2nd Dec 2024 11:44
(Alliance News) - Orosur Mining Inc on Monday reported "exceptional results" from gold assays derived from its flagship Anza project in Colombia.
The South America-focused minerals exploration company has been involved in drilling at the Pepas prospect, which covers 10 kilometres of land north of project's central base, since 2021.
In October, Orosur decided that areas of the prospect had not been fully tested and undertook more detailed geological mapping. Soil and rock chip sampling identified an area roughly 120 metres long where gold occurrence was high, and where artisanal tunnels had been abandoned.
A new drilling programme commenced in October, with the first drill hole PEP012 mineralising gold "to a substantial level", the company said. Orosur calculated a composite intersection for PEP012 of 66.75 metres at 5.64 grams of gold per tonne from the surface.
The industry standard for a "high-grade" gold deposit is that it contains more than 5 grams of gold per tonne.
Orosur Mining shares were up 15% at 5.39 pence each on Monday morning in London.
Work on another drill hole PEP013 was completed on Friday, with samples currently being submitted for assay.
Orosur plans to commence drilling shortly on the third hole, PEP014, but noted that it will take several days to relocate the rig before it can continue mining the area. The company has also said it will continue research to the south of the project's base in the El Cedro and El Roble drill areas. These were first identified by Anglo American PLC before Orosur took over the Anza project, which is located 50km west of Medellin on the mid-Cauca belt, Colombia's primary gold region.
Chief Executive Officer Brad George said the PEP012 results represented "an excellent start" to the programme.
The results follow an announcement last Thursday that Orosur now has full ownership of the Anza project following its acquisition of Minera Monte Aguila SAS.
The purchase agreement specified that Newmont Corp and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd, from which Orosur acquired the remaining 51% stake in the project, would receive a net smelter royalty of an aggregate amount of 1.5% on all future mineral production, plus a further aggregate royalty of USD75.00 per ounce of gold or gold equivalent ounce for the first 200,000 gold equivalent ounces produced.
Orosur said that the area of its flagship project increased from around 176 square kilometres to over 400 square kilometres post-acquisition, and that it is still assessing the extent of inherited mining licences.
The company reported that its total comprehensive loss in the three months to August 31 widened to USD667,000 from USD287,000 year-on-year.
Its cash balance was USD710,000 at August 31, increasing to USD1.2 million at October 30 when the company released its first-quarter report.
By Holly Munks, Alliance News reporter
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