Antilles Gold Ltd is poised to begin a maiden drilling program on the El Pilar Copper-Gold Project in Cuba following the completion of ground-based magnetic and induced polarisation (IP) surveys over about 50% of the concession.
Interpretation of the data and an assessment of the scale of the two primary targets will be undertaken by Servicios Geofisicos y Geotecnicos Integrales, to be completed within the next few weeks.
Once modelling and geological interpretation is complete, AAU will complete about 600 metres of drilling, with numerous targets to choose from.
Survey results
Antilles’ surveys have confirmed multiple chargeability and resistivity anomalies near previous drilling and proved the validity of an aeromagnetic survey undertaken by a Canadian mining company in the 1990s.
The anomalous chargeability zones identified point to sub-vertical intrusives that are continuous to the lower limit of the surveys, at some 800 metres of depth.
The Gaspar deposit to the east – which boasts a strike length of more than a kilometre – breaches the surface in an area that displays hydrothermal alteration.
Overall, AAU says the evidence suggests multiple substantial and advanced exploration targets exist on the El Pilar concession.
El Pilar details
El Pilar is held in an exploration agreement between subsidiaries of Antilles and the Cuban Government's mining company, GeoMinera SA.
Should the initial drilling program on the project produce strong results, the concession will be transferred to a second joint venture between subsidiaries of Antilles Gold and GeoMinera for further exploration and possible development.
A single core hole at El Pilar demonstrated an exceptionally broad intersection of high-grade copper, returning 134 metres at 1.23% copper from 49 metres from surface, mineralised to hole-end and open at depth.
Should the drilling program produce similar results, Antilles believes the value of the project will “increase significantly, and [it] will become the subject of major exploration programs in 2024 and 2025”.
AAU has requested that majority foreign ownership be permitted in the proposed joint venture to encourage participation in the future by one of the many major mining companies seeking entry to undeveloped world-class copper projects.