Exploration is where Santa Barbara has been truly shining, with six diamond drill holes targeting Santa Barbara’s vein 1 returning bonanza grades, including a 0.6m hit running 25.43 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 78.3 g/t silver, and a standout 0.15m at 44.2 g/t gold and 74.2 g/t silver.
Underground sampling was equally impressive, with mean grades of 17.93g/t and 15.50g/t from Santa Barbara veins 1 and 2 respectively.
The company’s 400 samples from development and surface work confirm consistent high-grade mineralisation in veins open at depth and along an 800m strike at the parallel Mariana system, where drilling has now commenced.
Aguia Resources executive chairman Warwick Grigor said: “Pleasingly, the expansion of the plant capacity to 50tpd was achieved without much difficulty, leaving us to now focus on underground mine development and ramping up supply of vein material so as to maximise the benefits of the mill. The reality is that underground mines take time to optimise ore production rates. Santa Barbara will be no different. We expect a six-month period of expansion before the mill will be fully utilised. Exploration drilling, beneath the existing workings, has been delivering very useful results.”
On the infrastructure front, Aguia completed a 5.5-kilometre water pipeline to secure a steady water supply for processing, a critical step in scaling up operations.
It is eyeing the potential of trackless mining equipment to develop declines and haulage drives at 30m intervals, a move that could enhance its flexibility and capacity to hit its production targets sooner rather than later.
Across the border in Brazil, Aguia is fast-tracking its Três Estradas phosphate project, with the leased Dagoberto Barcelos processing plant in Cacapava do Sul ahead of its operational handover this month.
The company has been busy upgrading the facility, repairing conveyor belts, installing electrical systems and expanding ROM storage, all to kick off production at 100,000tpa early next year.
Aguia is also weighing a R$15 million (A$4 million) loan from the Brazilian Development Bank to fund plant upgrades, which could be a shrewd move to preserve all-important cash.
Exploration at Três Estradas took a backseat to plant preparations, but early work at Aguia’s nearby Mato Grande, Passo Feio and Vila prospects hints at future feedstock sources within trucking distance of the plant.
Rising phosphate prices and a strategic leasing deal give Aguia a competitive edge over imported alternatives as Latin America looks to locally sourced phosphate projects for future secured agri supply.
The company says it is also quietly advancing its Canhada copper prospect in Brazil’s Rio Grande copper belt and is reprocessing historical geophysical and soil data to pinpoint a 7.5km by 2.25km anomaly.
With first gold sales in the bag, phosphate production on the horizon and a copper prospect simmering, Aguia is positioning itself as a multi-commodity contender. As Santa Barbara’s veins continue to dazzle and Três Estradas gears up to feed Brazil’s booming agriculture sector, Aguia looks on the cusp of becoming a highly sustainable South American mining outfit.
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