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Hualilán
PANORAMA MINERO | Nota de tapa
1. Kris Knauer CEO y Managing Director de Challenger Exploration Ltd. 2. Sergio Rotondo, Director Ejecutivo Challenger Exploration Ltd. y Presidente de Golden Mining S.A., subsidiaria de Challenger Exploration Ltd.
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oro fuera más alto de lo que es ahora. Creo que la perspectiva de los próximos 2 años para el oro es sólida y será un buen momento para ser una empresa aurífera. El conflicto en Ucrania ha tenido una gran influencia en materias primas como el petróleo, el paladio y el mineral de hierro, donde Ucrania y Rusia eran productores importantes en el escenario mundial, en el oro creo que la influencia ha sido relativamente menor. ¿Están dadas las condiciones para un escenario de fusiones y adquisiciones en el sector aurífero? ¿Cuán atractivo es Hualilán? KK: Las condiciones para la actividad de fusiones y adquisiciones en el sector aurífero son muy sólidas. Tenemos un precio de la onza de oro alto, y muchos de los productores más grandes poseen un perfil de crecimiento limitado, por lo que su única vía de crecimiento es a través de adquisiciones. Hualilán ya es un activo atractivo, ya que será un productor de bajo costo y larga vida, pero mientras la mineralización permanece abierta en todas las direcciones, nuestro enfoque es observar qué tan grande puede ser Hualilán y luego ponerlo en producción una vez que sepamos si contará con 2 mi-
Atento al anuncio de la actualización de recursos, continuaremos perforando hasta que tengamos una idea de qué tan grande puede ser Hualilán
In view of the resource update announcement, we will continue to drill until we have an idea of how big Hualilán could be
EDICIÓN 508 / MAYO 2022
Kris Knauer
of gold to be higher than it is now. I think the outlook for gold in the next 2 years is solid and it will be a good time to be a gold company. The conflict in Ukraine has had a big influence on commodities such as oil, palladium, and iron ore where Ukraine and Russia were important producers on the world stage, in gold I think the influence has been relatively minor. Are the conditions in place for a mergers and acquisitions scenario in the gold sector? How attractive is Hualilán? KK: The conditions for mergers and acquisitions activity in the gold sector are very strong. We have a high Price per ounce of gold, and many of the largest producers have a limited growth profile, so their only avenue of growth is through acquisitions. Hualilán is already an attractive asset as it will be a long- life and low-cost producer, but while the mineralisation remains open in all directions, our focus is to look at how big Hualilán can get and then bring it into production once we know if it will have 2 million ounces, 3-4 million de ounces or more. As an internationally experienced exploration geologist, is Hualilán one of the biggest surprises on a global scale? How would you define the geology of this project? KK: It has certainly been a real surprise. When we first came to Hualilán, we looked at a flotation plant with a processing capacity of 250,000 tons annually, and the objective, if the historical resource proved to be real, was to try to start production with 50,000 to 60,000 ounces per year. It is fair to say that after the first 20 drill holes, those plans went out the window when we realized what Hualilán could be. The geology of the project is very different from most gold deposits in the world. First, zinc and gold are not generally found together, and the deposit is a skarn system enveloping an intrusion-hosted deposit. There is also a significant component of endoskarn (skarn mineralisation in intrusives) in Hualilán, and endoskarn systems are generally known to be very large. Hualilán never ceases to impress: in addition to the exploratory results, there are excellent metallurgical findings, what are the next steps? KK: In recent days we have published the determination of a www.panorama-minero.com