Antilles Gold: Developing Gold and Copper Projects in mineral‐rich Cuba

Overview

Antilles Gold (ASX:AAU, OTCQB:ANTMF) is an Australian mining company focused on gold and copper projects in Cuba through joint ventures with the Cuban Government’s mining company, GeoMinera.

With a change in the US‐Cuba relations, Cuba is becoming a destination for miners. To encourage foreign investments in its mining sector, the Cuban Government has instituted attractive investment laws and realistic mining and environmental regulations. The country also offers investment incentives, including a waiver of 15 percent income tax for eight years, no import duties, and no withholding tax on foreign services or dividends. Royalties on metal sales are fixed at an industry standard of 3 percent.

Additionally, the Cuban Government allows JV loans and sales proceeds to be deposited in a foreign bank account for disbursement directly to creditors, effectively eliminating country credit risk.

Several international companies have established operations in Cuba, including Toronto‐based mining giant Sherritt International and Australian oil & gas company Melbana Energy. Commodities trading

company Trafigura also has a major presence in Cuba, commissioning the US$300‐million Castellanos base metals mine in 2017, which was developed in a joint venture with GeoMinera.
Antilles Gold’s partnership and excellent relations with GeoMinera has resulted in rapid project permitting and access to several new development opportunities for the Australian company.

Antilles Gold offers strong growth potential through two near‐term development projects, Nueva Sabana and La Demajagua, and two exploration projects, El Pilar porphyry system and Sierra Maestra copper concessions.

The Nueva Sabana is a near‐term, gold‐copper mine development within a 50:50 JV with GeoMinera, and is expected to initially produce around 55 grams per tonne (g/t) gold in a concentrate from a high‐grade gold cap followed by ~25 percent copper concentrate. Project development strategy includes finalizing the mineral resource estimate (MRE) in January 2024, completing the feasibility study by April 2024, and beginning the 10‐month construction program in June 2024. The project is expected to generate strong cash flow from mid‐2025.

The second proposed mine development is La Demajagua open-pit mine, which is likely to produce ~50,000 tpa of gold arsenopyrite concentrate (32 g/t gold, 27 percent arsenic), and ~10,000 tpa of gold antimony concentrate (28.8 g/t gold, 48 percent antimony, 1,200 g/t silver) for nine years. According to the plans, construction will commence in late 2024, with commissioning in mid‐2026. La Demajagua will also include the construction of a commercial concentrate processing facility to treat La Demajagua’s gold arsenopyrite concentrate and imported gold pyrite concentrate, with the capacity to produce 100,000 oz gold per year in dore, which will further increase JV profit and cashflow.

The company’s two exploration projects comprise the 17,800‐hectare El Pilar Concession in Central Cuba covering a cluster of three copper‐gold porphyry deposits (El Pilar, Gaspar and San Nicholas), and three concessions totaling 54,000 hectares within the producing Sierra Maestra copper belt in Southeast Cuba, with indications of porphyry deposits highly prospective for copper, gold and molybdenum.

Antilles aims to recommence drilling of the El Pilar porphyry system in mid‐2024 after its concession has been transferred to a new JV with GeoMinera. Importantly, there is a likelihood for Antilles to become the majority owner of the new JV, which would permit the future transfer of a controlling interest to a major mining group for any mine development.

Antilles intends to invest part of the expected surplus cash flow from the Nueva Sabana mine to fund the exploration of major copper targets, including the El Pilar copper‐gold porphyry system, and the Sierra Maestra copper belt.

Company Highlights

• Antilles Gold Limited is an Australian mining company listed on the ASX (AAU) and OTCQB (ANTMF).
• The company is focused on gold and copper projects in Cuba through joint ventures with the Cuban government’s mining company GeoMinera. The relationship with GeoMinera opens new development opportunities for Antilles and de-risks permitting processes.
• The company is engaged in four development projects: 1) Nueva Sabana gold‐copper mine; 2) La Demajagua gold mine; 3) El Pilar porphyry copper project; and 4) Sierra Maestra copper concessions. Of these, Nueva Sabana and La Demajagua offer near‐term development opportunities.
• The Nueva Sabana is a near‐term gold‐copper mine development project with a 10‐month construction beginning in June 2024. The project is expected to generate strong cash flow from concentrate sales from mid‐2025.
• The second mine development project is La Demajagua, an open-pit mine gold project where construction will commence in late 2024 and commissioning begins mid‐2026. The project includes the construction of a commercial concentrate processing facility capable of producing 100,000 oz of gold per year in dore. This project will also produce approximately 10,000 tons per annum (tpa) of antimony‐gold concentrate (30,000 oz gold equivalent per year).
• The company’s two exploration projects include the El Pilar copper‐gold porphyry system and three concessions in the Sierra Maestra copper belt.
• Investment in Cuba offers several benefits, including richness in minerals, lower operating costs and royalties, stable government and regulations, several investment incentives and the availability of a skilled workforce.

