3 minute read - Published 07:15 AM EST, Wednesday November 20
This article was authored by Peyton Baird of witan nook.
The witan nook team was fortunate enough to sit in on one of Aura Minerals’ investor presentations at a private luncheon in London, where we first heard about the company and its projects. Their Borborema project, located in the Seridó region of Northeast of Brazil, situated 26km east of the well‐established town of Currais Novos and 35km west of the town of Santa Cruz, specifically stood out because it is both in its growth stage and has a unique and precedent-setting feature of sustainability that benefits both the environment and citizens living in the project's vicinity. This project represents one of the most promising gold mining ventures in Brazil. With substantial current investment and mineral exploration rights covering an expansive 410 square kilometres along the Borborema mining trend, the project offers significant potential for future resource expansion.
Birds-eye View of the Borborema Project | Aura Minerals’ August 2024 Presentation
Precedent Setting Sustainability
As was aforementioned, the Borborema project has a stand-out sustainability feature. A nearby town suffers from both a lack of drinking water and an inundation of sewage which causes disease and water system pollution. Aura Minerals has come up with an innovative idea to satisfy its operational necessities and give back to the local community. The Seridó region of Northeast Brazil is dry and arid, therefore lacking the water necessary to fulfill the critical operation of processing ore. Their solution is to divert the sewage water, filter and clean it for its ore processing operations, and then filter and clean it a second time before returning it to the town for everyday use. Using this method, their water demand is fulfilled, the sewage is removed from the city, and clean water is provided to the city.
Resource and Reserve Highlights
Moving on to the economic viability of the Borborema project, extensive drilling in the amount of 104,500 metres has delineated a continuous ore body approximately 3.5 kilometres long with a high-grade core that can be optimized for early-stage mining. The ore body is consistently 30 to 35 metres thick, expanding to 50 metres in some areas, and remains open in all directions, suggesting further resource growth potential. Recent drilling to assess deeper mineralization has yielded promising results, particularly from hole CRDD 184, which intercepted a thick zone of high-grade mineralization. This discovery points to underground mining opportunities and highlights the potential for Borborema to extend beyond its initial 10-year Phase 1 lifespan.
2022 Borborema Gold Grade Shells | Aura Minerals’ Press Release of August 30, 2023
Regional Significance
As the largest known gold deposit in the Seridó Belt, Borborema is a key asset for both Aura Minerals and the broader Brazilian mining sector, which is why its precedent-setting activities are so important. The region hosts numerous quartz vein-hosted or vein-related gold deposits, alongside skarn-style tungsten deposits with associated bismuth, copper, and gold mineralization. Borborema’s scale and high-grade nature set it apart as a standout project in this mineral-rich belt. The project’s strategic location in Rio Grande do Norte also offers economic and logistical advantages. Infrastructure in the area is well-developed, and the project stands to bring significant economic benefits to the region, including job creation and local investment.
Borborema project Infrastructural Map | Aura Minerals’ August 2024 Presentation
Future Outlook
Aura Minerals’ commitment to advancing Borborema is evident in its systematic approach to exploration, resource development, feasibility assessment, and the construction of infrastructure. The company’s ongoing efforts to update feasibility studies to CIM standards reflect its focus on meeting global benchmarks while optimizing the project’s economic potential. The exploration of high-grade zones and the extension of the mineralized zone at depth point to a long-term future for Borborema, with underground mining prospects complementing the open-pit operation. In addition to the infrastructure being built, the complex water treatment strategy which is critical to their ore processing, Aura Minerals’ is showing serious commitment to the project and surrounding area.
As global demand for gold remains robust, Borborema stands out as a project poised to deliver significant returns. Aura Minerals’ expertise, combined with the project’s favourable geology and infrastructure, positions Borborema as a key driver of the company’s growth and a valuable contributor to Brazil’s mining sector. In an era where high-quality, economically viable gold projects are increasingly rare, Borborema’s well-defined resources, robust feasibility studies, and potential for expansion make it a noteworthy development on the global mining stage.
This article was authored by Peyton Baird of witan nook.
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