Overview
| Location | Cauca Belt, Municipality of Titiribí, Department of Antioquia, Colombia |
| Metals | Gold, Silver |
| Mine Type | Underground |
| Ownership | 100% owned by Denarius Metals |
| Technical Report | Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment, December 14, 2023 |
The Zancudo Project is a gold and silver deposit located in the Municipality of Titiribí, Department of Antioquia, Republic of Colombia, approximately 30 kilometers southwest of the city of Medellin. The Zancudo Project covers a total area of 1,054 hectares and is surrounded by several large producers. The Zancudo Project has access to labour, the Colombian national power grid and ample water resources.
Zancudo Metals commenced mining activities at the Zancudo Project in April 2025. The achievement of this milestone reflects the activities carried out by the Company in 2024 to advance development and construction at the project site and to obtain the mining license and approval of the environmental impact study which paved the way for the start-up of Denarius Metals’ first mining operation amidst a strong rally in gold and silver prices. In June 2025, the Company completed its first shipment of high-grade ore from early production to Trafigura under its long-term offtake agreement. In October 2025, the Company received approval of the Industrial Facility Permit for its Zancudo Project from Corantioquia, the local environmental authority in Colombia. With the approval of the Industrial Facility Permit, Denarius Metals has all required permits and is now able to commence construction of its 1,000 tonnes per day flotation processing plant that is expected to start producing high-grade gold-silver concentrates before the end of the second quarter of 2026. The concentrates will also be sold to Trafigura under the Company’s long-term offtake contract. In the interim, the Company is continuing to deliver crushed ore from early production for sale to Trafigura while it completes construction of the plant.
The Zancudo Project includes the historic producing Independencia Mine and has a rich history dating back over 250 years. Gold was first discovered in the district in 1746. Mining has been carried out at Zancudo since 1793 in 58 mines. Historically, the most important company was the Sociedad de Zancudo that operated for a century from 1848 to 1948, with the most important mining period being from 1863 to 1927. The mine closed in 1945. Estimated total production from the Zancudo District from 1793 to 2006 ranges between 1.4 and 2 million ounces AuEq.
Gran Colombia Gold (also referred to as GCM Mining and a predecessor to Aris Mining Corporation) acquired the Zancudo Project in 2010 and later optioned it to IAMGOLD Corporation in 2017. IAMGOLD carried out an exploration program until 2022 as part of their earn-in under an option agreement.
Denarius Metals acquired Zancudo Metals and the rights to the Zancudo Project from Gran Colombia Gold in 2021. After IAMGOLD advised the Company in 2022 that they would not complete their earn-in under the option agreement due to factors unrelated to the project, Zancudo Metals retained a 100% interest in the Zancudo Project and charted the course to develop the project.
In 2022, and then updated in 2023, Denarius Metals quantified an initial Mineral Resource estimate (“MRE”) for the Zancudo Project, based on the results from a total of 40,100 meters of historical diamond drilling in 149 holes, including 33 underground holes drilled in the Independencia Mine, that was carried out by Gran Colombia Gold and IAMGOLD over the period from 2011 through 2021. The initial MRE for the Zancudo Project comprised 4.1 million tonnes in the Inferred Resources category grading 6.5 g/t gold and 107 g/t silver totaling 860,000 ounces of gold and 14.1 million ounces of silver. At a gold equivalent grade of 8.1 g/t, the initial MRE represents a total of 1,060,000 gold equivalent ounces.
In 2024, Denarius Metals carried out a total of 7,225 m of in-fill drilling in 45 holes at the Zancudo Project. On November 3, 2025, Denarius Metals announced it has completed an updated MRE for the Zancudo Project effective October 31, 2025 that incorporates the results from the 2024 drilling campaign. The updated MRE includes the conversion of 979,000 tonnes from Inferred Resources to Indicated Resources grading 6.9 g/t gold and 84 g/t silver totaling 217,000 ounces of gold and 2.7 million ounces of silver, reflecting the positive impact of the tighter spacing in the 2024 drilling program at 50×50 m drill centers to de-risk the near-term underground production at the Zancudo Project. In addition, the updated MRE includes a 13% increase in tonnage resulting in total Inferred Resources of 4.6 million tonnes grading 5.6 g/t gold and 84 g/t silver totaling 832,000 ounces of gold and 12.5 million ounces of silver. The updated MRE will be supported by a NI 43-101 independent report which will also include an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment that is expected to be published and filed on the Company’s website and SEDAR+ profile on or about December 18, 2025.
