South America is house to wealthy deposits — not solely of gold and silver, however of copper, zinc and lithium. Listed here are eight Canadian firms which are taking advantage of the potential.
ALDEBARAN RESOURCES
Excessive within the Argentinian Andes Aldebaran Assets (TSXV: ALDE) has introduced is Altar porphyry copper-gold mission to the superior exploration stage. The mission has a number of deposits, however solely two (Altar Central and Altar East), are included in 43-101 sources.
Altar Central and Altar East comprise 13.2 billion lb. copper equal at 0.50% copper equal in measured and indicated sources. There may be one other 1.9 billion lb. at 0.47% within the inferred useful resource.
The estimate has complete measured and indicated sources of 1.2 billion tonnes grading 0.43% copper, 0.09 gram gold per tonne, and 1.0 gram silver per tonne. There are 11.4 billion lb. copper, 3.4 million oz. gold, and 38.6 million oz. silver on this portion of the deposit. The inferred useful resource is 198.2 million tonnes grading 0.42% copper, 0.06 gram gold, and 0.80 gram silver, containing 1.75 billion lb copper, 400,000 oz. gold, and 4.8 million oz. silver.
The Altar Central and East deposits each have a supergene and a hypogene part, with a ratio of about 1:3, respectively, within the measured and indicated useful resource. The presence of supergene ore offers the mission a possible, low value starter operation that incorporates 2.96 billion lb. copper and 700,000 oz. gold.
The corporate’s QDM-Radio deposit sits about 2,500 metres to the west. The supergene portion of the QDM-Radio deposit is assumed to comprise 590,000 oz. gold-equivalent at 0.91 gram gold-equivalent per tonne in measured and indicated sources, plus 30,000 oz. at 0.70 gram gold-equivalent within the inferred useful resource. The detailed numbers embody 20.0 million tonnes grading 0.78 gram gold per tonne, 3.59 grams silver per tonne, and 0.06% copper, containing 500,000 oz. gold, 2.33 million oz. silver, 26 million lb. copper. The inferred portion has 1.2 million tonnes at 0.58 gram gold, 5.34 grams silver, and 0.03% copper for 20,000 oz. gold, 210,000 oz. silver, and 1.0 million lb. copper.
The deeper portion of the QDM (Radio) porphyry deposit has inadequate drilling to estimate a useful resource, however there seems to be important potential there.
The Altar property has a substantial exploration upside, too, says Aldebaran. There’s a QDM West zone, a Hole zone between QDM and Altar Central and East, and an Altar East East zone.
The Altar East East deposit was found within the mid-Nineteen Nineties. Aldebaran took a five-year, 80% possibility from former proprietor Sibanye-Stillwater in 2018. After analyzing historic work on the property, Aldebaran up to date the sources this yr.
The corporate has a market cap of $79 million.
ALTAMIRA GOLD
Altamira Gold (TSXV: ALTA; US-OTC: EQTRF) is drilling three 100%-owned gold targets in Brazil. The corporate has two early stage properties in Mato Grosso state — Santa Helena (gold-copper) and Apiacas (gold). The extra superior mission is Cajueiro, which crosses the boundary between Mato Grosso and Para states. This can be a former mine that produced over 250,000 oz. gold within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties. Altamira is increasing the sources with the objective of near-term manufacturing.
A 43-101 report from 2019 put Cajueiro’s indicated sources at 5.6 million tonnes grading 1.02 grams gold per tonne, containing 185,000 ounces of gold. The inferred useful resource was estimated at 12.7 million tonnes grading 1.26 grams gold, containing 515,000 ounces. The useful resource is open at depth and lengthy strike, and there are untested gold-in-soil anomalies.
Metallurgical testing in 2016 returned recoveries of between 93.7% and 96.2% utilizing gravity and cyanide leaching. Exams proceed.
Altamira says it is able to start building of a 1,000-tonne per day processing plant for oxide ore. The corporate estimates US$6 million for each the plant and mine improvement. The trial mining and environmental licences are in place. Preliminary ore is to be mined from the upper grade oxide materials on the mission’s Baldo and Centre zones.
The corporate is presently testing the Maria Bonita goal at Cajueiro the place a serious gold-in-soil anomaly was found. This goal is 4.5 km west of the Cajueiro useful resource space, and soil samples have had even greater values — as much as 3.1 grams in soils —than at Cajueiro.
