Titan Minerals Ltd (ASX:TTM) geologists are on the ground at the Cerro Verde prospect, part of the 100%-held Dynasty Gold Project in southern Ecuador, conducting mapping and surface geochemical sampling ahead of resource growth drilling set to kick off this week.
Expanding current resource
The company has had high hopes for Dynasty to grow its bulk and high-grade gold since its maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE), published in July 2023, reported:
- Cerro Verde - 28.8 million tonnes at 2.08 g/t gold and 13.00 g/t silver for 1.92 million ounces of gold and 12.04 million ounces of silver;
- Iguana - 10.9 million tonnes at 2.02 g/t gold and 13.68 g/t silver for 710,000 ounces of gold and 4.81 million ounces of silver;
- Papayal - 900,000 tonnes at 4.54 g/t gold and 50.85 g/t silver for 130,000 ounces of gold and 1.43 million ounces of silver; and
- Trapichillo - 2.9 million tonnes at 3.80 g/t gold and 39.31 g/t silver for 360,000 ounces of gold and 3.71 million ounces of silver.
Titan is keen to prove that there is scope to improve on these figures, with large areas along the Dynasty 9-kilometre epithermal vein system still underexplored and limited or no drill testing to date.
Soil and rock chip sampling has given Titan confidence in a large-scale open-ended gold-silver anomalism, which points to Cerro Verde hosting a much larger epithermal vein system than is presently defined.
Several intersections recorded in previous drilling are outside the current resource and remain open.
Drilling imminent
Drilling of this expanded epithermal footprint is set to start imminently, with contractor Kluane Drilling Ltd ready to go and all logistics and permits in place.
Titan CEO Melanie Leighton said: “Following extensive reconnaissance works including geophysics, soil geochemistry, mapping and rock chip sampling, the Cerro Verde epithermal veining footprint has been expanded well beyond the current defined resource at the Dynasty Gold Project.
“This represents an exciting opportunity for growth at Cerro Verde, with existing resources already being 28.8 million tonnes at 2.08 g/t gold and 13 g/t silver for a contained 1.92 million ounces of gold and 12.04 million ounces of silver in this part of the project.
“There are also several significant intersections that are located outside the resource, representing immediate growth targets, with significant drill results including 4.70 metres at 5.11 g/t gold and 32.78 g/t silver from 32.78 metres and 4.44 metres at 4.05 g/t gold and 163.55 g/t silver from 76.76 metres in CVD061 remaining open.
“We are excited to be commencing drilling at Dynasty in the coming week, with a steady flow of results from Cerro Verde and Papayal expected in our resource growth drilling.”