Anacortes drills high-grade Peru gold project
Anacortes Mining Corp [XYZ-TSXV-XYZFF-OTCQB] has commenced drilling at the Tres Cruces oxide and sulphide in the Quiruvilca Mining District in north central Peru.
The move comes after the company said it had received the “Authorization to Initiate Exploration Activities” from the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines. This represents the final approval necessary to commence drilling.
The initial drilling program will consist of 3,000-4,000 metres of core drilling. It will include infill drilling of the known oxide resource, and metallurgical holes. The program will also test high grade intercepts that ended in gold and silver mineralization.
Anacortes is a growth-oriented gold company with a focus on the Americas. Its key asset is a 100% interest in the Tres Cruces gold project.
Tres Cruces ranks among the highest-grade gold oxide development deposits globally and hosts oxide plus sulphide indicated resources of 2.47 million ounces at 1.65 g/t gold, including 630,000 ounces of high-grade leachable gold at 1.28 g/t and inferred resources of 104,000 ounces at 1.26 g/t.
The recently released preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the leachable resource indicates the potential for a robust open-pit, heap leach project. Anacortes said it plans to advance the Tres Cruces Oxide Project through feasibility, permitting and to production as quickly as possible. The company said it plans to develop the project in two stages.
Stage one will involve progressing the oxide resource to feasibility study and a production decision. Stage two will see the company continuing to expand the sulphide resource through exploration drilling with a view to mining this much larger resource once the oxides are depleted.
Deeper exploration drilling will be conducted to test the depth potential of the known sulphide resource, which currently hosts 1.84 million ounces of gold in the indicated category and 85,000 ounces in the inferred category at 1.55 g/t. “There is exceptional potential below the known sulphide resource based on previously encountered high-grade drill intercepts, alteration patterns and breccias,” the company said in a press release.
On May 25, 2022, Anacortes shares closed at 99 cents and currently trade in a 52-week range of $2.50 and 92 cents.
The Tres Cruces project is accessible via a paved road and is located 127 kilometres from the city of Trujillo, which is situated on the Pacific coast. Infrastructure near the project includes an airstrip located a few kilometres to the north as well as Barrick Gold Corp. [ABX-TSX, GOLD-NYSE] Lagunas Norte operations, 10 kilometres away.
Lagunas produced over 10 million ounces of gold from oxide material and has another 4.3 million ounces in resources. Tres Cruces and Lagunas Norte share a project boundary.