Antilles Gold Ltd (ASX:AAU, OTCQB:ANTMF) is confident that its joint venture with Cuban Government mining company GeoMinera can develop a small but highly profitable open pit mine producing copper and zinc concentrates with silver credits at the Antonio polymetallic deposit in central Cuba.
This decision is based on a review of geological data from extensive exploration by a Canadian mining company in the 1990s.
Former Soviet-run mine
Antonio is one of four copper-zinc-silver mines that were operated by a Russian mining company before their abandonment following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and withdrawal of its support for Cuba around 1989.
The four mines and 16 identified mineralised zones lie within the 40-kilometre-long New Horizons VMS-style polymetallic mineral belt near Santa Clara, which is included in the company’s exploration agreement with GeoMinera.
In June 2018, Canadian mining consultancy Roscoe Postle Associates Inc produced an inferred mineral estimate for the open pit potential at Antonio, reported on April 29, 2022.
Strong commodities prices underpin value
At current metal values of US$4.10 a pound for copper, US$1.60 a pound for zinc and US$21.50 an ounce for silver, the in-ground value of the inferred resource hovers around US$525 million – making it a significant development prospect for Antilles.
Early metallurgical test-work on core from a drilling program at Antonio will kick off in September and will provide an indication of metal recoveries, grades in concentrates and potential smelter payables on a delivered basis.
Low-cost development
The proposed first stage project at Antonio is expected to involve a low-cost development of between US$25 million and US$30 million.
Potentially, development could be undertaken by the joint venture mining company in 2024-25, and fully funded from anticipated surplus cash flow from the La Demajagua gold-silver mine, expected to be commissioned in mid-2024.
The company hopes the relatively small inferred resource of 2.25 million tonnes, with open pit potential, can be supplemented with ore from pits developed on other copper-zinc deposits identified within the New Horizons mineral belt.
Six months of “growth potential”
Executive chairman Brian Johnson said that the next six months would underscore the growth potential of the company’s joint venture with GeoMinera, with completion of the definitive feasibility study for the La Demajagua gold-silver open pit mine expected to be completed in November 2022.
Drilling results from the major El Pilar copper-gold porphyry deposit will start in September 2022, and work on the Antonio copper-zinc deposit is slated for December 2022.