Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- Junior explorer Austral Gold has paid almost $300,000 (US$200,000) to take full control of the Casposo silver-gold mine in Argentina
- Austral already held a 70 per cent stake in the mine but decided in late November to buy out the rest
- The company has been working on the project since 2016
- The latest job on the site has been a 7300-metre drilling program to extend mineralisation in the area
- Austral’s shares are up 14.29 per cent today, currently trading for eight cents each
Junior explorer Austral Gold (AGD) has coughed up almost $300,000 (US$200,000) to take full control of the Casposo silver-gold mine in Argentina.
Austral already held a 70 per cent stake in the mine but decided in late November to buy out the remaining shares of Troy Resources’ subsidiary and namesake miner Casposo Argentina.
Today, Austral told shareholders it has completed the takeover and is now the sole owner of Casposo.
Sitting in the San Juan province in Argentina, the 100.21-square-kilometre Casposo mine is Austral’s latest key exploration target.
Austral has had a stake in the mine since 2016 and has taken on a revision of historical work in the area, including the project’s geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and previous drilling.
During the care and maintenance period over the third quarter of 2019, however, there was no production from the mine. The previous quarter saw the mine produce 846 ounces of gold and 37,112 ounces of silver, however — indicating what Casposo is capable of.
In its September Quarterly Report, Austral said it would be kicking off 7300 metres’ worth of drilling to be finished by December. The drilling was planned to extend the existing mineralisation in the area.
According to Austral CEO Stabro Kasaneva, this work is going on as the company assess some opportunities to consolidate other nearby projects and source ore from third parties.
“All these initiatives are part of our business strategy to consolidate mineral resources to recommence mining operations at Casposo,” Stabro said.
As the year nears its end, there has been no update as to the state of the latest drilling in the area.
Austral’s shares are up 14.29 per cent today, currently trading for eight cents each in a $44.75 million market cap.
