VANCOUVER, BC, March 14, 2022 /CNW/ - Orla Mining Ltd. (TSX:
OLA) (NYSE: ORLA) ("Orla" or the "Company") is pleased to provide
an exploration update and overview of targets and program
objectives for its Camino Rojo and Cerro Quema Projects for
2022.
"With Camino Rojo ramping up production and beginning to
generate cash flow, Orla will gradually increase exploration
expenditures," said Jason Simpson,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Orla. "This disciplined
allocation of capital to Mexico
and Panama reinforces our
ambitions of driving company value through discovery".
"2021 was focused on drilling and advancing studies at the
Camino Rojo Sulphide deposit, delivering an initial mineral
resource at Caballito in Panama
and defining and prioritizing drill targets across the portfolio,"
stated Sylvain Guerard, Senior Vice
President, Exploration of Orla. "In addition to increasing reserves
at the Camino Rojo Mine, efforts will be dedicated to upgrading and
growing resources and drill testing priority targets with the goal
of making new discoveries near existing deposits in Mexico and Panama".
Exploration spending for 2022 is expected to total $15 million, with $10
million allocated to activities in Mexico and $5
million allocated to activities in Panama. Drilling at Camino Rojo and Cerro
Quema is set to begin in the second quarter and will continue
through the remainder of the year. Updates from the 2022
exploration program, including drill results and updated resource
estimates, are expected during the second half of 2022 and
early 2023.
MEXICO EXPLORATION:
During the first year of production at the Camino Rojo Oxide
mine, near-mine and regional exploration will be focused on
increasing oxide reserves, supporting advancement of the sulphide
deposit development scenario options, and testing priority targets
defined in 2021 in an effort to make new satellite discoveries.
Camino Rojo Oxide Program:
The Company is seeking to define additional oxide reserves at
the Camino Rojo Mine following confirmatory core drilling on the
Fresnillo Plc's ("Fresnillo") property, located immediately north
and adjacent of the Camino Rojo oxide mine open pit. While
historical drilling indicates that mineralization continues across
the property boundary onto the Fresnillo layback area, no ounces from this
area currently included in the Camino Rojo mineral reserve
estimate. The planned 2,500m diamond
drill program is designed to confirm and delineate mineralization
located in the oxide pit layback and allow for a potential update
of mineral resource and reserve estimations.
Camino Rojo Sulphide Program – Phase 2:
Following a successful core drill program in 2021, an
8,250m follow-up drilling phase is
planned in 2022 on the Camino Rojo Sulphides. The 2021 consisted of
6,079m across 14 holes on a
100-250m drill spacing at a south
orientation. This program confirmed wide zones of higher-grade
gold mineralization within the sulphide deposit while also
providing material for new metallurgical study, which remains in
progress. The 2022 program will infill drill the deposit and reduce
the spacing to 50-125m. This tighter
drill spacing on the more optimal south orientation, combined with
the extensive south to north historical drilling, is anticipated to
reinforce the geological model and confirm continuity of wide zones
of higher-grade gold mineralization. This drilling is expected to
support an updated resource estimate for the Camino Rojo Sulphides,
and the advancement of development planning and a Preliminary
Economic Assessment targeted for year end 2022.
