Step-out drilling by Collective Mining (TSX, NYSE: CNL) at its Guayabales project in Colombia has uncovered gold grades up to 40% higher than modelled as well as notable tungsten and silver hits from surface. Shares rose.
Highlight hole APC-159, cut into the Apollo target, returned 165.75 metres grading 4.39 grams gold per tonne, 0.09 tungsten trioxide (WO3), 42 grams silver and 0.13 % copper from 8.85 metres depth, including 31.7 metres at 15.65 grams gold, 0.26% WO3, 66 grams silver and 0.17% copper, Collective reported on Monday.
Hitting the ground running
The results give Collective a strong start to 2026, following a year when it secured a $63-million investment from Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX, NYSE: AEM), drilled other high-grade intersections and discovered a new gold zone at Apollo.
Collective shares gained 4% to $23.19 apiece on Monday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at $2.1 billion. The stock has traded in a 12-month range of $7.90 to $27.43.
Surface gold, tungsten
Other significant intersections include hole APC-155 that cut 60.45 metres at 1.28 grams gold, 0.66% WO3, 43 grams silver and 0.15% copper from surface, including 22.15 metres grading 1.12 grams gold, 1.33% WO3, 25 grams silver and 0.14% copper.
Hole APC-157 returned 60.85 metres grading 1.20 grams gold, 0.25% WO3, 42 grams silver and 0.24% copper from surface.
Tungsten, an extremely hard metal that is prized for its alloy and defence applications tends to occur in intrusion-related gold systems such as Apollo.
Collective has $135 million to back its plans for up to 100,000 metres of drilling this year as it advances towards an initial resource for Apollo next year, Sussman said.
‘Major district potential’
Apollo has potential as a major gold-silver-copper-tungsten-rich district “amenable to low-cost bulk mining with throughput of over 8,000 tonnes per day, front-end loaded production with proposed ramps that target high-grade subzones in the shallower elevations in Apollo and the high-grade Ramp zone at depth, Agnico’s stake lending a vote of confidence [and] significant exploration upside remaining with Apollo open in multiple directions,” DeMarco added.
Drilling at Apollo has thus far revealed continuous mineralization from surface to depths deeper than 1,410 vertical metres, where the high-grade Ramp zone is open for expansion, according to Collective. The company has drilled 167,500 metres in total across its Guayabales and adjacent San Antonio project.
Guayabales is about 80 km south of Medellín and next to Aris Mining’s (TSX: ARIS; NYSE: ARMN) Marmato gold mine, one of Colombia’s oldest operations.
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