Mirasol Resources, an exploration company focused on quality precious metals discoveries, recently joined forces with AngloGold Ashanti Limited, a global mining company with a diverse, high-yielding portfolio of operations and exploratory activities across numerous continents. Mirasol signed the open agreement on May 23 with AngloGold Ashanti’s Cerro Vanguardia SA Gold-Silver Mine to further develop the Claudia Gold-Silver Project in Santa Cruz, Argentina. AngloGold Ashanti currently owns 92.5% of the Cerro Vanguardia SA Gold-Silver Mine, while FOMICRUZ S.E. owns the remaining 7.5%.
“The Agreement with CVSA demonstrates the potential for continued discovery and resource development at Claudia,” Tim Heenan, the president of Mirasol Resources, explained in the statement. “The 2% royalty has the potential to offer significant near-term value to Mirasol shareholders as resources defined at Claudia could be processed quickly and efficiently at the nearby Cerro Vanguardia mill.”
The Claudia Option Agreement includes numerous terms that the companies must settle on. To start, the Cerro Vanguardia SA Gold-Silver Mine must complete the standard mapping, trenching, sampling, and geophysics required to develop drill targets and meet the minimum drill requirement of 2,500 meters of diamond drilling within two years. After this two-year mark, the mine may complete a minimum aggregate of 6,000 meters within three years or 12,500 within four years.
After completing drilling commitments, the Cerro Vanguardia SA Gold-Silver Mine will grant Mirasol the 2% Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) on future production from Claudia Production’s royalties.
“We look forward to updating shareholders with results from the Claudia and La Curva JV programs, that will see a combined exploration spend of US$3.0 million and approximately 6,000 m of drilling during the first year of the JV’s,” Stephen Nano, Mirasol’s CEO, explained in a previous statement in 2017 when both companies initially began discussing the joint project.
The Claudia Gold-Silver Project offers high-yielding potential with five identified prospective veins, including the Curahue Vein Field and the Rio Seco Prospect. The project was initiated in 2004 with Mirasol’s exploration program. Along with joint venture partners, Mirasol has now conducted over 19,000 meters of combined reverse circulation and diamond core drilling.
Between the years of 2006 and 2010, Mirasol completed two phases of drilling with a joint venture partner, achieving 3,794 meters of drilling across 26 holes plus 3,168 meters of reverse circulation drilling across 25 holes. The efforts resulted in 100 grams per ton of silver, with intercepts of up to 1.3 grams per ton of gold.
By 2012, Mirasol’s exploration team expanded the 15-kilometer-long Curahue vein, containing the Europa, IO, Ganymede, Callisto, Themisto, and Sinope segments.
Mirasol hasn’t taken a break from its expansion or drilling efforts. “A major ‘milestone’ of the CVSA drilling at the “IO” vein was the discovery of a 600-meter-long, open-ended mineralized body hosting silver/gold mineralization which starts a few meters below surface and has been drill tested to a vertical depth of 135 meters,” Mirasol explained in the release.
“From October 2017 through March 2019, Mirasol, with a JV partner, drilled 2,529 meters in 12 holes at Claudia. Drilling completed to July 2018 focused mostly at the Curahue prospect, with 10 DDH holes totaling 2,270 m completed, to test targets on the Europa, IO, Themisto, and Callisto segments, along the extension of the Curahue trend,” the statement continued.
Mirasol’s plans to continue drilling efforts with AngloGold Ashanti’s Cerro Vanguardia SA Mine is nothing out of the ordinary based on the company’s track record. Along with the release of this potential joint venture, Mirasol also announced the official termination of its option agreement with Mine Discovery Fund Pty Ltd on the Chile-based Rubi Copper Porphyry Project. Mine Discovery Fund Pty Ltd exceeded the agreed-upon contractual minimum commitment by spending $890,000 in exploratory funds.
Moving forward, Mirasol hopes “to advance a strong pipeline of highly prospective early and mid-stage projects.” The company has 18 years of experience controlling high-yielding projects throughout Chile and Argentina, including the 100%-owned, high-grade Virginia Silver Deposit. Mirasol continues to self-fund its flagship projects, Sobek and Inca Gold.
As gold and silver demand rates soar across sectors, it only makes sense that companies like Mirasol Resources and AngloGold Ashanti want to join forces to capitalize on the opportunity. With prices for gold and silver higher than ever before, more major mining companies continue amping up production to meet the growing demand rates. With each major hit to the economy and subsequent jump in precious metals performance levels, we can only expect more news releases like this.