Camino Rojo Sulphide Phase 1 (2021) drilling highlights
(previously reported2):
- 2.38 g/t Au over 108m (Hole
CRSX20-01)
- 2.63 g/t Au over 111m (Hole
CRSX20-01A)
- 2.51 g/t Au over 58.5m (Hole
CRSX20-01B)
- 2.11 g/t Au over 115.5m (Hole
CRSX20-01C)
- 3.04 g/t Au over 64.6m (Hole
CRSX20-01D)
- 4.47 g/t Au over 55.5m (Hole
CRSX20-04A)
- 4.95 g/t Au over 55.5m (Hole
CRSX20-04A)
- 2.10 g/t Au over 58.5m (Hole
CRSX20-04B)
- 2.27 g/t Au over 87.0m (Hole
CRSX20-04B)
- 3.26 g/t Au over 44.7m (Hole
CRSX20-04C)
Camino Rojo Regional Exploration Program:
Prior to 2021, exploration had focused on defining and expanding
the Camino Rojo deposit, with limited work outside the area of the
currently defined deposit and infrastructure. In 2021, regional
exploration focused on defining new exploration targets using
detailed airborne magnetic drone survey, induced polarization (IP)
survey, and multi-elements soil geochemistry. In addition, a
9,146m, 284-hole regional rotary air
blast (RAB) Cover-Bedrock Interface (CBI) program, with drill
fences spaced at 1,000m and drill
holes spaced at 500m along the fence,
was completed to directly sample bedrock below shallow cover.
Encouraging results of anomalous gold were intercepted, including
3m at 1.94 g/t Au and 44m at 0.08 g/t Au, 7 km northeast of Camino Rojo
(see Figure 3). See Appendix for a summary of the anomalous results
from the RAB CBI 2021 drill program.
As a result of this work, several exploration targets were
defined along the Camino Rojo trend and south of the Camino Rojo
Oxide Mine. These new exploration targets are hosted in rocks of
the Caracol or Indidura formations, are supported by geophysical
and/or geochemical anomalies, and are located at the intersection
of NW-SE structures associated with the San Tiburcio Fault Zone and
NE-SW trending structures on or paralleling the Camino Rojo trend.
In 2022, drilling will occur on priority targets and new target
generation work will also continue. A 10,000m RC drill program is planning to test the
priority targets along the Camino Rojo trend and south of the
Camino Rojo Oxide Mine. New deposit discovery remains the objective
and this could include oxide deposits that support extension of the
mine life at the Camino Rojo Oxide Mine or be additional sulphide
deposits that strengthen and expand the already impressive sulphide
endowment.
PANAMA EXPLORATION
The 2022 Cerro Quema exploration program will consist of infill
and expansion drilling of known deposits, drill testing exploration
targets defined by recent geochemical soil sampling, geophysical
Induced Polarization (IP) surveys, bedrock mapping and prospecting,
and historical drilling. In total, 11,700m of drilling is planned in 2022 for
Panama.
Caballito Deposit Infill and Expansion Drill Program:
Infill and expansion drilling at Caballito, and more limited
drilling at La Pava and Quemita, will be directed at converting
resources from the inferred resource to indicated resource
category, provide material for metallurgical testing, and test the
continuity of mineralization and potential extensions of these
deposits. The first resource estimates of copper-gold sulphide
mineralization at La Pava and Quemita is planned for late 2022.
The current mineral resource estimate for the Caballito
copper-gold deposit consists of the following3:
Table 1a: Caballito Sulphides
Class
|
Tonnes
|
CuEq
|
Cu
|
Au
|
Ag
|
CuEq
|
Cu
|
Au
|
Ag
|
(000s)
|
(%)
|
(%)
|
(g/t)
|
(g/t)
|
(Mlbs)
|
(Mlbs)
|
(koz)
|
(koz)
|
Indicated
|
31,952
|
0.96
|
0.83
|
0.31
|
2.2
|
676
|
585
|
315
|
2,260
|
Inferred
|
22,569
|
0.85
|
0.77
|
0.21
|
1.2
|
425
|
381
|
155
|
856
|
Table 1b: Caballito
Oxides
|
Class
|
Tonnes
|
Au
|
Ag
|
AuEq
|
Au
|
Ag
|
(000s)
|
(g/t)
|
(g/t)
|
(g/t)
|
(koz)
|
(koz)
|
Indicated
|
998
|
0.49
|
2.1
|
0.50
|
16
|
67
|
Inferred
|
3,619
|
0.36
|
2.3
|
0.37
|
41
|
268
|
Cerro Quema Regional Exploration:
Exploration target drill testing is planned to the north of the
Quemita deposit to follow-up on hole CQDH-17-112 (previously
reported), which intersected 76.5m at 0.87% Cu,
0.15 g/t Au (from 68.0m to
144.5m).4
Drilling is also planned at the La Pelona target, which has a
similar geophysical signature and geological context to La Pava and
Quemita and has limited historical drilling. Drilling will be
following up on historical drilling, which intersected oxide
mineralization from surface, including 0.23 g/t Au over
138 m, and boulder samples
which have returned assays of up to 1.8 g/t Au.5
South of the regional Joaquin Fault, La Prieta will also be drill tested.