The Apiacas property is located within the historic Alta Floresta Belt, considered one of Brazil’s largest placer gold camps, which has produced about 1 million oz. of gold.Disseminated gold mineralization has been traced over a 4 x 1 km space. Floor sampling has confirmed the presence of 4 high-grade vein buildings on the Mutum goal. Historic floor seize samples ran as excessive as 403.5 grams gold per tonne, and up to date ones returned as much as 3 metres grading 10.39 grams gold.
The Santa Helena property has a porphyry copper goal with peripheral high-grade gold. The goal had not been drilled beforehand, regardless of floor rock that sampled as much as 171.6 grams gold per tonne over a number of sq. kilometres.
Altamira has a $53 million market cap.
CERRADO GOLD
Cerrado Gold (TSXV: CERT; US-OTC: CERRF) has an entirely owned, producing mine in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province. Minera Don Nicolas (MDN) is a high-grade epithermal open-pit operation able to producing 45,000 to 55,000 oz. of gold yearly.
At the moment mining takes place on the La Paloma and Martinetas pits, that are about 30 km aside. Mining is carried out conventionally utilizing drills, vehicles and shovels. Run of mine ore is trucked on to the mill, and low-grade materials is stockpiled, maybe for leaching sooner or later.
A 1,000 tonne per day processing plant is positioned at Martinetas. It features a conventional crushing and grinding circuit adopted by carbon-in-leach gold restoration.
The 43-101 report ready final yr put measured and indicated sources at 1.2 million tonnes grading 5.49 grams gold per tonne and eight.37 grams silver per tonne for contained metallic of 198,808 oz. gold and 241,903 oz. silver. The inferred useful resource was 4.7 million tonnes grading 2.33 grams gold and 4.78 grams silver, containing 348,693 oz. gold and 320,118 oz. silver.
Because of the money movement from mine manufacturing, Cerrado is exploring for development alternatives. The most definitely is the Monte Do Carmo greenfield discovery in Tocantins state, Brazil. A 17,000-metre drill program is underway to broaden the inferred useful resource, which presently sits at 13.6 million tonnes grading 1.85 grams gold per tonne, containing 813,000 oz. gold. The present drill program is geared toward increasing contained ounces to 1.5 million.
The first focus is the Serra Alta pit, for which a preliminary financial evaluation has been ready. It carries an after-tax web current worth (at a 5% low cost charge) of $432 million and an after-tax inside charge of return of 76.4% with gold at a gold value of US$1,550 per ounce. The preliminary capex is estimated at $110 million. Common annual manufacturing can be 103,000 oz. gold and a median all-in sustaining value of US$498 per oz.
In Might, Cerrado reported drilling on the Monte do Carmo mission intersected 8.6 metres at 14.1 grams gold and a pair of.65 metres at 118 grams gold.
Cerrado Gold has a market cap of $102 million.
ELORO RESOURCES
Eloro Assets (TSXV: ELO; US-OTC: ELFFR) has made a serious discovery in Bolivia, the Iska Iska silver-tin mission within the nation’s Potosi division, the place silver has been mined for the reason that 16th century and manufacturing surpassed an estimated 2.1 billion oz. silver.
The corporate can earn a 99% curiosity within the Iska Iska mission, and the exploration work is absolutely permitted.
Iska Iska hosts a silver-tin porphyry-epithermal complicated related to a caldera that’s 1.6 x 1.8 km throughout and at the least 1,000 metres deep. The property has some underground improvement, from which Eloro is conducting drilling. However many of the present program is happening from the floor.
There are two adits on the property, Huayra Kasa and Santa Barbara. The outcomes which have Eloro accelerating its efforts got here in January when the primary drill gap within the Santa Barbara breccia pipe intersected 257.5 metres of 129.60 grams silver-equivalent per tonne. The core assayed 29.53 grams silver, 0.08 gram gold, 1.45% zinc, 0.59% lead, 0.08% copper, 0.06% tin, 0.002% indium, 0.006% bismuth, and 0.008% cadmium.
The subsequent goal was the Central breccia pipe from which channel sampling returned 166 metres of 442 grams silver, together with 56.2 metres of 1,092 grams silver. The primary drill gap within the pipe returned a number of intercepts, together with 56.2 metres of 196 grams silver-equivalent (105.25 grams silver, 0.10% tin and 0.05 gram gold) and 27.5 metres grading 343 grams silver-equivalent (274 grams silver, 0.16% tin and 0.16 gram gold).
In March, Eloro introduced a $12.9 million purchased deal financing, which was then upsized to $21.8 million. That provides the corporate the funds to speed up work at Iska Iska.
Eloro has a market capitalization of $310 million.
