Collective’s new high-grade find could lift Guayabales economics, analyst says

Collective Mining (TSX: CNL; NYSE: CNL) says it’s discovered a new high-grade gold zone about 1 km deep at the Guayabales project in Colombia that can increase its resource.

The find, called the Ramp zone, lies in the Apollo system of the project in the country’s central Caldas department. Drill hole APC99-D5 is the first intercept into a major new high-grade gold system at depth that can be classified as a partially reduced intrusion related gold-silver-copper system, the company said on Wednesday.

The hole cut 57.7 metres grading 7.83 grams gold per tonne, 33 grams silver, 0.09% copper and 0.12% zinc from 811.3 metres depth, Collective said in a release. The hold included 18.9 metres at 19.39 grams gold, 83 grams silver, 0.21% copper and 0.16% zinc.

“Right at the end of the hole we entered a fantastic zone,” David Reading, special advisor to Collective, says in a new video. “It’s clearly a new high-grade discovery.”

Higher up in the same hole, the assay showed 517.4 metres grading 1.84 grams gold, 10 grams silver, 0.03% copper an 0.06% zinc from 351.6 metres depth, the company said. That included 31.3 metres at 3.24 grams gold, 16 grams silver, 0.05% copper and 0.04% zinc.

The closest hole to the high-grade intercept is about 480 metres away, suggesting there is room for lateral expansion, BMO Capital Markets mining analyst Andrew Mikitchook wrote in a note to clients this morning.

“We expect the market to react positively to this intercept as we look forward to more deep drill holes at Apollo to confirm the scale and grade of this new discovery,” he said.

The new discovery, named “Ramp Zone,” is close in elevation (1,150m) to a planned underground haulage tunnel, Mikitchook added.

“This access tunnel connects Apollo and other targets (Plutus, Trap and Tower) to mining-related infrastructure in a potential development scenario. Although it is too early for any engineering plans, accessing high-grade portions of the orebody earlier should improve the economics of the project.”

Collective shares hit a new 52-week high of $5.41 in morning trading before easing to $5.10. The shares have traded as low as $3.02 in the past year. The company’s market cap sits at $348 million.

Gold district

Guayabales and Aris Mining’s (TSX: ARIS; NYSE: ARMN) neighbouring Marmato mine are part of a precious metal district of 10 operating mines in Colombia’s Middle Cauca mineral belt. Toronto-based Collective, founded by the same team that developed and sold Continental Gold for $1.4 billion, posted drill results in August joining the Apollo and Olympus deposits. The project delivered the top gold assay in The Northern Miner’s weekly Drill Down several times this year.

“The fact that Apollo is now transitioning into a bulk zone of high-grade gold mineralization at depth is extremely exciting and will no doubt add materially to the mineral resource endowment of Apollo,” executive chairman Ari Sussman said. “The Apollo system, which outcrops at surface, now boasts a vertical dimension of approximately 1,150 metres with further expansion dead-ahead.”

Collective also reported strong results this year at Guayabales’ Trap area, 3.5 km northeast of Apollo. It has five rigs, two each at Trap and Apollo and another at the X target, for a 40,000-metre drill program this year. The company began the project in September 2021 and has not published a resource yet.