This article is 7 years old. Images might not display.
The Serra Misteriosa target is part of a package of tenements that Centaurus is farming into via its low-cost partnership with Brazil’s Terrativa Minerals.
Serra Misteriosa in Pará has never been drilled, and soil work completed by Centaurus has already doubled the strike length of the gold anomaly to 4.4km, within a broader 10km-long anomaly.
Soil sampling returned up to 50 parts per billion gold.
Importantly, the target shares close geological and structural similarities to Belo Sun Mining’s 5Moz Volta Grande to the north.
Volte Grande is set to become a plus-200,000 ounce per annum producer, and Centaurus managing director Darren Gordon told MNN that Belo Sun was watching the company’s activities closely.
Drilling will start towards the end of the month, initially comprising a 3500m program, which can be expanded pending results.
“To have a project with the dots lining up the way we have, it doesn’t get much better than that in our game,” Gordon said.
Also within the Terrativa partnership is the Salobo West project, which, as the name suggests, is 12km west of Vale’s massive Salobo copper mine.
The license applications are yet to be granted, and Vale is challenging the expected grant, signalling that the ground is highly prospective.
Gordon expects the tenure to be granted, though there won’t likely be drilling there until next year.
Centaurus also holds the Aurora copper sulphide project in Ceara, which will be tested later in the year.
The company retains its shovel-ready Jambreiro iron ore project.
Around US$30 million has been spent at Jambreiro to date, and with capital costs of around A$50 million, the high-grade iron ore project would make strong margins at current prices.
However, it remains difficult to obtain funding for iron ore, but Gordon said he hoped to conclude a “smart transaction” on the project by the end of the year, one that ideally would keep Centaurus involved in some way.
“We’ve retained our iron ore base, which in my view, has significant value that isn’t being reflected in our market cap,” Gordon said.
Centaurus is capitalised at only around $10 million, and Gordon said at those low levels, there was a lot of upside.
“The only way is up,” he said.
As part of the company’s repositioned activities, Centaurus yesterday appointed former Gryphon Minerals MD Steve Parsons to its board.
Parsons had already reviewed the geological data for Serra Misteriosa and agreed it was a compelling target.
Shares in Centaurus jumped by 12.5% yesterday to 0.9c.
