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ReGIonAL RoUnDUp soUtH AMeRIcA

New dynasty

beckons

at Titan Titan is targeting a resource update for its new
Dynasty gold project in Ecuador in Q4 2020

t might have taken a year longer than orig- when that would end…we suspended op-
Iinally planned, but Titan Minerals Ltd has erations permanently and we do not intend
finally been afforded the chance to sink its to restart. We’re looking at completely re-
exploration teeth into the Ecuadorian gold organising what’s been going on in Ecua-
projects it fought so hard to acquire. dor and we think we’ve got a clear line of
As the calendar ticked over into FY2020, sight on how to fix it.”
Titan was set to assume control of the 2.1 COVID-19 restrictions in Ecuador are
moz Dynasty gold project, as well as a now been progressively eased, meaning
suite of other prospective exploration as- Titan will soon be able to kick off a new
sets in the South American country, via a drilling campaign at Dynasty.
merger with TSX-listed Core Gold Inc. Titan was in the process of raising up
Despite the approval of shareholders to $14.5 million to underpin its immediate
from both companies, the British Columbia exploration ambitions and milestones, in-
Supreme Court rejected the merger appli- cluding an updated resource for Dynasty
cation at the final regulatory hurdle, ruling by Q4 2020 and initial work at Copper
Core’s fairness opinion for the transaction Duke and Linderos. Laurie Marsland
was not independent. With international travel restrictions in
Nevertheless, Titan remained steadfast place since March, Titan chief geologist gether the technical package that would
in its pursuit of the troubled Canadian com- Travis Schwertfeger has used the lock- be suitable to attract a JV partner, or we
pany and completed a successful hostile down period to review up to 27,000m of could even spin it out in its own company
takeover in May. historic drill core underpinning the existing with its own team and do an in-species
While COVID-19 restrictions have lim- resource at Dynasty. distribution to our shareholders,” Marsland
ited some of Titan’s ability to get active Schwertfeger believes a range of cir- said.
on the ground in Ecuador, the company is cumstances prevented past companies “It’s just a scary, brilliant project. We sort
champing at the bit to start drilling at Dy- and explorers from realising the full po- of think there may be a gold deposit sitting
nasty – a project which managing director tential of Titan’s new projects, especially on top of a world-class porphyry there. It’s
Laurie Marsland believes has the potential at Dynasty where no systematic geochem got so much going for it, I can understand
to host at least 5 moz. or geophysical work has ever been carried why lots of people are interested in it, but
“I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t out. one of the things I’m cautious about is do-
get as big as 5 moz, or maybe better,” “In my mind they were in the early stag- ing a deal with a senior company and sort
Marsland told Paydirt. es of a larger discovery when an explora- of getting stuck in a deal which doesn’t add
“As a prospect, it was never a question tion moratorium occurred in Ecuador in value to our shareholders.”
of whether Dynasty was a mine or not. It 2008,” he said. Titan also plans to dedicate some time
was a question of how big it was.” “While they were revising the mining law and capital to the largely untapped Lin-
Sporadic mining and production was throughout 2008 and 2009, effectively all deros project but has indicated others
carried out at Dynasty over the past dec- the foreign investment dried up because such as Zaruma and Portovelo, along with
ade as Core and its predecessor compa- no exploration activity or development was its historical Peruvian production assets,
nies struggled to grasp the geology, while allowed during that phase of time and it will be divested. Bacchus Capital Advisers
enduring numerous challenges at a corpo- was very slow start to the exploration in is managing that process on the compa-
rate level. the country from 2010. Dynasty Mining ny’s behalf.
With the global COVID-19 pandemic and Metals [predecessor to Core Gold] “There’s some exploration property we’ll
forcing widespread shutdowns in Ecua- was very focused on the development of look to JV or do something with because
dor, Titan moved to suspend all mining the Zaruma project, so they never had the quite honestly with Dynasty and Copper
operations across its newly acquired port- capital to come back and finish this discov- Duke and Linderos, our plate will be full
folio and start afresh when restrictions are ery.” and we just can’t do it all,” Marsland said.
eased. While Dynasty is viewed as the new “I tend to look at it a bit like being a kid
“They were mining material from Dynas- flagship in Titan’s revamped portfolio, both in a candy store, there’s so much going on
ty and trucking it to Portovelo, but when Marsland and Schwertfeger are excited in this company. I would be happy to have
COVID hit, the regional cantons ruled about the prospect of a copper porphyry any one of these assets if you were trying
that nobody could move around and you being discovered below a gold-rich depos- to start up a junior.”
couldn’t truck material,” Marsland said. it at Copper Duke.
“Because there was no line of sight “What we want to do is basically put to- – Michael Washbourne

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