Max discovers two new outcrops at AM-14 target; completes 10,000-km geophysical survey – Richard Mills

2024.02.28

Max Resource Corp (TSXV:MAX; OTC:MXROF; Frankfurt:M1D2) has made significant progress over the last year at CESAR, the sprawling copper-silver project it is developing in northeastern Colombia.

The property is situated along the copper-silver-rich Cesar Basin. This region provides access to major infrastructure resulting from oil & gas and mining operations, including Cerrejon, the largest coal mine in South America held by Glencore.

Vancouver-based Max was the first to recognize the potential for the Cesar Basin. Its land package now spans more than 1,150 km of geology prospective for sedimentary-hosted copper and silver deposits. Max’s 20 mining concessions total over 188 square km.

Field teams have so far identified 28 targets across three districts of the 120-km Cesar copper-silver belt: AM, Conejo and URU.

Exploration to date

Starting in the far north of the Jurassic-aged basin, classic stacked red-bed outcrops with extensive lateral continuity have been rock-sampled within the AM District. Highlight values of 34.4% copper and 305 g/t silver have been documented in these sedimentary red-bed sequences.

The company confirmed that stratiform mineralization continues at depth with two scout drill holes completed last year.

The Conejo District, midway south, demonstrates mineralization at the contact of intermediate and felsic volcanics which outcrops over 3.7 km. The average of surface samples at a 2.0% cut-off comes in at 4.9% copper.

To the far south, 2022 inaugural drilling was initiated at two mineralized surface exposures, each located 750m apart and within the URU District’s 20-km-long, 2-km-wide mineralized target area.

This URU drill program was the first opportunity to test continuity of the structurally controlled copper-silver mineralization within the volcanic host rocks in the sub-basinal environment of the Cesar sedimentary basin.

At URU-C, a 9.0m of 7.0% copper and 115 g/t silver surface discovery was confirmed at depth by drill hole URU-12, which intersected 10.6m of 3.4% copper and 48 g/t silver. At the URU-CE target, 750m to the east, 19.0m of 1.3% copper discovered in outcrop was confirmed by drill hole URU-9, which intersected a broad zone of copper oxide returning 33.0m of 0.3% copper from 4.0m, including 16.5m of 0.5% copper.

Additional ground acquired

In 2022, Max executed a two-year co-operation agreement with Endeavour Silver, to help Max expand its land holdings at CESAR. Endeavour holds an underlying 0.5% NSR. It’s important to note that Max does not dilute its land position through the agreement; it retains 100% ownership of the ground it controls, and future mineral tenures. 

The company announced on Nov. 8 that it has secured 12 more applications for mining concessions covering over 132 square kilometers. It means CESAR now spans 120 along strike, from the previous 90 km, in a north-northeast/ south-southwest direction.

Max has also acquired the royalties associated with 19 mining concessions and 31 mining concession applications at CESAR.

AM District

In late October, interpretation of preliminary airborne magnetic-radiometric survey data identified four new targets within the AM district. The targets were AM-9 to AM-12.

Earlier this month, the company announced it found an additional series of five mineralized outcrops within the AM District. Collectively they are known as target area AM-14.

The five outcrops of stratiform copper-silver mineralization cover 1,000 square meters. The mineralized layers are exposed up to 285m along strike and range in thickness from 0.8m to 4.0m.

According to Max, it confirms there are multiple copper-silver bearing layers within a 700-meter-thick sequence of interbedded sandstones in the AM District. Additionally, there is strong evidence to suggest that one of the newly discovered outcrops (outcrop #2) is a continuation of the mineralized horizon at target AM-07, located approximately 1.5 km to the northeast. This supports the company’s interpretation that the copper-silver bearing layers in the AM District are continuous over large distances, similar to the Kupferschiefer and Kamoa-Kakula deposits, that are the two depositional models at the CESAR project. 

