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Argentina
Diablillos Project

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 Location:
149 km SW from Salta, Argentina

  Project Contacts:
Esmeralda 920, Piso 29-05
Buenos Aires
Argentina
C1007ABL
Phone  ...  Subscription required
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
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  • Fleet
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  • Filings & News

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Overview

StagePreliminary Economic Assessment
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Silver
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Processing
  • Gravity separation
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Counter current decantation (CCD)
  • Merrill–Crowe
  • Cyanide (reagent)
Mine Life8 years (as of Jan 1, 2018)
Latest NewsAbraPlata Announces Additional High-Grade Drill Results Including 47 Metres Grading 349 g/t AgEq (4.7 g/t AuEq) at Diablillos Project     December 21, 2020


Owners

Source: p. 1
CompanyInterestOwnership
AbraPlata Resource Corp. 100 % Indirect
AbraPlata Argentina SA 100 % Direct

Deposit Type

  • Epithermal
  • Vein / narrow vein


Summary:

The deposits at Diablillos, are high sulphidation epithermal silver-gold deposits, derived from activity of hydrothermal fluids in a relatively shallow environment, often associated with fumaroles and hot springs.

Principal economic minerals include native gold, acanthite, electrum, chalcocite, covellite, bornite, and enargite/luzonite, with accessory pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, tetrahedrite/tennantite, galena, marcasite, arsenopyrite, silver sulphosalts and tellurides. Dominant gangue minerals are quartz and pyrite, occasionally with barite. Alteration is characterized by lateral and vertical zonations of silicic, advanced argillic, argillic, sericitic, and phyllitic facies. Rocks typically have a bleached appearance owing to the acidity of the mineralizing solutions. These deposits can encompass a wide range of geometries from large lower-grade bulk-minable variants to smaller, higher-grade narrow vein types.

There are a number of mesothermal and epithermal precious and base metal occurrences situated along the trend of the Diablillos Cerro Galán fault zone within the northern and central Puna, including Diablillos, Incahuasi, Cóndor Yacu, Inca Viejo, and Centenario. Many of the mineral occurrences are spatially, and probably genetically, related to small Tertiary stocks and extrusive domes that are usually hydrothermally altered with disseminated and vein-hosted lead, zinc, silver, and gold (± tin, antimony, copper, and molybdenum) mineralization (Coira et al., 1993, quoted in Wardrop, 2009).

There are seven known mineralized zones on the Diablillos property, with the Oculto zone being the most important and best explored. These mineralized zones are:
1. Oculto including the Zorro and Cerro Bayo subzones
2. Fantasma
3. Laderas
4. Pedernales including the Pedernales Sur subzone (including Truchas and Saddle showings) and Pedernales Norte subzone (including Vicuna, Corderos Suri, and Guanaco showings)
5. Cerro del Medio
6. Cerro Viejo
7. Cerro Viejo Este

Oculto is the principal deposit on the property and is the locality of the bulk of the present Mineral Resource. It is a high-sulphidation epithermal silver-gold deposit derived from remnant hot springs activity following Tertiary-age local magmatic and volcanic activity. It is evidenced at surface by a broad zone of intense acid leaching located on the flank of Cerro Bayo, although the economic mineralization does not outcrop. Host rocks at surface are hornblende porphyritic andesite which has been intruded by a dacite porphyry body (or bodies) which are hypothesized to be the thermal driver(s) for the mineralization (Tate, 2018). The andesites overlie a basement assemblage of phyllites and granitic rocks. At the contact of the andesite with the basement, there is a paleo-surface occupied by a discontinuous conglomerate unit of widely ranging thickness. Recent review of drilling results suggests that this unit appears to thicken along a trend corresponding to one of the predominant controlling structures to mineralization and that this zone is coincident with broader lateral extent of the mineralization. Tate (2018) suggests that the conglomerate filled a paleo-trough related to that structure, which later reactivated and provided a conduit for ore-forming fluids.

The deposit is strongly oxidized down to depths in the order of 300 m to 400 m below surface. In the oxide zone, precious metal mineralization consists of native gold, chlorargyrite, comparatively less common iodargyrite, and locally common bismuthinite (Stein, 2001). These minerals occur as fine grained fracture-fillings and vug linings in association with quartz, jarosite, plumbojarosite, hematite, and goethite. Other accessory minerals include alunite, barite, native sulphur, and bismoclite.

Stein (2001) reported the occurrence of a high grade zone of native gold, native silver, and acanthite with accessory chlorargyrite, iodargyrite, and jalpäite in the southwest extremity of the deposit. Gangue minerals in this zone included quartz, alunite, jarosite, and iron oxides, along with intergrowths of barite.

Hypogene mineralization comprises vein- and breccia-hosted sulphides and sulphosalts underlying the oxide zones. Primary sulphide and sulphosalt minerals include pyrite, galena, enargite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, tennantite, and matildite. Accessory minerals include barite and alunite. Incipient supergene enrichment was observed by Stein (2001), with covellite partially replacing chalcopyrite and polybasite replacing tennantite.

The precious metal mineralization throughout the deposit occurs as extremely fine grains along fractures and in breccias or coating the inside of vugs and weathered cavities. Mineral grains are very difficult to identity in core or hand specimen, and much of the identification of these minerals was done using electron microscope or microprobe.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

The Diablillos Project consists of open pit mining at the Oculto and Fantasma deposits, which combined have 18 months pre-stripping and eight years of full production.

The Project as currently designed will be an open pit mining operation consisting of two separate open pits, one at Oculto and one at Fantasma.

Mineralized material from Oculto and Fantasma will be hauled directly to the run-of-mine (ROM) stockpile. The process plant will feed material to the primary crusher from the stockpile as required using a front-end loader (FEL).