La Prieta is defined by a 1.4 km
diameter IP chargeability anomaly with coincident Au, Cu, and Mo
in-soil and in-rock geochemical anomalies which may be indicative
of porphyry-style Cu-Au mineralization.
Other regional targets such as the Quemita Norte's Cu-in-soil
anomaly and Monte Bonito, which is
north-east of Quemita, will also be considered for drilling in
2022.
1
|
Total gold mineral
reserves consisting of 466 koz of proven mineral reserve (18,067 kt
at 0.80 g/t) and 1,123 koz of probable mineral reserve (49,296 kt
at 0.71 g/t). Gold mineral resources at Camino Rojo consists of 557
koz of measured mineral resources (22,749 kt at 0.76 g/t) and 8,902
koz of indicated mineral resources (330,694 kt at 0.84 g/t). See
the technical report titled "Unconstrained Feasibility Study NI
43-101 Technical Report on the Camino Rojo Gold Project
Municipality of Mazapil, Zacatecas, Mexico" dated effective January
11, 2021 for additional information.
|
2
|
See the Company's news
release dated August 3, 2021, titled "Orla Mining Confirms
Higher Grade Gold Zones Within Camino Rojo Sulphide Resource and
Provides Project Update".
|
3
|
See the technical
report titled "Project Pre-Feasibility Updated NI 43-101
Technical Report on the Cerro Quema Project, Province of Los
Santos, Panama" dated January 18,, 2022, for
additional information on the Caballito mineral resource
estimate.
|
4
|
See the Company's
August 23, 2017 news release titled "Orla Provides Update on its
Projects", for full detail on the drill program upon which this
drill result was based.
|
5
|
These drill intercepts
and boulder samples are historical in nature and are not treated by
the Company as current. Such results were completed by Cyprus
Minerals Company, a prior owner of the Cerro Quema Project, prior
to the adoption of NI 43-101. The Company is conducting drilling to
verify these historical results.
|
Qualified Persons Statement
The scientific and technical information related to Camino Rojo
and Cerro Quema in this presentation has been reviewed and approved
by Mr. Sylvain Guerard, P Geo., SVP
Exploration of the Company, who is the Qualified Persons as defined
under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI
43-101").
To verify the information related to the 2021 RAB drilling
program, Mr. Guerard visited the property in the past year;
discussed logging, sampling, and sample shipping processes with
responsible site staff; discussed and reviewed assay and QA/QC
results with responsible personnel; and reviewed supporting
documentation, including drill hole location and orientation and
significant assay interval calculations.
Quality Control Protocols for 2021 RAB Program (Camino
Rojo)
All gold results were obtained by ALS Minerals (Au-AA23) using
fire assay fusion and an atomic absorption spectroscopy finish. All
samples are also analyzed for multi-elements, including silver and
copper, lead and zinc using an Aqua Regia (ME-ICP61) method at ALS
Laboratories in Canada. If samples
are returned with base metal values in excess of 1% by ICP
analysis, samples are re-run with AA46 aqua regia and atomic
absorption analysis. Drill program design, Quality
Assurance/Quality Control and interpretation of results are
performed by qualified persons employing a Quality
Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with NI 43-101 and
industry best practices. Standards were inserted at a frequency of
one in every 50 samples, and blanks were inserted at a frequency of
one in every 66 samples for Quality Assurance/Quality Control
purposes by the Company as well as the lab. ALS Laboratories is
independent of Orla. There are no known drilling, sampling,
recovery, or other factors that could materially affect the
accuracy or reliability of the drilling data.
