Challenger Gold reveals maiden mineral resource estimate at El Guayabo
Challenger Exploration is targeting the release of a maiden mineral resource estimate for Main Discovery Zone next month.
A cashed-up Challenger Gold (ASX: CEL) has unveiled an initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its wholly-owned El Guayabo gold-copper project in Ecuador – with significant upside already revealed.
The initial 4.5 million ounce gold-equivalent estimate was developed from the results of only 34 holes and 22,572 metres of drilling in Phase 1 and 2 diamond core drill programs at the El Guayabo concession.
The company is already well placed to grow those numbers with the results from a successful recent drilling campaign not been included in the first MRE results.
That five holes program featured the intersection of significant mineralisation such as 805.3m at 0.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold equivalent (AuEq), including 546.7m at 0.8 g/t AuEq).
Confident in quick upgrade potential
Assays are still to be received for the majority of holes from that final campaign and the company says the maiden MRE should be considered as an interim resource estimate.
It plans to further update the figures after it obtains the assays from the 3,423 metres of new drilling.
Challenger has also identified growth potential at a number of anomalies it has identified in the project area.
The initial resource drilling program focused primarily on the GY-A and GY-B anomalies, where mineralisation remains open in both directions along strike and at depth.
The company believes that future drilling at these two anomalies can grow its maiden MRE grow significantly.
There is also significant upside available in another five large gold-copper soil anomalies to be targeted with a resource drilling program.
Located in a rich neighbourhood
The El Guayabo project is located next door to Lumina Gold’s 17 million ounce Cangrejos Gold Project.
Lumina is now fast-tracking the Cangrejos development on the back of a positive pre-feasibility study (PFS) and a streaming funding agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals.
Notably, initial studies have confirmed that Cangrejos and El Guayabo are part of the same mineralised system and share many similarities.
Challenger believes Southern Ecuador is one of the most under-explored sections of the extensive Andean Copper Belt, which contains some of the largest porphyry copper and gold deposits in the world.
New funding to boost future South American plans
The company plans to fast-track its South American project plans with strong support for a $10 million placement.
Proceeds from the placement will be used to accelerate exploration and development activities at the company’s projects, specifically a number of activities at the Hualilan Project in Argentina.
This includes an outlay of $1.5 million on a PFS and other studies, $2.5 million on a 12,600m drilling campaign, $1 million on regional exploration and $0.5 million on the acquisition of 20,000 hectares of land.
The company has also allocated $0.6 million for exploration activities at El Guayabo and $3.9 million for working capital.