the Chug-Chug porphyry system, which exhibits Quartz-Sercite-Tourmaline breccias and copper oxide mineralization on the surface.
Avispa is adjacent to and east of the north-south trending Nitrate “Caliche” Belt, which hosts the Nitrate-Iodine mines Maria Elena, Coya Sur, and Pedro de Valdivia, operated by SQM.
Figure 1. Location of the Avispa Project, major copper mines, and the Paleocene
Porphyry Cu-Mo Belt of northern Chile (Maksaev & Zentilli, 1999)
Figure 2. Satellite Image showing Avispa and Abeja Concessions (Avispa Project) (SERNAGEOMIN)