About Orla Mining Ltd.
Orla is operating the Camino Rojo Oxide Gold Mine, a gold and
silver open-pit and heap leach mine, located in Zacatecas State,
Central Mexico. The operation is
100% owned by Orla and covers over 160,000 hectares. The technical
report for the 2021 Feasibility Study on the Camino Rojo oxide gold
project entitled "Unconstrained Feasibility Study NI 43-101
Technical Report on the Camino Rojo Gold Project – Municipality of
Mazapil, Zacatecas, Mexico"
dated January 11, 2021, is available
on SEDAR and EDGAR under the Company's profile at
www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. The technical
report is also available on Orla's website at www.orlamining.com.
Orla also owns 100% of Cerro Quema located in Panama which includes a near-term gold
production scenario and various exploration targets. Cerro Quema is
a proposed open pit mine and gold heap leach operation. The
technical report for the Pre-Feasibility Study on the Cerro Quema
oxide gold project entitled "Project Pre-Feasibility
Updated NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Cerro Quema
Project, Province of Los Santos,
Panama" dated January 18,
2022, is available on SEDAR and EDGAR under the Company's profile
at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. The technical
report is also available on Orla's website at
www.orlamining.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains certain "forward-looking
information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
Canadian securities legislation and within the meaning of Section
27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
Section 21E of the United States Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
or in releases made by the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission, all as may be amended from time to time, including,
without limitation, statements regarding the Company's exploration
objectives and strategy, including: increasing company value,
growing and making new satellite discoveries, exploration budgets,
the timing and results of drilling and updated mineral resource and
reserve estimates and economic studies, upgrading inferred mineral
resources to measured mineral resources, the existence of
mineralization on Fresnillo's
layback area and mine life extension. Forward-looking statements
are statements that are not historical facts which address events,
results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects to
occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs,
estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the
statements are made and they involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Certain material assumptions regarding such
forward-looking statements were made, including without limitation,
assumptions regarding price of gold, silver, and copper; the
accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimations; that
there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or
its properties; that all required approvals will be obtained,
including concession renewals and permitting; that political and
legal developments will be consistent with current expectations;
that currency and exchange rates will be consistent with current
levels; the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's operations; and
that there will be no significant disruptions affecting the Company
or its properties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that
such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated in
such statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant
known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks
include, but are not limited to: risks related to uncertainties
inherent in the preparation of feasibility and pre-feasibility
studies, including but not limited to, assumptions underlying the
production estimates not being realized, changes to the cost
assumptions, variations in quantity of mineralized material, grade
or recovery rates, changes to geotechnical or hydrogeological
considerations, failure of plant, equipment or processes, changes
to availability of power or the power rates, ability to maintain
social license, changes to interest or tax rates, changes in
project parameters, risks related to mining operations, delays and
costs inherent to consulting and accommodating rights of local
communities, environmental risks, title and permitting risks,
including concession renewal, commodity price and exchange rate
fluctuations, risks relating to COVID-19, delays in or failure to
receive access agreements or amended permits, risks inherent in the
estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources; and risks
associated with executing the Company's objectives and strategies,
including costs and expenses, as well as those risk factors
discussed in the Company's most recently filed management's
discussion and analysis, as well as its annual information form
dated March 19, 2021,
available on www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov. Except as required by
the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the
Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or
opinions, or other factors, should change.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Readers
The disclosure contained or referenced herein uses mineral