Nearly 50% of the copper known to exist in sediment-hosted deposits is contained in the Central African Copper Belt, headlined by Ivanhoe’s 95-billion-pound Kamoa-Kakula discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kupferschiefer, considered to be the world’s largest silver producer and Europe’s largest copper source, is an orebody ranging from 0.5 to 5.5m thick at depths of 500m, grading 1.49% copper and 48.6 g/t silver. The silver yield is almost twice the production of the world’s second-largest silver mine.

Fast forward to this week’s news, when Max reported the discovery of two additional outcrops at AM-14, which lies along a 15-km corridor of high-grade stratiform copper-silver mineralization. This corridor is parallel to the regional strike of the sedimentary rocks and has highlight grades of 24.8% copper and 230 grams per tonne silver.

According to Max, these discoveries bring the total number of outcrops at AM-14 to seven, and provide further confirmation that several horizons of stratiform mineralization are present within the sedimentary sequence in the AM District.

The copper-silver bearing outcrops are exposed up to 285 meters along strike and are up to 4 meters thick. There is strong evidence for continuity of mineralized layers between AM-14 and AM-07, a distance of 1.5 km.

Max says the mineralization at target AM-14 is hosted in layers of medium- to fine-grained sandstone rich in organic material. The copper-silver bearing horizons are within a 700-meter-thick package of interbedded sedimentary rocks that strike 240⁰ to 260⁰ and dip 30⁰ to 45⁰ northwest. Chalcocite, malachite and azurite are the most abundant copper minerals observed in the outcrop (Figures 2 to 4). 

According to the company, the newly discovered mineralized beds are up to 2.2m thick and are exposed for several meters along strike before disappearing under cover. Systematic channel sampling of the mineralized outcrop has commenced. Crews will continue detailed mapping near the discoveries with the goal of extending the footprint of mineralization.

“The exploration crews continue to expand the company’s latest copper-silver discoveries in multiple directions, confirming significant horizontal extents of multiple copper-silver horizons, duplicating the success at other AM targets, at the Conejo and at URU districts,” Max’s CEO Brett Matich commented in the Feb. 22 news release.

“Concentrated exploration in each of these three areas along 120 km of the Cesar Basin continues to expand the copper-silver mineralization footprint, strongly supporting Max’s geological model for CESAR as an analog to both Kupferschiefer in Poland/Germany and Kamoa-Kakula in DRC,” he concluded.

Geophysical survey

Radiometric surveys detect and map radiation from rocks and soils. The gamma radiation occurs from the natural decay of elements like uranium, thorium and potassium.

Max Resource unlocking the puzzle of a massive sedimentary basin

Magnetic surveys measure the spatial variations of the magnetic field. The results reflect the variations in the magnetic properties of the underlying rocks, and provide valuable information about their compositions and the structure of the Earth’s crust.

The first 4,000 line-km of magnetic and radiometric data were collected along tightly spaced lines separated by 135m, providing Max with two detailed data sets packed with geological information.

The airborne survey targeted the La Quinta formation, a thick sequence of Jurassic-age (163 to 191 million-years before present) volcanic and sedimentary rocks in the Cesar Basin. Copper and silver mineralization has been discovered throughout the entire formation, but it is the sedimentary sequences that are of the greatest interest.

The four new targets were identified within the AM District where the sedimentary rocks are prevalent. The targets were identified in the airborne geophysical data by looking for structural patterns in unexplored areas of the CESAR property that are similar to those seen where mineralization is known to exist.

Magnetic and radiometric data were recorded simultaneously during the fixed-wing airborne survey. The data sets were instrumental for understanding the faults that act as conduits for mineralized fluids to infiltrate the sedimentary rocks and precipitate the copper-silver minerals.

Based on the strength of the data, Max decided to extend the survey to cover the two districts south of AM: Conejo and URU. In total, 10,000 line-km of data covering 1,150 sq-km were to be collected over all three districts of the CESAR copper-silver project.

