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Aftermath Silver has big plans for Chile projects

Published: 06:30 29 May 2020 EDT

Snapshot

The group wants to amass a portfolio of projects that remain 'cost positive' at around US$16 per ounce of silver

Aftermath Silver -
  • Creating a junior company, which is leveraged to silver price
  • Looking to develop projects which remain cost positive at US$16 an ounce for silver
  • Potential for a re-rating following low-risk resource development drilling

What Aftermath Silver does:

Aftermath Silver Ltd (CVE:AAG) (OTCQB:AAGFF) describes itself as a junior explorer focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing silver projects with an emphasis on Chile, South America.

The company says it wants to attract the market by amassing over 100 million ounces of silver with a portfolio of projects that remain 'cost positive' at around US$16 per ounce of silver.

The firm also aims to buy advanced projects that are underpinned by existing resources.

The company's part-owned Challacollo project in Region 1, Chile - which lies 30 kilometres (km) east of the Pan American Highway - already boasts a historic NI 43-101 resource estimate from 2015 of 4.7 million tonnes for 30.2 million ounces of contained silver at a grade of 200 grammes per tonne (g/t) and 48,400 ounces of gold at 0.32 g/t in the higher confidence indicated category.

In the lower confidence inferred section there are 1.6 million tonnes for 6.9 million ounces of silver and 15,900 ounces of gold at a grade of 134 g/t and 0.31 g/t respectively. 

The company says that only the Lolon vein at the project is included in its previous resource estimate and that, on that vein, metallurgical recoveries were 92% silver and 75% gold.

Aftermath will have to pay vendor Mandalay Resources (TSE:MND) a total of C$7.5 million to acquire 100% of the Challacollo project. Mandalay currently retains a 3% net smelter return (NSR) on the project's production of up to C$3 million which reportedly works out at about C$0.20 an ounce or about 1% of the value of the silver in the ground.

Aftermath's second Chile project is called the advanced Cachinal property, in Region 2, and it has a current NI 43-101 silver resource of just over 22 million ounces. Metallurgical recoveries are 85% for silver and gold using simple direct cyanidation processing. There is a mill around 10 miles away.

Notably, Austral Gold's (ASX:AGD) Guanaco mine lies 16km to the south of the project, which has produced around 49,000 gold equivalent ounces per annum over the last four years.

How is it doing:

One of the more recent developments in May saw Aftermath take near total-control of the Cachinal project after purchasing the remaining 20% stake it did not own from SSR Mining Inc for C$700,000.

The purchase followed shortly after the company secured its 80% stake in the Cachinal project earlier in the same month after a debenture retirement was triggered early.

Fieldwork at Cachinal will begin with a remote 3D laser survey of the historic mining voids for which Aftermath is obtaining quotes. On the main mineralized structures, a drill program of 3,500m of reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling has been designed.

Aftermath will also inventory existing historic run of mine stockpiles and leach pads. Historic sampling of these could provide sufficient evidence to warrant more detailed systematic surface sampling. If results are positive, they will be used to justify a sonic drilling program over the stockpiles, the firm has said.

In other exploration plans, Aftermath outlined in July 2019 that at Challacollo it will focus on assessing the potential of material, which lies above the main Lolón vein - host to the only historic resource - which is called the 'Halo Target'.

Aftermath said then that, as soon as possible, it would proceed with sampling and assaying of over 3,000 metres (m) of existing drill core from the Halo target, covering a strike length of around 1km.

Once this is complete, the firm said it would carry out an initial metallurgical program on the hanging wall mineralization at the project, while permitting for an initial diamond drilling program scoped at over 4,500m will begin at the same time.

Aftermath recently added another strong backer to its exploration efforts in the form of Canadian resource-focused merchant bank Palisades Goldcorp.

In early May, the company said Palisades had purchased 7.5 million units in Aftermath at C$0.20 per unit, giving it around 10.4% ownership of the group.

Aftermath said the financing, which provided gross proceeds of C$1.5 million, will be used primarily for maintenance costs at the Challacollo and Cachinal silver-gold projects and business development activities.

Boasting a portfolio of $100 million worth of equities, Palisades Goldcorp is Canada’s largest resource-focused merchant bank. Other companies in its investment portfolio include Victory Metals (CVE:VMX), Tonogold (OTCMKTS:TNGL) and Goldspot Discoveries (CVE:SPOT).

Inflection points:

  • Exploration results from projects
  • Portfolio expansion
  • Sampling and assaying results

What the boss says:

Following the group’s acquisition of the remaining 20% of Cachinal in May, Aftermath president Ralph Rushton said the company will “concentrate on delivering solid exploration results for our shareholders as soon as the [coronavirus] restrictions allow."

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