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First Quantum starts Panama arbitration
First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FQM) began arbitration proceedings against Panama relating to the Cobre Panama Cu mine after the two parties …
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Colombia’s Pardo reports initial ANM shake-up
Colombia’s new head of the ANM National Mining Agency, Alvaro Pardo, has reported initial results of a shake-up of the country’s mining authority…
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Ecuador delays cadaster opening
The government of Ecuador has delayed the reopening of the mining cadaster until 2023…
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Antilles stakes Cuban copper potential
ASX junior Antilles Gold (ASX:AAU) is moving to secure first mover advantage for Cu exploration in Cuba…
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Exploration News
Royal Road Minerals (TSXV:RYR)
Reported more drilling results from its Caribe Au discovery in Nicaragua where it is undertaking infill and step-out drilling to resolve the geometry within the known breccia body and to test for a possible intrusive source. Highlights included 172m @ 1.4g/t Au in hole 50 including 18m @ 2.5g/t Au & 0.2% Mo. Holes 50 and 51 intersected higher-grade intervals of sulphide mineralisation hosted in hydrothermal breccias with very high Mo grades interpreted to be indicative of a steeply dipping feeder zone. Drilling at Caribe has been suspended pending an in-house resource assessment and geological review.
Sunstone Metals (ASX:STM)
Reported a maiden resource estimate for the Brama-Alba porphyry deposit of the Bramaderos Au-Cu project in Ecuador, totalling 156Mt @ 0.53g/t for 2.7Moz AuEq, mostly in inferred resources. “These results show that Bramaderos is heading towards being a very significant project with huge growth potential,” said MD Malcolm Norris. STM also produced a large exploration target of between 3.3Moz and 8.6Moz in addition to the estimated resource covering Brama-Alba extensions, Melonal and Limon.
Solaris Resources (TSX:SLS)
Signed an investment contract with the government of Ecuador which ratifies the investment protection agreement for the Warintza Cu project in previously announced in June. The contract provides for protections and incentives for the duration of the title of the project which extends with renewal to 2066: security of investment, stability of mining law, stability of taxes at a reduced income tax rate of 20% (25% previously), exemption from 5% capital outflow tax, exemption from 5% import duties, and detailed procedures for dispute resolution and international arbitration protection. “The investment contract provides a foundation of certainty, significantly de-risking Warintza by securing a stable regulatory and fiscal framework with international legal protections for the project while also enhancing its returns through permanent new tax incentives,” said president & CEO Daniel Earle. “Warintza has a very important influence, and they are working with the community in an exemplary manner; this will allow more development and prosperity for the zone and Ecuador,” said minister of production, foreign trade, investment and fisheries Julio Prado. “This is a very important project for the country regarding scale and investment. It is also important for what it represents, which is a great commitment and understanding between the communities and the company,” said Fernando Santos, minister of energy and mines.
SLS also reported assays from a series of holes to grow the NE extension of the indicative starter pit at Warintza. Highlights included 108m @ 1.20% CuEq within a broader interval of 604m @ 0.51% CuEq in hole 67. “The NE extension remains open to the N with assays pending from recently completed holes. Further extensional drilling is planned with a 200m step-out platform on the NE margin of the drill grid aimed at expanding the zone in this direction,” said VP exploration Jorge Fierro.
Adventus Mining (TSXV:ADZN)
And Salazar Resources (TSXV:SRL) signed an investment contract with the Government of Ecuador in support of the development of the El Domo Cu-Au project. Since the initial agreement announcement in November 2022, additional changes were approved, including protective arbitration and dispute resolution language. Along with the financial, tax and legal incentives previously released, the contract provides El Domo with the following benefits until March 2033: exemption of import and export duties, and the ability to import contractor equipment from free-trade countries without duties; guarantees on powerline and road upgrade and construction approvals; approval of a special dispute resolution article, including international arbitration protection. Jurisdiction in New York with English language; free transfers abroad of cash profits earned, and free transfer of cash obtained from the partial or full liquidation of the investors from the sale of shares, equity and/or rights acquired, once corresponding tax obligations and other responsibilities have been fulfilled. “The contract gives our stakeholders additional certainty for development and was a key conditions precedent to be able to draw our US$235.5M in project financing facilities. With the contract completed, we continue to work with Government Ministries and expect to announce additional permit approvals and El Domo related contracts with the Government of Ecuador over the next months,” said ADZN president & CEO Christian Kargl-Simard.
