FenixOro Gold Corp. expands mineralization to 2.5 by 1.0 km, over 900 m vertical extent

FenixOro Gold Corp. (CSE: FENX) / (OTCQB: FDVXF) announced exciting findings on its final data set from its recent ground magnetics & soil geochemistry program. The work has generated another new target area at its Abriaqui project in Colombia. Abriaqui is directly on trend, about 15 km to the west, of Zijin Mining’s 12M+ ounce, high-grade Buriticá mine.

Abriaqui is in the Middle Cauca geologic trend, where since 2007 > 90 million ounces of gold has been discovered in epic deposits like; AngloGold’s Nuevo Chaquiro & La Colosa, and Gran Colombia’s Marmato and Zijin’s Buriticá deposits.

FenixOro’s main vein systems and porphyry target are in the northwestern portion of Abriaqui. This newly defined target is in the southeastern part of the project.

The soil anomaly, open to the south, consists of a 100 m line of samples, all in excess of 0.4 g/t gold. Since July, numerous other gold-in-soils anomalies have been reported across the property, but those have been associated with known families of high-grade gold veins.

Additional unexplained soil anomalies including several samples over 1 g/t gold, along with the new magnetics/soil gold anomaly, add to the extensive target list in the southeast block and help assure a continuous pipeline of fresh drill targets.

The plan over coming months will consist of an expansion of the soil grid to the south / southeast and additional detailed surface mapping & sampling. Given the lack of any other explanation for the anomalies, a second porphyry gold target has been postulated for this new area.

The new target, 1,200 meters from where drilling is currently underway — extends known mineralization to 2.5 x 1.0 km. The new target is 500 m above area being drilled, supporting the thesis that the mesothermal veins have > 900 m vertical continuity.

This continuity (of significant Au grade-in-soils) suggests the potential for new discoveries is not limited to only existing visible vein structures. Further, a coincident magnetic high indicates potential for second porphyry target.

While Phase 1 drilling at Abriaqui remains focused in the northwestern block, the relatively under-explored southeastern block contains “a number of equally interesting targets.”

The southeastern area hosts > 30 small past-producing mines developed on high-grade gold veins worked intermittently over 80 years by FenixOro’s local partner, a legal small miners cooperative.

The ongoing drill program is testing for the first time, six or more families of stacked, high-grade vein systems. Each target is distinct, drilling is targeting showings at different depths, angles & orientations, across multiple types of mineralization. 

Importantly, last week’s news effectively extends the pipeline of new drill targets well into next year. Readers may recall that the main target at Abriaqui is a series of > 80 “Buritica style”, high-grade gold vein families present in corridors up to 1,200 m long by 400 m wide. Over 20 vein samples assayed 20 g/t+ gold (up to 146 g/t).

Many new veins are expected to be identified. Management will soon gain valuable insights on grades, depths, continuity, vein spacing & widths. If enough higher-grade vein material exists, interspersed with wider zones of 2+ g/t material, there could be one or more compelling deposit(s).

Buriticá is not just a blockbuster mine for Colombia or even for South America — it’s one of the largest & highest grade mine start-ups in the world, forecast to have a lowest quintile cost profile, [estimated US$600/oz. AISC]. This is Colombia’s first (but not last) large-scale, underground gold mine.

I had been wondering if the planned start of the Buriticá mine would be delayed due to COVID-19, but late last week it opened, marked by a ceremony attended by Colombia’s President. This has not been widely reported…. hopefully it will be good news for FenixOro, a true vote of confidence — ground-breaking in the midst of a global pandemic! Colombia’s open for mining business.

Colombia is a hot gold mining jurisdiction these days. Late last month, Newmont Corp. announced the formation of an Exploration JV with Agnico Eagle Mines. The JV will explore prospective gold targets of district-scale potential, with a focus in the Mid-Cauca belt. The initial project is 60 km south of Zijin’s operations.

Stu Moller, FenixOro’s VP of Exploration, and a key player in the discovery and initial development of Buriticá, commented,

“Zijin Mining broke ground on its Buriticá mine — and in a way it broke ground on the rest of the gold mining industry in Colombia — showcasing the geological potential of the Middle Cauca Trend and highlighting the economic impact of a giant, high-grade gold deposit. It helped focus & refine the permitting process, demonstrating that a large mine doesn’t have to carry large environmental challenges. It showed that foreign companies are not in Colombia to take the gold and run, but are making long-term commitments to responsible mining, ethical treatment of employees / stakeholders, and regional development outside of immediate mining areas.“

Circling back to the ongoing 4,500 m drill program in the northwestern portion of Abriaqui, nine road-accessible drill holes are underway (currently on hole #3). Each inclined hole is targeting multiple steeply dipping (near-vertical) veins + lower grade interstitial stock-work type mineralization. A tenth hole will test the porphyry to a depth of 300 m.

CONCLUSION

I believe that FenixOro Gold Corp. (CSE: FENX) / (OTCQB: FDVXF) has the potential to experience a re-rating in valuation upon the release of assays, (if they’re strong), expected to begin arriving in about a month. Good drill results would tie Abriaqui ever closer to Buriticá, a mine worth close to C$2.0B vs. the C$1.4B Zijin paid when the gold price was US$500/oz. lower.

By comparison, FenixOro’s market cap is ~C$36M. Near-term drill results, multiple high-grade gold targets, a world-class (very nearby) analog mine, a top mining jurisdiction — US$1,900/oz. gold — there are lots of reasons to want to dig deeper into this story ahead of drill results next month.

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