Canadian-based company Aldebaran Resources Inc has entered into a collaboration agreement with Nuton LLC, a joint venture of Rio Tinto, to assess the use of Nuton's patented primary sulfide leaching technologies at the Altar copper-gold project located in San Juan, Argentina.

By Panorama Minero

Under the terms of the agreement, Aldebaran will provide samples representing various mineralization styles from the Altar project to Nuton for analysis and technology utilization. Subsequently, Nuton will conduct detailed mineralogical studies of each sample. The samples will be placed in columns with a height of 1 meter, each under different operating conditions, and will be supervised by Nuton. Full results are expected to be available approximately one year after material loading, with testing anticipated to begin in the first half of 2024.

As part of the agreement, Aldebaran has granted exclusivity to Nuton in the area of novel, patented, or trade secret leaching technologies for a period of one year from the agreement date, starting from January 9, 2024. The parties will share the cost of the testing program, with Aldebaran covering the cost of preparing and sending samples to Nuton, and Nuton paying the respective costs of the metallurgical tests.

John E. Black, CEO of Aldebaran, commented, "We are pleased to collaborate with Nuton to assess the potential use of their sulfide leaching technology at the Altar project. Although sulfide leaching is not necessary to advance the Altar project, it could have a positive impact on the project's economics if successful”.

Adam Burley, CEO of Nuton, stated, "We are pleased to announce this collaboration agreement with Aldebaran. Nuton has a wide range of possible use cases. At Altar, we are encouraged by Nuton's potential to release copper resources in a project with substantial scale potential and more environmentally efficient than conventional processes”.