ADZN and SRL also announced additional infill drilling results from the underground portion of El Domo. Highlights included 9.46m @ 7.49% Cu, 2.37g/t Au, 2.93% Zn, 75.4g/t Ag & 0.01% Pb for 8.83 % CuEq in hole 405. All infill results will update the underground portion of the resource estimate in 2023, which will be part of a future FS.
Cordoba Minerals (TSXV:CDB)
Reported additional assays from in-fill drilling at the San Matias Cu-Au-Ag project in Cordoba, Colombia. Highlights included 150.6m @ 0.72% Cu, 0.27g/t Au & 5.27g/t Ag for 0.86% CuEq in hole 133. CDB said assays continue demonstrating high-grade Cu-Au mineralisation within the Alacran deposit and confirm the strong correlation with the PFS block model. CDB has completed 25,929m in 127 holes of the in-fill drilling.
Calibre Mining (TSX:CXB)
Reported additional drill results from the Panteon North zone within the Limon Mine Complex in Nicaragua, where it anticipates publishing a resource on the main Au-shoot early next year. Panteon North was discovered earlier this year. Highlights included 4.9m @ 22.47g/t Au in hole 4691, within a broader intercept of 10.6m @ 12.85g/t.“ Since the discovery was announced in May we have been able to continue to identify bonanza grade mineralisation along what is now a well-defined Au-shoot spanning 400m along strike and over 200m down-dip,” said president & CEO Darren Hall.
Rugby Resources (TSXV:RUG)
Paused drilling at its Cobrasco Cu-Mo porphyry discovery in Choco, Colombia due to the cost of helicopter-supported activity and the prevailing difficult capital markets. RUG said it is pursuing a strategic investor and once in place, drilling could resume in late 1Q23. Assays for holes 2 and 3 are in early January. “Hole 2 intersected disseminated Cu-Mo mineralisation as soon as it entered fresh rock below the drill collar. Metal veining was increasing in the lower sections of the hole,” said project manager Francisco Montes.
RUG earlier said hole 1 at Cobrasco returned 82m @ 1% CuEq within a broader interval of 808m @ 0.46% CuEq. Hole 2 was drilled 400m S of hole 1 and intersected a wide interval of mineralised diorite porphyry but was abandoned in a fault zone, 300m short of its target depth. Hole 3 will use the same platform and test the higher-grade mineralised upper part of hole 1 at greater depth. RUG is conducting mapping and geochemical surveys to identify other porphyry Cu targets. “Hole 2 intersected disseminated Cu-Mo mineralisation beginning just below the drill collar. Metal veining was increasing in the lower sections of the hole. The porphyry targeting index suggests the potassic core may be more extensive below the bottom of the drill hole. …. It is very encouraging however that mineralisation extends essentially all the way down the hole,” said Montes.
Orosur Mining (TSXV:OMI)
Reported assays from four additional holes from the Anzá Au project in Antioquia, Colombia from the Pepas and Pupino prospects. With lukewarm results, OMI said the near-term focus would shift from drilling to groundwork including field mapping, sampling and trenching activities to define further drilling targets, specifically in the Pepas area. "While these drill results are not as exciting as hoped, this is not surprising. Epithermal Au systems by their nature are complex, and several phases of drilling are often required to properly define the geometry before more substantial drilling can be undertaken,” said CEO Brad George.
Outcrop Silver & Gold (TSXV:OCG)
Commenced underground geological mapping and sampling of the historical Frias mine at its Santa Ana Ag project in Tolima, Colombia, in two primary levels and along three secondary levels in preparation for drilling. Frias is about 11km along trend from current drilling at Las Maras. Underground channel samples returned multiple high-grade results including 10,216g/t Ag, 12.49% Pb & 19.15% Zn on the main production level. Frias formerly produced 7.8Moz Ag @ 1.3Kg/t recovered grade. "We can better define our future drilling at this promising target by improving our knowledge and understanding of the vein systems and the structural framework at Frias through safe underground exploration activities," said VP exploration Guillermo Hernandez.
OCG also announced results of two additional holes in the Las Maras shoot. Hole 308 intercepted 90cm @ 767g/t AgEq, which together with hole 306, extended Las Maras at depth and to the S. A third drill rig has been added for deeper delineation drilling. "The resource report will be delayed until 1Q23 in order to capture the benefit of optimised higher recoveries," said CEO Joseph Hebert.
