Page 71 - pd279-Feb20-mag-web_Neat

LATIN AMERICA

Challenger ready

for 2020

t has been a happy start to 2020 for Kris
IKnauer and the team at Challenger Explo-
ration Ltd in South America.
A placement in mid-January of 65 mil-
lion shares at 10c was well taken up by
strategic investors, including domestic
and international institutions, while the
company chairman’s subscription for $1.3
million (subject to shareholder approval) is
some indication of the potential seen in the
high-grade Hualilan gold project (Argen-
tina) and El Guayabo gold-copper project
in Ecuador.
“We were approached by a group of
strategic investors and the chairman had
wanted to put in a whack of money, so we
basically went to the market with $5 mil-
lion done,” Challenger managing director
Knauer told Paydirt.
“Then the brokers wanted us to talk to
a group of funds which we did and we
scrambled to almost get $14 million, but Signs have been good from the six holes assayed at Colorado V in Ecuador
you don’t want to take too much and blow
the capital base out.”
Locking away a swag of cash allows the Knauer is eager to get back on the The results were all struck near surface,
company to approach exploration activities ground at Hualilan given high-grade re- with high-grade results extended 500m
full steam ahead, with drilling on-course to sults at Cerro Sur were received in late further south along strike.
restart at Hualilan at the time of print. 2019 and included 10.3m @ 12.9 g/t gold Challenger has the right to earn 75% in
“We will probably spend the bulk of the equivalent, including 10.4 g/t gold, 28 g/t Hualilan. Now that it has cash, the com-
money initially in Argentina,” Knauer said. silver, 4.6% zinc, including 4.2m @ 21.9 pany is also keen to acquire more ground
“Our partner up there owns two rigs and g/t gold, 58 g/t silver, 8.7% zinc from 115m; in the project area.
we can drill for $26/m drilling, not triple 2.6m @ 25.5 g/t gold equivalent, including The landgrab strategy at Hualilan is
that. That makes a big difference and the 22.8 g/t gold, 218 g/t silver, 0.7% zinc and repeated in Ecuador where the compa-
$6 million we raised is probably worth $10 3m @ 20.5 g/t gold equivalent, including ny expanded its tenement position at El
million in that context.” 17.7 g/t gold, 143 g/t silver and 2.5% zinc. Guayabo by 830% recently after entering
a farm-in agreement at Colorado V, cover-
ing 2,331ha.
Logging of historical drill core totalling
21,472m was in progress across 23,000ha
at Colorado V.
Results from just six of the 56 holes re-
viewed have identified broad zones of por-
phyry and intrusive breccia hosted miner-
alisation.
“In Ecuador it is a big porphyry-style pro-
ject. We have a fair bit of work to do now
in the next month or two re-assaying the
historical core, we have had a quick look
and it looks like the porphyry mineralisa-
tion has been overlooked,” Knauer said.
“There will be a lot of information to
come out in the next 2-3 months and that
will lead us into a drilling programme up
there.”
– Mark Andrews

Broad zones of porphyry and intrusive breccia hosted
mineralisation has been identified at Colorado V
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT FeBRUaRY 2020 Page 71