Collective Mining drills 442.35 metres at 2.16 g/t gold equivalent from surface at Apollo system, Guayabales Project, Colombia
Collective Mining Ltd. [NYSE: CNL; TSX: CNL] reported assay results for five diamond drill holes designed to better outline and expand the shallow portion of gold-silver-copper-tungsten mineralization at the Apollo system. Apollo, which begins at surface, is strongly mineralized over 1,200 vertical metres, is open at depth and is the most advanced discovery made to date within the company’s multi-target, Guayabales Project in Caldas, Colombia.
The company currently has 10 drill rigs operating as part of its fully funded 70,000-metre drill program for 2025 with eight rigs operating at the Guayabales Project and two rigs turning at the San Antonio Project. Drilling at the Guayabales Project is focused on multiple objectives which include defining the shallow mineralization, expanding and identifying new high-grade sub-zones, expanding the high-grade Ramp Zone at depth and testing a series of Apollo look-alike gravity targets which were recently announced.
The first of two deep capacity drill rigs is now operating at site and is extending a previous step-out hole which failed to reach its intended depth when targeting the Ramp Zone. Once completed, this rig will begin drilling a new mother hole for a planned series of directional intercepts into the Ramp Zone. A second deep capacity rig, also designed to expand upon the high-grade Ramp Zone discovery, is expected to arrive at site in Q3, 2025.
Approximately 131,500 metres of diamond drilling has been completed to date at the Guayabales Project, including 92,000 metres at Apollo. There are currently 31 drill holes in the lab with assay results for most of these holes expected in the near term.
Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman commented: “Shallow drilling at Apollo continues to exceed expectations as we are expanding the near surface envelope of mineralization and improving upon both the grade and confidence in the model.”
“Deep drilling that is targeting the Ramp Zone is now underway with the arrival of our first large capacity rig to site. The deep capacity rig is almost finished extending a previous drilled hole which did not reach its intended depth due to the original rigs capacity. Visual inspection of this hole indicates that Ramp Zone style mineralization is being encountered and if assay results are favorable, the hole would extend the Ramp Zone by approximately 250 meters to the east of all prior drilling. Additionally, we are currently drill testing the ME, Knife and X gravity targets and soon plan to begin drilling at the Apollo South gravity target in hopes of making another major discovery before the end of 2025.”
Five drill holes drilled from Pad 22, Pad 23 and Pad 25 intersected high-grade gold, silver, copper and tungsten mineralization from at or near surface with results as follows: 442.35 metres at 2.16 g/t gold equivalent from surface (APC-125) and bottoming in high-grade mineralization, including 68.05 metres at 4.55 g/t gold equivalent from 3.10 metres and 61.40 metres at 3.46 g/t gold equivalent from 279.30 metres.
The intercept in hole APC-125 extended the mineralization to surface and improved the grade in this location within the Company’s internal block model; 325.10 metres at 2.03 g/t gold equivalent from 8.0 metres downhole (APC-126), including 40.55 metres at 3.21 g/t gold equivalent from 15.50 metres; 72.15 metres at 3.15 g/t gold equivalent from 99.65 metres; 99.75 metres at 2.09 g/t gold equivalent from 20.95 metres downhole, including 22.45 metres at 5.17 g/t gold equivalent (APC-124 drilled to the north from Pad 23); 95.85 metres at 2.66 g/t gold equivalent from 30.80 metres downhole including 29.15 metres at 3.99 g/t gold equivalent (APC-129 drilled to the northeast from Pad 25); 221.10 metres at 1.33 g/t gold equivalent from 7.55 metres downhole including 20.25 metres at 2.95 g/t gold equivalent from 31.90 metres downhole (APC-131 drilled to the north from Pad 25).
Seventy percent of the drill program targeting the shallowest portion of Apollo has now been completed, with assays still pending for five holes and additional holes being drilled. To date, drill intercepts from the shallow program have expanded the volume of the shallow mineralized area by approximately 5%. Once the shallow drilling program has been completed, the average drill hole spacing will be 35 metres from surface to a vertical depth of 150 metres.
Founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining for approximately $2 billion in enterprise value, Collective is a gold, silver, copper and tungsten exploration company with projects in Caldas, Colombia. The company has options to acquire 100% interests in two projects located directly within an established mining camp with ten fully permitted and operating mines.
The company’s flagship project, Guayabales, is anchored by the Apollo system, which hosts the large-scale, bulk-tonnage and high-grade gold-silver-copper-tungsten Apollo system. The company’s objectives are to improve the overall grade of the Apollo system by systematically drill testing newly modeled potentially high-grade sub-zones, expand the Apollo system by stepping out along strike to the north and expanding the newly discovered high-grade Ramp Zone along strike and to depth and drill a series of less advanced or newly generated targets including Trap, the Knife and X. Additionally, the company has launched its largest drilling campaign in history at the San Antonio Project as it hunts for a large bulk-tonnage porphyry system.
Management, insiders, a strategic investor and close family and friends own 44.5% of the outstanding shares of the company.