Antares

Overview

The Antares Project comprises 10,500 ha and is located in Antioquia Department, Colombia, project is located 20 km northeast of Medellin, in the municipality of San Vincente and 30 km southwest of the fully permitted Gramalote project (Anglo Ashanti/B2Gold). The project can be accessed by car via paved roads from Medellin to San Vincente, and then on gravel roads to Vereda La Enea.

The project has seen multiple recent campaigns of mapping, outcrop and soil sampling but it hasn´t been drilled yet in spite of significant gold anomalies. Outcrop plans to start social work to advance the project towards a public audience and further titling in the short term.

History

Antares has a long history of artisanal gold mining that most likely started during colonial times. The project displays numerous, large, hydraulically mined excavations of bulk mineralized weathered granite that align within a structural zone and can be hundreds of meters wide.

In 2017 and 2018, joint venture partner IAMGOLD conducted surface exploration work on the project. Their work produced a large and significant gold in soil anomaly that provides a drill-ready target.

Geology

Antares mineralization is hosted in faults and related fracture zones within the Antioquia Batholith, containing gold bearing, high-density quartz-iron oxide veinlets ranging from less than 1 mm up to 3 cm width that trend northeast-southwest and dip 75 to 90°. Gold values often but not always correlate with vein density, suggesting the existence of both fracture-controlled and local disseminated gold mineralization. 

Mineralization occurs as sheeted veins in northeast-southwest shear zones within tonalite and granodiorite. The property shows multiple, over 100 metres wide, hydraulically excavated pits along mineralized shear zones, which are indicative of gold production from bulk mineralized granite similar to Gramalote. Digital elevation models and satellite photos indicate that Gramalote and Antares are in the same regional fault domain, and both show northeast fault controls to mineralization. The robust soil anomaly at Antares correlates with a northeast fault zone. Outcrop’s sampling in large hydraulically mined excavations shows that strands of this fault zone are significantly mineralized.

Exploration

During 2015 and 2016, Outcrop conducted various programs on the project, including: geochemistry (stream sediments, pan concentrates, rock chips), and mapping (surface, abandoned workings, historic pits). Notable results included:

• A strong gold in stream sediment anomaly across the central project area that covers 12sq km.
• A sample database with 30% of the samples above 100 ppb Au, to a high of 10,850 ppb Au.
• Mapping shows several large, hydraulically mined excavations of in situ weathered granite between the Santa Rita and Guaricu areas, extending over 5 km.

In 2017, IAMGOLD Corporation extended earlier sampling with an additional 526 soil samples, on 50 m stations along northwest lines 200 m apart. These results show a gold anomaly that extends over an area of approximately 5 km x 1.5 to 2 km and is open in five directions (see figure 1. below).

Future Plans

Outcrop plans to start social work at San Vicente to advance the project towards a public audience that will allow the company to title key applications in the short term. Should Outcrop succeed titling key applications, the company or its JV-Partners will be entitled to conduct exploration drilling.