Max commenced the airborne magnetic and radiometric survey at the end of August.

The pattern of faulting around known mineralization was evaluated and similar patterns were identified in areas where no exploration had been previously conducted.

From a survey area covering 114,650 square kilometers of prospective geology, over 10,000 line-km of high-high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey was collected. East-west-oriented flight lines were spaced at 125m and flown at a height of 100m using a fixed-wing aircraft. North-south-oriented tie lines were spaced at 1.25 km.

According to Max, analysis of the data has commenced, with emphasis placed on identifying geological structures that acted as the conduits for mineralized fluids. Results from the data analysis will be important in both refining existing targets and identifying new ones.

Target evaluation

Max has identified and is evaluating 28 targets along the 120-km-long belt for potential drill testing. The company is focused on expanding, refining, and prioritizing these targets in preparation for a drill program. Initial efforts have been concentrated on those targets with the greatest size potential with work that includes the following field activities:

• Systematic chip and channel sampling of the mineralized outcrops.
• Detailed geological and structural mapping of each showing.
• Target scale prospecting and soil sampling.
• Airborne magnetic/radiometric Surveys.

Regional exploration

While Max has demonstrated that the Cesar Basin is fertile for copper-silver mineralization over a large area, only a fraction of the basin has been explored. Therefore, Max says its geological teams are dedicated to regional exploration, with the goal of discovering additional copper-silver prospects over 1,000 square kilometers.

RT Gold project

The progress Max has achieved at CESAR for two-plus years has somewhat overshadowed its other key asset in South America: the RT Gold project in Peru.

RT Gold is located 760 km north-northwest of Lima in the district of Tabaconas, in the northern part of the Department of Cajamarca (hence the project is named “Rio Tabaconas”, or simply RT). It consists of two contiguous concessions that cover an area of 980 and 1,000 hectares, respectively.

The property sits along the Cajamarca metallogenic belt, extending north from central Peru into southern Ecuador. This prolific belt hosts a number of world-class deposits.

In Ecuador, there is the Fruta Del Norte discovery (15.5Moz Au), Mirador (2.7Mt Cu, 2.74Moz Au), and the new discovery by Solaris Resources at its Warintza deposit (2.7Mt Cu, 0.9Moz Au). On the Peruvian side, it has Newmont’s Yanacocha (8.61Moz Au).

Max has filed a technical report that it believes “validates the true potential of the two distinct gold-bearing systems” found on the RT property — namely, the Cerro bulk-tonnage porphyry zone and the Tablon massive sulfide zone.

Cerro hosts several mineralized zones. Soil geochemistry has outlined a 2 km by 1.5 km gold anomaly that is open in all directions, with gold values ranging from 0.1 to 4.0 grams per tonne (g/t). The soil geochemistry is coincident with IP chargeability. A continuous channel sample across the zone assayed 3.3 g/t gold over a width of 25.5m.

Tablon, located 3 km to the northwest, was drilled in 2001 by Golden Alliance Resources. In February 2021, Max obtained the historic drill core and commenced a re-logging and resampling campaign. The resampling confirmed thickness and grade of the 2001 drill intercepts and reasonably well reproduced the reported grades.

Results included high-grade gold values ranging from 3.1 to 118.1 g/t gold over core lengths from 2.2 to 36.0m. One intercept returned a metallics re-assay value of 186 g/t gold over 2.2m, indicating the presence of coarse gold.

The next step for the project is to start an environmental survey, followed by drilling application.

Max Resource has $6 million in its treasury, a relatively small float, and results expected in the second quarter from the 10,000 line-km airborne magnetic and radiometric survey. Stay tuned for what could be a transformative year for Max.

Max Resource Corp.
TSXV:MAX; OTC:MXROF; Frankfurt:M1D2
Cdn$0.11 2024.02.27
Shares Outstanding 161.9m
Market cap Cdn$19.3m
MAX website

Richard (Rick) Mills
aheadoftheherd.com
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