Zancudo Metals has partnered with an experienced local contract miner who will be responsible for mine development and mineral extraction at the Zancudo Project, taking advantage of the extensive historical underground mine workings in the Independencia Mine. Zancudo Metals has refurbished the former plant site and installed a new crushing plant. Construction has commenced on a new 1,000 tonnes per day processing plant that will produce high-grade gold-silver concentrates. The new processing plant is expected to be operational by the end of the second quarter of 2026. The Zancudo Project, which is about 190 km from the Port of Buenaventura, is also being connected to a major highway to Medellin by a 4 km bypass road that is currently under construction.
The Zancudo Project is expected to provide economic revival to the Municipality of Titiribí and surrounding area. Zancudo Metals is working closely with the local community to incorporate its ESG programs as part of the development of this project.
Geology and Exploration
The Zancudo Project is located on the western side of the Central Cordillera of the Colombian Andes, which is separated from the Western Cordillera to the west by the Cauca River. The Zancudo deposit lies within the Romeral terrane, an oceanic terrane comprising metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic complexes, ophiolite sequences and oceanic sediments of probable Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age. The Romeral terrane is partially covered by continental sediments of the Oligocene to Lower Miocene age called the Amagá Formation, comprising conglomerates, sandstones, shales, and coal seams. The Titiribí porphyry of Late Miocene age intrudes the Arquía Complex schists and Amagá Formation sedimentary rocks. Gold mineralization is related to the emplacement of porphyry stocks.
The host rocks to gold mineralization are schists of the Arquía Complex, sedimentary rocks of the Amagá Formation, and the Late Miocene andesite porphyry intrusions. The sediments have been folded into several synclines cut by high angle reverse faults with a strike of N10-20°W and a steep dip of 50 to 70° east.
Mineralization at Zancudo occurs in multiple stacked mantos and steeper structures exploited over a strike length of 2,500 meters (m). The known vertical extent of mineralization is approximately 400 m.
Structure formation is related to WNW to NW-SE oriented compression that reactivated earlier fault and probable thrust imbricate structures as sinistral transpressional shear zones. Low angle stacked mantos formed as reverse faults in the footwall of the Santa Catalina structure.
The structures have early-stage base metal sulfides (pyrite, sphalerite, galena, arsenopyrite) infilled by quartz or quartz-carbonate gangue, with banded textures that are typical of epithermal veins. The structure minerals, in order of decreasing abundance, are pyrite, galena, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, silver-sulfosalts, bournonite, boulangerite and jamesonite, with minor chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, native gold or electrum, and native silver. The gangue minerals are quartz, calcite and clay minerals. The clay minerals identified are kaolinite, muscovite and sericite. Wall rock alteration is sericite, carbonate and disseminated sulfides.
Between 2011 and 2022, Gran Colombia Gold and IAMGOLD completed multi-staged exploration programs on the Zancudo Project including, geological mapping, rock chip sampling, underground sampling, geophysical surveys, thin section analyses, preliminary metallurgical studies, and DD.
In 2024, the Company completed a total of 7,225 meters in a surface infill diamond drilling program at the Zancudo Project designed to upgrade Inferred Resources to the Indicated category and to support future mine development. The drilling program focused on two priority areas, Los Albertos and Las Brisas, and was designed at 50×50 meters drill centers. In September 2024, the Company released the results received from the final assays for 32 drill holes from the Los Albertos target, totalling approximately 4,790 meters. Drilling on the second target, Las Brisas, was carried out in the latter part of 2024 with a total of 2,435 meters completed in 13 drill holes. The results from drilling on the Las Brisas target were announced in April 2025, confirming high-grade mineralization on multiple veins and the discovery of a new manto vein.
Given the opportunity for long-term growth through exploration at the Zancudo Project, the Company is committed to an ongoing investment in drilling and is currently preparing to commence a 15,000 m drilling campaign by the end of 2025 that will run through 2026.
