Centauri Minerals Inc. is the previously announced new Aldebaran spin-out company formed to initially focus on exploration in Northern Argentina. Aldebaran will continue to focus on the Altar copper-gold project located in San Juan province.
By Panorama Minero
In addition, Aldebaran and Centauri reported that a private seed financing round of C$5.7 million has been completed to execute exploration programs and administrative preparations for an initial public offering or go-public transaction in 2026.
Sam Leung, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Centauri, commented: “I am honoured and excited to lead the new Centauri Minerals with the support of the Aldebaran team. The outstanding investor interest for this venture has reinforced our plans to conduct modern exploration programs on this unique portfolio of dormant projects in a mining region of increasing global interest. The completion of this oversubscribed private seed financing round allows us to get to work immediately, commencing exploration programs to evaluate and select new drill targets at Rio Grande and Aguas Calientes, solidifying our management team, and commercial preparations to become a public company in 2026. On behalf of our team, I want to thank the Centauri seed round investors for their trust and participation as co-founders in this new venture, many of whom are longtime investors and colleagues in companies we have advanced together. I am also pleased to welcome Altius Minerals as an investor in Centauri, a renowned investment group with a +25-year record of supporting successful new exploration ventures.”
Centauri Project Highlights
Centauri is initially focusing on copper, gold, and silver exploration in Argentina with a portfolio of six exploration projects spanning over 43,000 hectares located in Salta, Jujuy, and Catamarca provinces.
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Rio Grande: The most advanced project with near-surface, open-pitable resources totaling 71 million tonnes of 0.30% Cu, 0.36 g/t Au and 3.2 g/t Ag in the indicated category and 41 million tonnes of 0.23% Cu, 0.28 g/t Au and 2.8 g/t Ag in the inferred category. In addition, well-mineralized porphyry dykes have been intercepted beneath the current resource, with the best intercepts returning 257.2 m of 0.53% Cu and 1.20 g/t Au. Rio Grande is located in Salta Province, approximately 9 km from the Lindero gold-copper mine owned by Fortuna Mining Corp. (TSX: FVI, NYSE: FSM). The project also owns valuable support infrastructure, including an active airfield located between the project and the Lindero mine, which is currently being utilized by the mine. Drilling at the project was last completed in 2012 with a NI 43-101 Technical Report completed by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. (now SLR Consulting Limited) in 2018, under much lower metal price assumptions and years before the nearby Lindero mine began operations in 2020. Several priority drill targets remain untested and more sophisticated modern geophysical and geochemical techniques have yet to be utilized at the project.
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Aguas Calientes: The project contains abundant and well-mineralized surface boulders with high concentrations of gold and silver along a 6 km strike length. Aguas Calientes is located in Jujuy Province and is approximately 35 km from the town of San Antonio de los Cobres, a major mining industry service hub in Salta. Limited drilling was completed in 2019, which intersected some mineralization, but more importantly, confirmed epithermal structures that are expected to assist in future targeting and drilling programs. The source of the high-grade boulders has yet to be found, and drill permits are still active.
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Earlier stage projects: The remaining portfolio contains four green-field exploration projects with limited historical work completed but with prospectivity for copper, gold and/or silver, including: El Camino (Salta), Oscara (Salta), La Frontera (Catamarca), and Catua (Jujuy). These projects have not been worked or re-evaluated for many years, but the mineral concessions have been held in good standing through Aldebaran and predecessor companies
Next Steps and Priorities
The completion of the seed financing round allows Centauri to immediately activate its exploration and commercial programs in parallel. Key initiatives and priorities include:
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Technical Report update – already in discussions with independent consultants to complete update of NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Rio Grande Project in preparation for go-public requirements.
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Human Resources – led by Sam Leung, Centauri will build out a management and exploration team with a strong emphasis on in-region technical and cultural experience to advance the exploration portfolio.
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Geophysical and geochemical field programs – the Centauri team is actively considering and will select several state-of-the-art geophysical and geochemical technologies that could be advantageously applied to Rio Grande and Aguas Calientes to increase the probability of future drilling success. Members of the Centauri team have extensive experience with these modern tools within Argentina and across the Americas, including a network of reputable service providers.
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Administration in Argentina – completion of subsidiary and project portfolio transfers and filings with regulators, as well as renewal of drill permit for the Rio Grande project, expected in 2026.
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Go-public plan – Centauri has begun work on its plan to become a public company in 2026, with a focus on commercial and legal requirements as well as investor and social media strategy.
