Rio Tinto drops Mogote

London-based Rio Tinto (RTP-N) has decided to drop its option to earn up to a 70% interest in IMA Explorations‘ (IMR-V) Mogote copper-gold property in Argentina’s San Juan province.

The major had an option to earn up to a 70% interest in Mogote by spending US$8.8 million on exploration but decided to withdraw, citing budgetary constraints.

The property is at the southern end of the Maricunga gold-copper belt, along the border with Chile, 70 km north of Barrick-Homestake’s Pascua-Lama-Veladero gold-silver deposits. It hosts four gold-copper zones in an area measuring 4 by 10 km. The most advanced of these is the North Ridge, where rock sampling yielded up to 1.46 grams gold per tonne and 1.4% copper. Talus sampling identified a 0.5-by-2-km area with gold values exceeding 100 parts per billion. The zone remains open in all directions.

Rock samples from the South Ridge, Border and Stockwork Hill zones returned up to 1.9 grams gold and 0.3% copper.

IMA is looking for a new partner to help with follow-up surface work aimed at advancing several targets to the drill stage.