Santo Domingo
Geology and Mineralization
The project was initiated in 2002 when the former owner and BHP Billiton formed a strategic alliance to explore for Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold (IOCG) deposits in northern Chile's IOCG belt. The Santo Domingo deposit was discovered in 2005 using BHP's proprietary Falcon system. The Santo Domingo Project comprises four deposits: Santo Domingo Sur, Iris, Iris Norte and Estrellita.
The IOCG belt stretches over a length of almost 1,200 kilometres from just north of Santiago in the south, to the city of Antofagasta in the north along the coastal cordillera of Chile. The belt is one of the most prospective IOCG provinces in the world and hosts numerous large copper deposits including Candelaria operated by Freeport-McMoRan (470Mt at 0.95% Cu) and Manto Verde operated by Anglo American (350Mt at 0.75% Cu).
The Chilean IOCG belt has traditionally been under explored and the exploration potential for IOCG deposits remains high. Large parts of the belt are under cover similar to Santo Domingo and Capstone intends to explore its properties in the belt for additional discoveries.