FILO MINING
Filo Mining (TSXV: FIL), a part of the Lundin Group, is creating the Filo del Sol copper-gold mission within the San Juan province of Argentina, near the border with Chile.
Current drilling has intersected wonderful grades together with 858 metres of 0.57% copper, 0.39 grams gold per tonne and 11.1 grams silver per tonne; 1,034 metres of 0.42% copper, 0.32 gram gold and three.4 grams silver; and 858 meters of 0.89% copper, 0.70 gram gold and 1.80 gram silver.
The mission has confirmed and possible reserves of 259.1 million tonnes grading 0.39% copper, 0.33 gram gold per tonne and 15.1 grams silver per tonne. Indicated sources are 425.1 million tonnes grading 0.33% copper, 0.32 gram gold and 10.7 gram silver, containing 3.1 billion lb. copper, 4.4 million oz. gold, and 146.7 million oz. silver. Inferred sources complete 175.1 million tonnes at 0.27% copper, 0.33 gram gold, and 6.2 grams silver, or 1.1 billion lb. contained copper, 1.8 million oz. gold and 34.8 million oz. silver.
A prefeasibility research launched in January 2019 outlined an open pit and heap leaching mission. Utilizing metallic costs of US$3 per lb. copper, US$1,300 per oz. gold and US$20 per oz. silver, Filo del Sol has a mine life, together with stripping, of 14 years, and preliminary capex of US$1.27 billion, plus US$217 million for sustaining capital and US$51 million for closure prices. In keeping with the research, the proposed mine would ship an after-tax web current worth of $1.28 billion, after-tax inside charge of return of 23%, and a payback of three.4 years. Common annual manufacturing can be 67,000 tonnes copper, 159,000 oz. gold and eight.6 million oz. silver at money prices of US$1.23 per lb. copper-equivalent.
Within the first half of 2021, Filo has already found two new zones of mineralization. In April it reported a brand new oxide gold discovery 1,500 metres north of the Filo del Sol deposit. The silver zone was additionally prolonged to the north, making the overall size 2,050 metres. And in Might, the corporate reported the invention of a big new zone of high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralization.
Filo has a market cap of $1 billion.
GRAN COLOMBIA GOLD
In 2010 Gran Colombia Gold (TSX: GCM; US-OTC: TPRFF) took over the high-grade Segovia gold operations within the area of Antioquia, Colombia. These mines have been in steady operation for over 150 years, producing an estimated 5 million oz. gold throughout that point. At a median grade of 14.5 grams gold per tonne, the Segovia mines charge as a few of the world’s richest.
The Segovia operation consists of the El Silencio, Providencia and Sandra Ok underground mines and the Maria Dama processing plant. Together with the Carla mission, the measured and indicated sources are 4.0 million tonnes grading 11.2 grams gold per tonne containing 1.4 million ounces. The inferred useful resource is 3.7 million tonnes at 10.3 grams gold and containing 1.2 million ounces.
Gran Colombia mines on solely three of 27 identified veins on the property, so drilling continues at Segovia. The alternatives are plentiful each for greenfield and brownfield discoveries, the corporate says.
The Maria Dama plant has a throughput of 1,500 tonnes per day and growth to 2,000 tonnes per day is feasible. The flowsheet consists of crushing, grinding, gravity focus, gold flotation, cyanidation of the float focus, Merrill-Crowe precipitation adopted by refining to supply doré bars.
An fascinating aspect of mining at Segovia is Gran Colombia’s help of artisanal miners on its property. Over 50 third-parties have been given permission to mine designated areas, and the corporate pays for recovered gold at a hard and fast value. Gran Colombia gives well being and security coaching for these miners and processes their output.
Segovia manufacturing is predicted to rise to between 200,000 and 220,000 oz. gold in 2021, up from 196,362 oz. final yr.
Gran Colombia’s executives have got down to create a mid-tier Latin American gold producer with the acquisition of Gold X. The corporate presently holds 18% of Gold X shares, however has provided to amass the rest in an all-share deal.
Chief among the many belongings of Gold X is the Toroparu exploration gold mission in Guyana. A 2013 preliminary financial evaluation outlined a 24-year mine life with manufacturing of 1.5 million oz. gold in doré in the course of the first 10 years of operation. The acquisition is anticipated to shut in late Might or early June.
Gran Colombia has a market cap of $316.4 million.
LUMINEX RESOURCES
Luminex Assets (TSXV: LR; US-OTC: LUMIF) is shifting its Condor gold-copper mission in Ecuador towards a preliminary financial evaluation. The 90%-owned mission is positioned in Zamora Chinchipe state, 30 km south of Lundin Gold’s (TSX: LUG) Fruta Del Norte gold mine.
