Mining Intelligence and News
Mexico

San Antonio Project

Click for more information

Categories

Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe San Antonio Project is a gold development project. An environmental permit for the project is pending.

All technical information on the San Antonio Project is based on a technical report with an effective date of September 1, 2012. Heliostar will acquire the Project in October 2024. While the Heliostar considers the San Antonio Technical Report to be current, it plans to prepare an updated technical report based on its revised approach to developing the San Antonio Project and will file such technical report within 180 days of the July 17, 2024 news release.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Florida Canyon Gold Inc. 100 % Indirect
July 17, 2024 - Florida Canyon Gold Inc. (FCGI) announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to sell its interests in the San Agustin mine, El Castillo mine, La Colorada mine, Cerro del Gallo project and San Antonio project (collectively the Mexican Business Unit) to Heliostar Metals Ltd.

The Transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.

As a condition to closing of the Transaction, Heliostar and FCGI will enter into an agreement eliminating (a) up to US$150 million in conditional option payments and the issuance of a 2% net smelter returns royalty on the San Antonio Project, which might have become payable pursuant to the agreement under which Heliostar acquired an option on the San Antonio Project in 2023.

The option will be nullified and ownership will be to the full credit of the Heliostar Metals.

Contractors

Lock

- subscription is required.

Deposit type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Orogenic
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

The gold mineralization at San Antonio is considered to be of mesothermal or orogenic origin. Mineralization can be continuous over vertical ranges in excess of 1 to 2 km with very little change in grade or mineralogy, although deposits with significant vertical zonation do exist. Gold to silver ratios generally range from 10 (normal) to 1 (less common). The San Antonio district falls in this range, although it generally appears to be closer to the 1:1 ratio (AMEC, 2011). Sulfides are typically Fe-rich, although arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite are commonly found in metasediments and metamorphosed igneous rocks respectively (Groves et al., 2003).

The mineralization has been identified over approximately 1.8 km of strike length at the Project and has been subdivided into four fault-bounded zones referred to as Los Planes, Intermediate, Las Colinas, and La Colpa, Los Planes is the best known of the areas and is the most densely drilled. Local normal and listric faulting displaces and truncates the mineralized zones (Herdrick, 2009). Much of the outcrop is covered by pediment that thickens to the east, featuring cobbles and boulders of schist and gneiss.

Los Planes
Mineralization extends along a north-south strike length of approximately 800 m. Drilling has encountered continuous mineralization to depths of 380 m from the surface. Mineralization generally varies between 1 and 20 m in thickness. Mineralization thickness is highly variable due to the stockwork-style of mineralization, and zones can locally coalesce into broader intervals over 100 m in thickness. Mineralization is interpreted to be open along strike to the north and at depth. Mineralization is hosted in diorites and gabbros within a large shear zone that dips between 75º and 45º to the west and horizontally to very shallowly to the east. The shear zone is broken into subunits that are defined by their structure, alteration, and degree of mineralization.

Las Colinas & Intermediate
Las Colinas and Intermediate zones appear to be genetically related, and are separated by postmineral normal faults that effectively truncate mineralization between the northern (Intermediate) and southern (Las Colinas) zones. The faults that bound Intermediate to the north and south dip away from each other at 50º to the north and 55º to the south, respectively. Known mineralization in the Colinas zone is truncated to the south by the mineral tenement boundaries. The deposits dip approximately 50º to 60º to the west, and are hosted in shear zones measuring over a km in strike length. Shear zones are generally competent in both zones, and is described as being composed of potassium feldspar and quartz in a matrix of sericite, chlorite, and quartz (AMEC, 2011). The mineralized zones vary in thickness, and are generally thinner to the south in the Las Colinas zone. Perhaps the most notable difference between the zones is the conspicuous absence of a well-developed stockwork zone at Las Colinas. Much like the mineralization at Los Planes, Au grades in the Intermediate zone are best associated with the stockwork zones characterized by elevated sulfide content.

La Colpa
Mineralization at La Colpa is interpreted to be a sheeted vein complex with intermediate stockwork zones. Due to the unpredictable nature of this mineralization, the number of parallel veins varies within the zone from two to six sequential structures. The stockwork zones are hosted in cataclastic units with a schist footwall, and are weakly chlorite/sericite altered. Originally, the mineralization was interpreted to be hosted in a shear zone dipping to the west at about 10º to 20º and composed of cataclasite and mylonite, with alteration dominated by sericite, silicification, and local K-feldspar. The dip of these units has been reinterpreted to be about 50º to 60º dip after more information was acquired in the recent expanded drilling program.

Reserves

Lock

- subscription is required.

Mining Methods

Lock

- subscription is required.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Lock

- subscription is required.

Processing

Lock

- subscription is required.

Production

CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Gold koz 741,046

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsEstimated
Cash costs Gold USD 553.06 / oz *  USD
Assumed price Gold USD 1,355 / oz *  USD
* According to 2012 study / presentation.

Operating Costs

Currency2024
OP mining costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2012 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
OP OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 198.6
Refining costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
G&A costs $M USD 46.2
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Income Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Net revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Operating margin (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

Lock

- subscription is required.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNamePhoneEmailProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 5, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 5, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 10, 2012
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Jul 17, 2024

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2012

Aerial view:

Lock

- subscription is required.