Aguia grabs $1.5m to fast-track high-grade gold drilling in Colombia
The company says the geological setting at site bears striking similarities to other high-grade mesothermal vein systems in Colombia, including the Buriticá mine. The Chinese-backed deposit has a resource of 3.86 million ounces of gold grading a massive 8.4g/t and 13.7m ounces of silver running at 24.3g/t.
More impressively, the nearby Segovia gold mine – operated by Toronto-listed Aris Mining – contains a resource of 3.4m ounces grading 16g/t with a further 2.5m ounces in inferred resources at similar remarkable grades.
Given the prospective scale and high-grade potential of Aguia’s project -especially considering the size of neighbouring mines – the company is setting its sights high.
The company is chasing an ambitious exploration target of 2 million to 4 million tonnes at gold grades ranging from 20g/t to 30g/t. If realised, this has the potential to put Santa Barbara among the region’s most significant gold discoveries.
Aguia has already completed substantial underground rehabilitation work at the mine’s main vein systems and restarted the plant, which is currently running at a throughput of 30tpd.
The company also celebrated its first gold pour five weeks ago, delivering much needed cash flow for the project.
Key upgrades, including a new Merrill Crowe gold recovery circuit and an 80t thickener, were completed to improve the efficiency of the plant and pump up its capacity from 30tpd to 50tpd in the near term.
Aguia’s expansion into high-grade gold exploration comes as the company is in the pre-production phase of monetising another of its near-term mining opportunities.
It plans to use Santa Barbara’s cash flow to fund the capital requirements of its Tres Estradas organic phosphate mine in southern Brazil.
The company has full approvals in place and by mid-year expects to start processing 100,000t of rock phosphate annually, before increasing its capacity to 300,000 tonnes per annum (tpa).
In a key move, Aguia has ditched plans to build a processing plant, choosing to take out a long-term lease on a nearby plant that requires minor capital to get it up and running.
The cost-saving decision should significantly improve the project’s economics considering a 2023 feasibility study estimated a standalone 300,000tpa plant would have cost about $26m to build. The study also projected $22m in annual EBITDA over an 18-year mine life, with a 2.9-year payback period.
Aguia has a well-funded exploration program and an experienced technical team on board, ensuring it is now well-positioned to advance Santa Barbara toward a maiden JORC-compliant resource estimate.
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