Key Projects

Nueva Sabana Project

Nueva Sabana is the company’s near‐term, gold‐copper mine development project. The project is held in a 50:50 JV with the Cuban Government’s mining company GeoMinera. It will be an open-pit mine developed on the El Pilar oxide deposit in central Cuba.

Results from 24,000 metres of historical drilling results, 1,800 metres drilled in 2022, and the 10,000 metres drilled in 2023 will be used to establish a mineral resource estimate (MRE) in January 2024. A feasibility study for the proposed development of the oxide deposit will follow soon after that, and the 10‐month construction phase is expected to begin in June 2024.

Recent drilling has shown outstanding grades for gold and copper, and increasing lateral and vertical boundaries of the copper domain. The results reinforce the prospect of near‐term development of the low‐capex Nueva Sabana mine at El Pilar. The outstanding grades in the gold domain extend from the surface to a depth of 40 to 50 metres, and robust grades in the underlying copper domain continue for a further 50 to 70 metres.

The proposed mining rate for the project will be 650,000 tpa of ore with a low waste‐to‐ore ratio. The anticipated initial production of 55 g/t gold concentrate will be followed by ~25 percent copper concentrate.

The estimated project cost is approximately $23 million, of which $3 million is shareholders equity with the balance of $20 million funded through an advance on purchases of the gold concentrate by an international commodities trader.

Chinese engineering group, Prominer Mining Technology, which has extensive experience in designing and constructing gold and copper concentrators, is expected to supply the crushing and flotation circuits for the Nueva Sabana mine.

Concentrator to be supplied for Nueva Sabana mine by Chinese Engineering Group ProMiner

La Demajagua involves the development of a gold‐antimony‐silver deposit as an open-pit mine by the joint venture company, Minera La Victoria.

The project covers 900 hectares of mining concession on the Isle of Youth, 60 nautical miles from mainland Cuba. The project site is 35 kilometres from the port city of Nueva Gerona and enjoys excellent infrastructure in terms of accessibility by highway, and availability of water, electricity and fiber optic cable.

The project has an MRE of 905,000 oz gold equivalent for the open-pit operation. The MRE was calculated from results from 29,000 metres of drilling undertaken by the JV, and selective results from about 50,000 metres of historic drilling and revised after the receipt of additional antimony assays. The project expects mining of about 815,000 tpa ore to produce two concentrates: 50,000 tpa of gold‐arsenopyrite and 10,000 tpa of gold‐antimony‐silver for nine years.

The project will also include a commercial concentrate processing facility to produce gold dore. The facility will comprise a 75,000‐tpa two‐stage fluidized‐bed roaster and a 100,000‐tpa carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit. It is expected to process 50,000 tpa gold arsenopyrite concentrate, and 35,000 tpa gold oxide ore from La Demajagua, and 25,000 tpa of imported gold pyrite concentrate. The overall production target is 100,000 oz gold per year in dore for overseas refining. Chinese engineering firm BGRIMM Technology Group, which has extensive experience in designing and constructing roasters, is expected to supply the turnkey process plant.

Total mine development cost is estimated at US$145 million, which will be funded by US$60 million in equity, which includes contribution by a third shareholder in the project, and the balance of US$85 million in debt. The life‐of‐mine cash surplus is estimated at ~US$600 million, with an NPV of about US$330 million based on US$1,800/oz gold, and US$13,000/t antimony.

Completion of the definitive feasibility study is expected in September 2024, and construction is anticipated to commence in late 2024, with commissioning targeted for mid‐2026.

El Pilar Copper‐Gold Porphyry System Project

El Pilar is an exploration project with a cluster of three copper‐gold porphyry deposits: El Pilar, Gaspar and Camilo. The project comprises 752 hectares of exploration licenses and 17,000 hectares of reconnaissance permits. The project will be transferred to a…