Main Breccia System Extended At Apollo To The West And Depth
TORONTO - Collective Mining Ltd. reported on further three holes drilled into the Main Breccia system at the Apollo target, which is part of the Guayabales project located in Caldas, Colombia. The Main Breccia is a high-grade, bulk tonnage copper-silver-gold porphyry-related system, which owes its excellent metal endowment to multiple phases of mineralization which includes older copper-silver-gold porphyry mineralization and younger, overprinting, low and intermediate sulphidation, precious metal rich sheeted carbonate base metal vein systems.
Assay results for all thirty-one diamond drill holes from the Phase I drilling program for 2022 have now been announced at Apollo. The Phase II drilling program for 2023 is advancing on schedule with assay results for the first holes expected in the near term.
APC-28 was a step-out hole drilled steeply to the west from Pad 2 to a maximum depth of 956.35 meters (915 meters vertical) and was designed to test western and depth extensions to the Main Breccia system. The hole intersected the longest interval drilled to date within the system, commencing at 354.70 meters down hole (335 vertical) and averaging: 601.65 meters @ 1.4 g/t gold equivalent and including internal intervals of: 259.95 meters @ 2.15 g/t gold equivalent, and 59.7 meters @ 2.23 g/t gold equivalent.
The mineralized angular breccia of this intercept represents the largest accumulation of metal returned to date within the Main Breccia system and contains a sulphide matrix which includes 0.5% up to 2.5% chalcopyrite and between 1% and 3% pyrite plus some pyrrhotite. The breccia has been overprinted by zones of carbonate and base metal (sphalerite and galena) veins, which yield the higher gold equivalent intervals. APC-28 stopped in mineralized breccia due to rig constraints. This hole has extended the main breccia westwards by 115 meters and is the deepest intercept drilled to date outlining continuity of mineralized breccia to a vertical depth of approximately 915 meters below surface. APC-28 also represents the westernmost hole drilled into the Main Breccia system and demonstrates that the mineralization is thickening with depth and has an inverted funnel morphology. This western area of the deposit remains open for expansion as the hole stopped in strong mineralization.
As a result of drill hole APC-28, the overall volume of rock in which the Main Breccia system is located has grown in width to 395 meters (from 350 meters) and a vertical dimension of 915 meters (from 825 meters). The strike of the system remains the same at 385 meters.
APC-30 was drilled southwards from Pad 4 to a total length of 589 meters downhole and intersected mineralized breccia from 267.60 meters downhole (240 meters vertical), averaging: 318.85 meters @ 1.10 g/t gold equivalent and including internal intervals of: 60.8 meters @ 1.64 g/t gold equivalent (including 0.4% Copper), and 81.4 meters @ 2.22 g/t gold equivalent.
Gold, silver and copper mineralization relates to sulfides hosted within the angular breccia matrix with average concentrations of pyrite (2%) and chalcopyrite (0.5%). An upper zone of 60.8 meters bearing 2% to 3% chalcopyrite was intercepted at the beginning of the mineralized interval and a sheeted and overprinting sphalerite rich CBM vein zone of 81.4 meters was encountered from 472.3 meters downhole.
Reconnaissance hole APC-27 was drilled due east away from the Main Breccia system to test outcropping mineralization at surface. From 300.40 meters downhole (210 meters vertical depth) the Company intersected a new zone of continuous low-grade mineralization with assay results as follows: 72.9 meters grading 0.44 g/t gold equivalent.
Core logging of the breccia system at Apollo by the Company's geologists has identified that the crackle breccia as seen in this newly discovered zone, is typically found both above and on the periphery of the more intensely mineralized angular breccia phase. As a result of this assessment, the Company may have drilled over top of an angular breccia zone with stronger mineralization than was intercepted in APC-27. Further exploratory drilling will be undertaken in this area.
The Company's Phase II 2023 program is well underway with three rigs focused on drilling near surface, high grade mineralization below mineralized outcrops in the southern and central areas of the Main Breccia system from newly constructed pads 6 and 7. To date, four shallow holes have been completed and confirm continuous mineralized angular breccia from surface. Three of these holes were drilled from Pad 6 and were terminated while still in strong mineralization. The fourth hole from Pad 7 appears to have drilled out the east side of the system indicating a more vertical orientation to the system that was previously modeled. Assay results are expected in the near term.