Goldsource Mines (TSXV:GXS)
Announced exploration results for its Eagle Mountain Au project in Guyana from its North Zion discovery, 600m from the Eagle Mountain deposit. Trench 5 returned 40m @ 5.16g/t Au in saprolite and 14m @ 1.25g/t. “While still early in our interpretation, the North Zion prospect is particularly interesting. High-grade Eagle Mountain-style mineralisation, as reported in trenching and drill holes, had not been expected. Moreover, the discovery has opened up a large area N & NW of the Eagle Mountain deposit for our generative exploration programme,” said CEO Steve Parsons. Drilling beneath the trench returned 6m @ 0.63g/t from hole 256 and 12m @ 2.04g/t.
Collective Mining (TSXV:CNL)
Announced preliminary metallurgical test results from variability samples from the Main Breccia discovery at the Apollo target within its Guayabales project in Caldas, Colombia. Initial cyanide leach, bottle-roll metallurgical test work was undertaken on three representative sulphide samples and returned Au recoveries ranging from 90% to 97% demonstrating high recoveries can be achieved with cyanide leaching. CNL completed 23,000m of drilling in 2022 with assays pending for the final nine holes. The next drilling phase will commence in early 2023 with three diamond rigs to continue expanding Main Breccia and drilling the first-ever holes into a newly generated porphyry target 150m S of Main Breccia.
CNL also announced assay results from soil and rock chip sampling S of Main Breccia. Soil geochemistry sampling outlined a high-grade porphyry anomaly averaging greater than 500ppm Cu & 30ppm Mo 150m S of the southernmost modelled boundary of Main Breccia. The anomaly covers 250m by 150m. Follow-up reconnaissance geological work at surface has identified a potassic-altered porphyry diorite hosting quartz, Mo and chalcopyrite veins. Plans are underway to test the porphyry target with the first drill hole expected in early 2023. “Given the proximity to our Main Breccia discovery, this new high-grade porphyry target suggests we may have found the source. We are eager to test the new target,” said executive chair Ari Sussman.
Aurania Resources (TSXV:ARU)
Began drilling its Tatasham porphyry target in SE Ecuador, the largest geophysical feature identified in the 2017 airborne magnetic survey. "Our team in Ecuador is managing the steep terrain at Tatasham very well, and the drill pad on the side of a slope is an extraordinary feat of engineering. We expect to drill three to four holes at Tatasham to test the target areas that have shown indications of a porphyry system at surface during the Anaconda method mapping programme, said chair, president & CEO Dr Keith Barron.
Libero Copper & Gold (TSXV:LBC)
Extracted metallic Cu from pulp from the Mocoa Cu-Mo deposit in Putumayo, Colombia together with the National University of Colombia (UNAL) at its Mineral Institute CIMEX. It is the first Cu produced in Colombia. “This milestone of the first Cu production in Colombia is a testament to our shared commitment to creating a fully vertically integrated, clean energy system and a renewed focus on innovation and job creation within Colombia,” said president & CEO Ian Harris.
Lucky Minerals (TSXV:LKY)
Continued geological mapping, trenching and channel sampling at the Wayka epithermal Au discovery at its Fortuna property in Ecuador. Channel 20 returned 1.04 g/t Au across 13m in the Kelly zone. Mineralised breccia at Kelly is now measured to be 60m by 25m. “The geological team is expanding the scale of the mineralised system at surface, and it remains open in all directions,” said president & CEO Francois Perron.
Luminex Resources (TSXV:LR)
Announced drill results from four holes at the Cuyes West structure at its Condor project in Ecuador. At Cuyes West, drilling confirmed the strike length of the structure is more than 300m, and it has been mapped at surface for more than 500m. Highlights included 7m @ 12.18g/t AuEq in hole 6. “The mineralised structure is taking shape after the positive results from the first nine holes. The six additional pending holes, including the visual core logging on hole 12 have the geological team optimistic about future success at Cuyes West,” said CEO Marshall Koval.
Corporate News
Equinox sells C$70.4M of Solaris stock
Equinox Gold (TSX:EQX) sold 11M shares of Solaris Resources (TSX:SLS) for C$70.4M. It now owns 4.5M SLS shares. EQX has ceased to be a reporting insider of SLS.
