Antilles Gold’s latest two holes into the El Pilar oxide deposit have once again struck high-end grades of gold and copper, further reinforcing the near-term prospect of an operational, low-cost, open pit mine in central Cuba.
Copper results as strong as 98.0m at 0.73% copper are certainly robust, but Antilles see its new gold strikes of 12.0m at 4.8 g/t gold from surface and 24.0m at 2.0 g/t Au from 5.0m as outstanding.
They come in the wake of continued top-calibre results from El Pilar, with intercepts like 62.0m at 1.55% copper and 13.0m at 45.17 g/t gold among similar strikes already demonstrating the potential for a world-class asset.
Excellent grades from the well-defined gold domain extend from surface to a depth of at least 40 metres, with copper grades from the underlying domain extending for a further 50 to 70 metres, continuing on with further exploration and expected to project into underlying porphyry sulphides.
A Mineral Resource Estimate for the proposed Nueva Sabana mine at El Pilar is anticipated by the end of the year, with more results yet to come before the grand unveiling.
The move to mining
The metallurgically simple El Pilar oxide deposit is being planned primarily as a copper project but stands to benefit from high-grade and potentially record-priced gold during early mining operations, with preliminary metallurgy indicating a gold recovery of 85 per cent from a simple flotation circuit.
Planning for mine development is already underway for the joint venture with Cuban state-owned operations and test work continues on copper recoveries and concentrate grades from El Pilar, with a ten-month mine construction period targeted for mid-way through 2024.
And Nueva Sabana could be one of a producing pair, with near-term operations on the cards at La Demajagua after Antilles raised its resource by 30 per cent to over 900,000 ounces of gold equivalent, now turning its attention towards a Definitive Feasibility Study for an open pit mine and continued success in the Carribean.
