Titan Minerals Ltd (ASX:TTM) has soared on claiming a significant milestone with the announcement of a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Dynasty Gold Project in southern Ecuador.
The MRE reveals a substantial resource of 3.12 million ounces of gold and 21.98 million ounces of silver with investors welcoming the news, sending shares as much as 45.3% higher in the first hour of ASX trading to $0.077.
Substantial resource
Mineralisation is found within a 9-kilometre-long by 2-kilometre-wide corridor of epithermal gold and silver veins.
The estimate is based on extensive data collected from 394 diamond drill holes, 85 channels and 1,599 trenches.
This data includes the results from Titan Minerals' drilling and trenching campaigns in 2021 and 2023, as well as previous drilling efforts by other operators from 2007 to 2019.
Recent drill results from the Cerro Verde prospect, which confirmed mineralisation continuity to a depth of 350 metres, were also included in the estimate.
The Dynasty MRE encompasses four prospects - Cerro Verde, Iguana, Papayal, and Trapichillo. Cerro Verde contains the largest portion of the resource and has the highest component of indicated resources.
Mineral resources reported by area:
- Cerro Verde - 28.8 million tonnes at 2.08 g/t gold and 13.00 g/t silver for 1.92 million ounces gold and 12.04 million ounces silver;
- Iguana - 10.9 million tonnes at 2.02 g/t gold and 13.68 g/t silver for 710,000 ounces gold and 4.81 million ounces silver;
- Papayal - 2.9 million tonnes at 3.80 g/t gold and 39.31 g/t silver for 360,000 ounces gold and 3.71 million ounces silver; and
- Trapichillo - 900,000 tonnes at 4.54 g/t gold and 50.85 g/t silver for 130,000 ounces gold and 1.43 million ounces silver.
Open at depth
And yet the potential to grow the resource is there, with a large proportion of the project open and only sparse drilling in many areas. The epithermal gold-silver system remains largely untested below a depth of around 200 metres.
Completing the JORC-compliant MRE represents a major de-risking step for the Dynasty project.
Preliminary optimisation studies have indicated robust economics, suggesting the potential for an open-pit followed by underground mining scenario.
The MRE also provides a solid foundation for future resource expansion and feasibility studies. The company believes that the Dynasty project has significant exploration upside that has yet to be fully explored.
Massive body of work
Titan CEO Melanie Leighton said the MRE was the culmination of a massive body of work, including validation of historical data, considerable QAQC and 3D geological modelling, and that the integration of extensive qualitative and quantitative datasets had been instrumental in generating a robust mineral resource.
“The maiden JORC compliant MRE has not only verified, but substantially grown the previous NI43-101 resource, with 3.12 million ounces of gold and 21.98 million ounces of silver now contained in JORC resource estimates within the epithermal vein system, and even more impressive is that more than half of the resource sits within 100 metres from surface, with preliminary optimisation studies indicating robust economics for open pit and underground mining,” she said.
“Titan is in a prime position to rapidly grow the resource, with resource extension drill testing set to commence in the coming month, along with the continuation of exploration work programs across priority targets identified in exploration work currently underway at the Papayal and Trapichillo prospects.”
The company aspires to follow in the footsteps of Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG), which operates the Fruta del Norte Gold Project in southeast Ecuador, a comparable epithermal gold-silver system.
One of the highest-grade and lowest-cost mines globally, Fruta del Norte commenced operation in 2019 and generated significant revenue in 2022.