SolGold raises US$36M
SolGold (LSE:SOLG) raised US$36M through selling 180M shares @ 20c to investors, including Jiangxi Copper. Jiangxi subscribed for 155M and Maxit Capital 23M.
Lumina increases Beaty loan to C$15M
Lumina Gold (TSXV:LUM) amended its unsecured credit facility with largest shareholder, Ross Beaty from C$10M to $15M and extended its term from July 2023 to December 2023. Interest is payable at 10%pa, and it is convertible @ 42c/share. The additional proceeds will be used for the remaining PFS costs.
Adventus receives US$13M
Adventus Mining (TSXV:ADZN) satisfied conditions to receive a US$13M early deposit from Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM) as part of a US$175.5M precious metals stream commitment for the El Domo Cu-Au project in Ecuador. The deposit will cover ongoing pre-construction expenditures in 1H23, including continuation of detailed engineering and early site works. An additional $250k is expected to be drawn in 1Q23 to fund select project community and social development initiatives.
Omai raises C$4.2M
Omai Gold Mines (TSXV:OMG) upsized a non-brokered private placement to C$4.3M from $3M representing 84.4M shares @ 5c. The proceeds will be used to advance exploration on nearby targets and expand resources at its Omai Au project in Guyana.
Cordoba arranges US$2M loan
Cordoba Minerals (TSXV:CDB) arranged a short-term loan of US$2M with majority shareholder Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE-A:IE) as a bridge loan bearing interest at 12%pa and maturing in March 2023. The bridge loan is to ensure sufficient cash is available until receipt of a $10M short-term loan from JCHX Mining Management expected before the end of December 2022, part of the initial $40M instalment for the development of the Alacran project in Cordoba, Colombia.
Aurania completes C$1.9M raise
Aurania Resources (TSXV:ARU) closed the second and final tranche of a non-brokered private placement financing of 4.2M units @ 45c for proceeds of C$1.9M. The final tranche comprised 1.8M units. Each unit is comprised of one share and a warrant exercisable @ 75c for two years. The proceeds will be used for drilling and exploration of the Lost Cities-Cutucu Au project in SE Ecuador.
Baroyeca cancels C$2M raise, to raise $500k
Baroyeca Gold & Silver (CVE:BGS) cancelled a C$2M raise @ 10c due to market conditions and revised its offering to $500k @ 5c. Each unit will comprise one share and a warrant exercisable @ 10c for one year. BGS is putting a hold on further exploration in Colombia as a result of the recent change in the political climate with respect to mining operations and is reviewing opportunities to acquire properties in other jurisdictions.
Cornerstone files SOLG circular
Cornerstone Capital Resources (TSXV:CGP) filed its management information circular for a special shareholders meeting to approve a merger with SolGold (LSE:SOLG) on January 9. The CGP board unanimously recommends shareholders vote FOR the arrangement. DOLG shareholders will vote on December 22.
Calibre makes documentary
Calibre Mining (TSX:CXB) released a documentary about its approach to sustainability principles including community health, biodiversity and the restoration of fresh water sources. It highlights its work with the Centre for an Understanding with Nature (CEN). www.calibremining.com/investors/videos/
Lundin leaves Bluestone
Bluestone Resources (TSXV:BSR) CEO Jack Lundin resigned to become president of Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) as he assumes a larger role within the Lundin Group. BSR is a Lundin Group exploration and development company which owns the Cerro Blanco Au deposit in Nicaragua. Jack will remain a BSR director and Peter Hemstead will become president & CEO.
Adventus appoints Aramayo
Adventus Mining (TSXV:ADZN) appointed Christian Aramayo as non-executive advisor. Aramayo has more than 17 years of experience in the mining industry in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. Aramayo is a chartered engineer who holds a MSc from the University of Manchester (UK) in Decision Sciences and a MSc in Metallurgy. He is currently COO of Kuya Silver.
Orea appoints Jébrak
Orea Mining (TSX:OREA) appointed Michel Jébrak to its board, one of the most highly published geologists in the French-speaking world and who has advised the national geological survey of France and the French government on sustainable mining practices. Chair Robert Giustra will be interim CEO to close the 55.01% acquisition of the Montagne d'Or Au project in French Guiana and obtaining government approvals, and renew the project mining titles. Then a permanent head will be sought.
Volcanic appoints English
Volcanic Gold Mines (TSXV:VG) appointed Luc English VP exploration. English is an exploration geologist with over 25 years experience, for the past 15 years in Central America.