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In the Andean mountains around Mocoa, Colombia, a giant is sleeping. The Mocoa deposit is a rare near-surface Cu-Mo porphyry system – a true unicorn – hosting one of the largest copper resources in Colombia and one of the largest undeveloped molybdenum resources globally with access to regional infrastructure corridors that support future development studies.
But to understand its full scale and map out the entire deposit efficiently and with the lowest environmental footprint possible, Aziwell lent a helping hand with its Directional Core Drilling tool, the Azidrill.
About Aziwell and Copper Giant
The Mocoa Project is one of the largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum resources in the Americas, with mineralization extending more than 1,100 vertical metres and remaining open in multiple directions. Directional drilling forms part of Copper Giant’s 2026 exploration program, which will be the largest drill campaign in the history of the project.
When the collaboration started, it marked the first time directional drilling technology was deployed at the Mocoa Project. Copper Giant described it as an important step in the continued evolution of its exploration strategy.
Copper Giant’s use of the Azidrill
This project marks the first time Copper Giant has drilled “daughter holes” from a main “mother hole”.
When talking about deep boreholes that extend for longer than 1000m, drilling each borehole from surface to target makes it hard to ensure accuracy, but it is also expensive, time consuming, and requires the movement of the drill rig and the building of new drill pads. This serves as a backdrop for why directional drilling was the obvious choice for this project:
“The implementation of directional drilling at Mocoa marks an important technical evolution for the project. Our focus is not only on metres drilled, but on drilling smarter,” says Edwin Naranjo Sierra, Vice-President of Exploration at Copper Giant.
By branching out from lower in the main borehole, one can hit multiple targets without having to move around the rig or drill the entire 1000+m over and over again.
Copper Giant incorporated directional drilling technology as part of its evolving exploration strategy and partnered with Aziwell to support a more efficient exploration approach focused on target quality, efficiency and reduced footprint. It is not all about just drilling, it is drilling smarter.
“Projects like Mocoa show why directional drilling is becoming a key part of modern exploration, helping operators reduce cost per target while improving decision-making and minimizing environmental footprint," explains Nils Ivar Iversen, CEO of Aziwell.
Early results of the project
Although the project is still ongoing, the strategy of "drilling smarter" is already paying off. Reported results include intercepts up to 0.97% CuEq over 68 metres within 371 metres of 0.53% CuEq.
On top of strong Cu-Mo grades, the drilled “daughter holes” allowed for much better mapping of the mineralization, showing it to extend well into areas previously modelled as waste. This highlights the value of improved targeting and better understanding of the mineralized system.
“At Mocoa, directional drilling is helping us to cover more area within the deposit footprint with less drilling — testing more targets from fewer drill pads, improving efficiency while reducing surface disturbance as the project advances the largest drill campaign in its history” - Edwin Naranjo Sierra, Vice-president of Exploration of Copper Giant.
Advanced technology for directional drilling projects in Colombia
Aziwell is a leading provider of directional drilling solutions and offers service and software products for directional drilling projects in Colombia and the region. Take advantage of our advanced technology which reduces the environmental footprint through optimized drill-path planning. It allows you to hit multiple targets from a single drill pad, significantly reducing land disturbance, and CO₂ emissions – a critical requirement for modern, mineral exploration.
About Aziwell
Aziwell is a Norwegian engineering company founded in August 2014. Through a close cooperation with Innovation Norway, several development projects were initiated. This led to a major breakthrough in 2017, when the company’s first product, AziDrill® – Directional Core Barrel, was successfully tested by a leading drilling company. Now we provide directional drilling and borehole survey services for the mineral exploration and infrastructure industries world-wide.