Collective Mining (TSX: CNL) announced the discovery of a significant high-grade gold zone at its Apollo system within the Guayabales Project in Caldas, Colombia. The newly discovered zone, known as the Ramp Zone, was revealed through deep drilling at a depth of over 1,000 meters below the surface, marking an important step in the development of the Apollo gold deposit.
The discovery drill hole, labeled APC99-D5, encountered a substantial 57.65 meters of mineralization grading 8.18 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq), which includes a particularly high-grade section of 18.85 meters at 20.21 g/t AuEq.
“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,” said Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman of Collective Mining.
The Ramp Zone lies approximately 480 meters southwest of a previous deep high-grade intersection, APC88-D1, which had returned 15.60 meters at 20.34 g/t AuEq. The proximity of these zones suggests that the newly identified Ramp Zone could have a significant lateral extension, offering potential for further expansion. Collective Mining plans to continue drilling in this area to explore the size and extent of the high-grade zone.
The zone contains bismuth and tellurium-bearing sulphide minerals, along with copper, which indicates that the mineralization is not only gold-rich but also holds other valuable metals such as silver and copper. This type of deposit is rare but can be exceptionally large, as seen in comparable deposits like Telfer and Havieron in Australia.
The Ramp Zone discovery is located at a similar elevation as the Marmato Deeps deposit, just 1.75 kilometers away, which is operated by Aris Mining. Marmato is a multi-million-ounce gold system with a substantial resource base. The similarity in depth and mineralization between the Ramp Zone and Marmato Deeps highlights the geological potential of the entire region.
According to Sussman, “The Guayabales Project and the neighboring Marmato mine form a giant precious metal-rich district which continues to yield new major discoveries.”
The drilling program that led to the Ramp Zone discovery is part of a fully funded 40,000-meter campaign aimed at expanding the mineralized zones at Guayabales. Collective Mining currently has five diamond drill rigs active at the project, with two focusing on the Apollo system, two at the Trap target, and one mobilizing to the X target. The goal is to further delineate the high-grade mineralization and assess the potential for expanding the known gold resource.
The results from drill hole APC99-D5 are impressive in both length and grade. In addition to the 57.65-meter intercept in the Ramp Zone, the drill hole returned other significant mineralized intervals, including 31.30 meters at 3.43 g/t AuEq from 353.60 meters and 30.60 meters at 3.99 g/t AuEq from 729.25 meters.
Collective Mining has stated that additional assay results from ongoing drilling are expected by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024.
Collective Mining last traded at $5.05 on the TSX.
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