Mining is proposed to be carried out by a contractor as a conventional truck and shovel operation. Contract mining will be used rather than owner mining to accommodate variable annual material movement quantities, which requires flexibility in mobile mining equipment fleet size. This option further reduces the up front capital expenditures associated with mobile mining equipment purchases.

Mine production is scheduled to be carried out at a normal and high throughput (HTP) rate of 6,000 tpd to 7,500 tpd of mineralized material, respectively.

Stripping ratios are expected to average 4.6 over the LOM plan for the combined operation of Oculto and Fantasma.

The production plan contemplates a commissioning and ramp up period prior to full production in the second half of Year 1 with annual production thereafter of approximately 2.2 Mt of mineralized material for the LOM. All mineralized material from Fantasma is fed into the process plant during Year 1.


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Gravity separation
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Counter current decantation (CCD)
  • Merrill–Crowe
  • Cyanide (reagent)

Source: Subscription required

Summary:

The processing facility has been selected as a conventional silver processing plant that incorporates crushing, grinding, agitated leaching, counter current decantation (CCD), cyanide recovery, Merrill-Crowe zinc precipitation, refining and tailings disposal. The design basis for the process plant is 6,000 tpd of mineralized material, or 2.19 Mtpa of mineralized material. The equipment has been sized to achieve this throughput with operating availabilities of 70% in the crushing circuit and 91% in the grinding and cyanidation sections.

The three-stage crushing circuit delivers crushed material to a fine ore storage bin. The crushed material is withdrawn from the bin to feed a 6.0 MW ball mill that has a centrifugal gravity recovery circuit included in the design.

The cyclones overflow will gravitate to a trash screen for the removal of tramp material. Trash screen undersize will flow by gravity to the first of 6 agitated leach tanks, each sized at approximately 1 ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameterAvg. LOM
Silver Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required
Silver Head Grade, g/t 160.33
Gold Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required
Gold Head Grade, g/t 0.88
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Projected Production:

CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Silver oz 54,479,782
Gold oz  ......  Subscription required
Gold Equivalent koz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Silver Equivalent koz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Stripping / waste ratio  ......  Subscription required
Annual mining capacity  ......  Subscription required
Waste tonnes, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Total tonnes mined, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Plant annual capacity  ......  Subscription required
Daily processing capacity  ......  Subscription required
Tonnes processed, LOM  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2018 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at March 2, 2018:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Indicated 27,100 kt Silver 93.1 g/t 80,940 koz
Indicated 27,100 kt Gold 0.84 g/t 732 koz
Inferred 1,100 kt Silver 48.8 g/t 1,690 koz
Inferred 1,100 kt Gold 0.83 g/t 29 koz

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs Silver Equivalent USD  ......  Subscription required *
Cash costs Gold Equivalent USD  ......  Subscription required *
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Silver Equivalent USD  ......  Subscription required *
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold Equivalent USD  ......  Subscription required *
All-in costs Silver Equivalent USD  ......  Subscription required *
All-in costs Gold Equivalent USD  ......  Subscription required *
Assumed price Silver USD  ......  Subscription required *
Assumed price Gold USD  ......  Subscription required *
* According to 2018 study / presentation.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operating Costs:

Units2018
OP mining costs ($/t milled) USD 3.6 *
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2018 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2018 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
OP OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Processing OpEx $M USD 237.6
G&A costs $M USD 46.4
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Total Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Net revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 7.5% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 7.5% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of April 16, 2018:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantity
ANFO Loader 1
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 4
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 2
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 3
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 1
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 1
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 30
....................... Subscription required 2
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 26, 2020
Subscription required - Subscription is required.


Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
Annual Information Form 2016
Technical Report 2016
Annual Information Form 2015
Technical Report 2009
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
AbraPlata Announces Additional High-Grade Drill Results Including 47 Metres Grading 349 g/t AgEq (4.7 g/t AuEq) at Diablillos Project December 21, 2020
AbraPlata Reports Additional High-Grade Silver, Gold and Copper Mineralisation Including 83 Metres Grading 398 g/t AgEq... December 7, 2020
AbraPlata Announces Diablillos Property Payment to SSR Mining November 23, 2020
AbraPlata Intersects Further High-Grade Silver, Gold and Copper Mineralisation Including 408 g/t AgEq Over 28 m... October 26, 2020
AbraPlata Drills 10.20 g/t AuEq Over 2 m and Adds Second Drill Rig To Expand and Accelerate Exploration Program at Diablillos Project October 13, 2020
AbraPlata Intersects 22 Metres of 4.22 g/t Gold; Including 1 Metre of 31.2 g/t Gold and 60.4 g/t Silver at Diablillos Project September 2, 2020
AbraPlata Closes $18.0 Million Private Placement with $9.9 Million Investment from Eric Sprott September 1, 2020
AbraPlata Closes $5.0 Million Private Placement with $3.0 Million Investment from Eric Sprott July 9, 2020
AbraPlata Intercepts 14 Metres of 6.40 g/t Gold & 197 g/t Silver and Identifies High-Grade Copper Zone with Intercept of 15 Metres of 5.1% Copper, 2.35 g/t Gold & 658 g/t Silver February 19, 2020
AbraPlata Intersects 17.5 Metres of 604 g/t Silver and 7.0 Metres of 20.6 g/t Gold and 202 g/t Silver at Diablillos Project January 27, 2020
AbraPlata Closes $750,000 Non-Brokered Private Placement April 18, 2019
AbraPlata Resource Corp. Announces Diablillos PEA Results with 30.2% IRR March 2, 2018
AbraPlata Provides Diablillos PEA Status Update and Announces Expiry of Anti-Dilution Right Held by SSR Mining February 26, 2018

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