reserve and mineral resource classification terms that comply with
reporting standards in Canada, and
mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates are made in
accordance with Canadian NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of
Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum — CIM Definition Standards on
Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council,
as amended (the "CIM Definition Standards"). Canadian NI 43-101
establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of
scientific and technical information concerning mineral
projects. These standards differ significantly from the
mineral reserve disclosure requirements of the United States
Securities Exchange Commission (the "SEC") set forth in Industry
Guide 7. Consequently, information regarding mineralization
contained or referenced herein is not comparable to similar
information that would generally be disclosed by U.S. companies
under Industry Guide 7 in accordance with the rules of the SEC
which applied to U.S. filings prior to the current SEC
Modernization Rules (as defined herein). Further, the SEC has
adopted amendments to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral
property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are
registered with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
("Exchange Act"). These amendments became effective February 25, 2019 (the "SEC Modernization Rules")
and, commencing for registrants with their first fiscal year
beginning on or after January 1,
2021, the SEC Modernization Rules replace the historical
property disclosure requirements included in SEC Industry Guide
7. As a foreign private issuer that files its annual report
on Form 40-F with the SEC pursuant to the multi-jurisdictional
disclosure system, the Company is not required to provide
disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization
Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and
the CIM Definition Standards. The SEC Modernization Rules include
the adoption of terms describing mineral reserves and mineral
resources that are "substantially similar" to the corresponding
terms under the CIM Definition, but there are differences in the
definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM
Definition Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any
mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report
as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves",
"measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and
"inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had
the Company prepared the mineral reserve or mineral resource
estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization
Rules. U.S. investors are also cautioned that while the SEC
recognizes "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral
resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under the Modernization
Rules, investors should not assume that any part or all of the
mineralization in these categories will ever be converted into a
higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves.
Mineralization described using these terms has a greater amount of
uncertainty as to its existence and feasibility than mineralization
that has been characterized as reserves. Accordingly, investors are
cautioned not to assume that any measured mineral resources,
indicated mineral resources, or inferred mineral resources that the
Company reports are or will be economically or legally mineable.
Further, "inferred mineral resources" have a greater amount of
uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be
mined legally or economically. Therefore, U.S. investors are also
cautioned not to assume that all or any part of the "inferred
mineral resources" exist. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates
of "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of
feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases.
For the above reasons, information contained or referenced herein
regarding descriptions of our mineral reserve and mineral resource
estimates is not comparable to similar information made public by
U.S. companies subject to reporting and disclosure requirements of
the SEC under either Industry Guide 7 or SEC Modernization
Rules.
Appendix: RAB CBI Drill Program Anomalous Results – Camino
Rojo Regional 2021
Drillhole
|
Easting
|
Northing
|
Elevation
|
Azimuth
|
Dip
|
Depth
(m)
|
Depth of
Overburden
|
From
(m)
|
To
(m)
|
Length
(m)
|
Au
ppm
|
Ag
ppm
|
Cu
ppm
|
Zn
ppm
|
Pb
ppm
|
RABCR21-29
|
250006
|
2679753
|
1904
|
180
|
-60
|
72
|
9
|
17
|
25
|
8
|
0.05
|
0.74
|
130
|
1098
|
784
|
RABCR21-105B
|
250000
|
2679987
|
1907
|
180
|
-60
|
54
|
10
|
10
|
54
|
44
|
0.08
|
0.38
|
32
|
28
|
32
|
RABCR21-106
|
250501
|
2680019
|
1898
|
0
|
-60
|
90
|
2
|
29
|
32
|
3
|
0.05
|
1.3
|
60
|
410
|
70
|
RABCR21-106B
|
250505
|
2680015
|
1898
|
180
|
-60
|
54
|
3
|
12
|
15
|
3
|
1.94
|
2.27
|
118
|
1156
|
349
|
Anomalous Result
Criteria: > 1.5 m @ > 0.05 ppm Au. Significant Results
Criteria: >1.5 m @ >0.5 ppm Au.
|
Note: All intercept
widths are down hole intervals. There is insufficient geologic data
to interpret true widths of mineralized intersections.
|
|
Full results to be
available at
https://orlamining.com/projects/camino-rojo/geology/.
|
SOURCE Orla Mining Ltd.