Luminex was a spin-out of Lumina Gold (TSXV: LUM) and created in 2018 to carry the Condor property. Earlier house owners spent US$40 million on exploration from 1993 to 2016, they usually positioned 5 deposits. The Condor mission has indicated sources of 72.1 million tonnes grading 0.67 gram gold per tonne and 4.2 grams silver per tonne for 1.2 million oz. of contained gold and 9.7 million oz. silver. The inferred portion is 169.6 million tonnes grading 0.66 gram gold and a pair of.9 grams silver, containing 3.6 million oz. gold and 16.0 million oz. silver.
The corporate expects to launch a PEA on the mission in June that can embody 4 deposits — an underground operation at Camp and open pits at Cuyes, Soledad and Enma. A 25,000 tonne-per-day plant is deliberate. Sooner or later, the Prometedor and Santa Barbara deposits may very well be included into the mining plan.
Luminex has two earn-in agreements on close by properties. Anglo American (LSE: AAL) can earn a 60% curiosity within the Pegasus A and B properties by investing $50 million from 2018 to 2024. The opposite earn-in is with BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) for the Tarqui property. BHP can earn a 60% stake within the mission by spending US$35 million between 2019 and 2025. Luminex has a market cap of $1.7 billion.
SIERRA METALS
With three working underground mines in two nations, Sierra Metals (TSX: SMT; NYSE-AM: SMTS) nonetheless maintains an lively exploration program. All three mines are on observe to extend manufacturing and reduce prices this yr, in comparison with 2020.
The corporate derives about 60% of its income from its 100%-owned flagship Yauricocha copper-zinc mine in Peru. The mine has been in steady operation since 1948. Final yr it produced 75.1 million lb. copper-equivalent at an all-in sustaining value of US$2.11 per lb. copper-equivalent bought. The property has measured and indicated sources (together with reserves) of 15.9 million tonnes grading 1.18% copper, 2.22% zinc, 0.62% lead, 44 grams silver per tonne, and 0.53 gram gold per tonne. The inferred useful resource measures 11.6 million tonnes at 1.40% copper, 0.95% zinc, 0.31% lead, 27.5 grams silver, and 0.45 gram gold.
Its 100%-owned Bolivar underground copper-gold mine in Mexico produced 35.8 million lb. copper-equivalent in 2020 and contributed 33% to Sierra’s revenues. The all-in sustaining value was US$1.88 per lb. copper-equivalent bought. Measured and indicated sources (together with reserves) stand at 19.4 million tonnes grading 0.21 gram gold, 0.77% copper and 15.1 grams silver. The inferred useful resource is 21.4 million tonnes at 0.21 gram gold, 0.78% copper and 14.2 grams silver.
New discoveries at Bolivar supply alternative to broaden manufacturing. The Bolivar West Extension has a median in situ grade of two.09% copper-equivalent with a median true width of 8.2 metres. The Bolivar West zone has an in situ grade of two.55% copper-equivalent with a median true width of 9.1 metres. Ramps are underneath improvement to Bolivar Northwest and Cineguita in order that these zones might be mined sooner or later.
Sierra Metals additionally owns 82% of the underground Cusi silver mine in Mexico. It contributed solely 7% to the corporate’s revenues final yr, however development is deliberate. This operation produced 998,000 oz. silver-equivalent in 2020 at AISCs of US$25.26 per oz. silver-equivalent bought. It has measured and indicated sources of 5.4 million tonnes grading 182 grams silver, 0.49% lead, 0.58% zinc, and 0.12 gram gold. The inferred portion is 4.9 million tonnes at 146.0 grams silver, 0.43% lead, 0.69% zinc, and 0.18 gram gold. The high-grade silver vein system just lately found throughout improvement work within the mine has the corporate pondering of growth.
A preliminary financial evaluation was launched for Cusi in November 2020. It examined boosting the present 1,000 tonne-per- day mining and milling charge to at the least 1,200 tonnes per day. The mill flowsheet is standard, together with crushing, grinding, flotation, dewatering of ultimate focus, and a tailings administration facility (TMF).
The capital value of growth consists of US$46.6 million for mine improvement and US$17.6 million for TMF enhancements. Sustaining prices would complete US$45.6 million by means of 2035. The bottom case predicts a 16-year mine that will have an after-tax web revenue worth (at a 5% low cost charge) of $64 million.
The PEA additionally examined the potential of growth to 2,400, 3,000 and three,500 tonnes per day.
Sierra Metals has a market cap of $672 million.
