Golden Minerals Company has commenced a 1,250-metre drilling campaign at its Desierto property in Salta Province to test three gold and copper targets. The program will focus on Sico, Cobre and Iceberg and is expected to take between four and six weeks to complete.
By Panorama Minero
According to the company, the campaign has an estimated budget of US$1.088 million and is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2026, with full results anticipated during the first quarter of 2027.
The program includes four holes at Sico to test the down-dip extension of a gold-bearing alteration system previously drilled by Golden Minerals at the adjacent Sarita property. At Cobre, one hole will test the below-surface potential of an outcropping gold-bearing epithermal quartz vein, while at Iceberg, one hole will target an alunite-pyrophyllite alteration zone contiguous with the alteration associated with First Quantum Minerals’ nearby Taca Taca deposit.
The Desierto property covers 2,505 hectares and is located approximately 3.5 kilometres southwest of the Taca Taca copper-molybdenum deposit and about 50 kilometres north of Fortuna Mining’s Lindero gold mine.
The concessions are jointly held by Golden Minerals, with a 66.67% interest —half of which is subject to Golden completing an option-to-purchase agreement— and Salta Geothermal, a subsidiary of Cascadero Copper, with a 33.33% interest. On September 1, 2026, Cascadero Copper Corporation announced the sale of its interests in the Desierto concessions and other properties in Argentina to Lumina Copper Corporation, a wholly owned affiliate of First Quantum Minerals.
According to Golden Minerals, the concessions host several surface gold occurrences, porphyry copper-gold style alteration and significant magnetic anomalies, including the three targets being tested in this initial drilling campaign.
Sico and the Continuity of Mineralization from Sarita
The Sico gold target was initially identified through drilling of geochemical anomalies at the Sarita property, which is jointly held by Golden Minerals (51%) and Cascadero (49%).
Drilling at Sarita intersected near-surface oxidized gold mineralization. Reported results include 15.8 metres grading 2.76 g/t gold from a depth of 32.5 metres in hole DDH SE 22038; 12.5 metres grading 2.11 g/t gold from 27 metres in DDH SE 22035; and 28.2 metres grading 1.37 g/t gold from 19.5 metres in DDH SE 22012.
The company said mineralization at Sarita occurs as oxidized quartz-limonite microveinlets —after pyrite— within an intermediate-sulfidation epithermal alteration zone and may be related to nearby porphyry systems. The mineralization strikes east-west and, according to Golden Minerals’ interpretation, appears to dip approximately 40 degrees south toward the Desierto concessions.
Cobre: A Gold-Bearing Vein Not Previously Drill-Tested
The Cobre target comprises an outcropping gold-bearing quartz vein more than two metres wide. The exposed portion strikes roughly north-south and dips moderately to the west.
Grab samples collected along 200 metres of strike returned gold values of up to 45.8 g/t. According to the company, eight samples were collected, with results ranging from 0.2 to 45.8 g/t gold, including fire-assay results of 45.8, 10.2, 10.1 and 6.5 g/t. The target has not previously been drill-tested.
Iceberg and its Proximity to Taca Taca
At Iceberg, Golden Minerals plans to drill a 600-metre hole to evaluate a strong advanced-argillic alunite-pyrophyllite alteration zone that projects approximately four kilometres northwest toward the Taca Taca deposit.
According to the company’s interpretation, the alteration may represent the upper portions of a porphyry copper system near the base of the epithermal alteration zone. Golden Minerals also reported that the Iceberg target is marked by a strongly leached cap and considers that a supergene copper enrichment zone could occur at depth, a feature the company compares with that observed at Taca Taca.
David Watkins, CEO of Golden Minerals, said the company is again focusing on organic growth through exploration and highlighted the presence of several gold and copper-porphyry-type targets at Desierto. He added that the company expects to report the results of this initial drilling campaign once they become available.
