Challenger Gold (CEL), a gold and copper exploration company, has received EIA approval for its Hualilan gold project in San Juan Province, Argentina.
The approval marks an important milestone as it is the first gold project to receive this approval in San Juan province in 17 years.
The EIA encompasses 19 mining rights including the Hualilan Groups No. 1 and No. 2, and allows CEL to proceed with sectoral permits and start construction and development activities at the Hualilan gold project.
With a mineral resource estimate of 2.8 million ounces (moz) of gold equivalent, the project boasts more than 75% of resources in the indicated category, based on approximately 220,000m of CEL drilling.
The 2.8moz resource includes a high-grade core of 9.9 million tonnes at five grams per tonne of gold equivalent.
Situated at an elevation of 800m above sea level, the project benefits from year-round favourable weather and is not subject to Argentina’s glacial or watercourse laws.
The project has strong infrastructure, featuring access via a double-lane sealed highway, as well as pre-existing energy and water facilities.
Located just 1.5 hours from San Juan city, a prominent mining centre, Hualilan has access to a skilled workforce and quality mining services.
Challenger Gold controls about 600km² of the region around Hualilan, which encompasses around 30km of untested strike.
The project area is known for its low environmental sensitivity. The company has bought 20,000 hectares surrounding the project, ensuring all mine infrastructure is situated on Challenger-owned land.
In November 2023, the company released a scoping study focusing only on the high-grade core of the deposit, which projected an average annual production of 116,000oz of gold, 440,000oz of silver and 9,175 tonnes (t) of zinc.
The study highlighted the project’s potential for low costs, with a global lowest-quartile C1 cash cost of $527/oz and an all-in-sustaining cost of $830/oz. The forecasted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stands at $738m over the life of the mine.
In April this year, the company raised $5.6m (A$8.55m) by issuing 66.4 million shares to accelerate exploration and development at the Hualilan gold project.
