Andean Silver has expanded drilling to six rigs at Cerro Bayo while preparing a resource update and Scoping Study for early 2027. The Chilean project also delivered a new 2km silver-gold exploration target, backed by A$70.5 million in cash after a A$40 million placement.
- Six-rig drilling campaign targeting resource growth and conversion
- Juanita prospect extends over 2km outside the existing 136Moz AgEq resource
- Surface sampling returned up to 62,663g/t AgEq at Juanita
- A$70.5 million cash balance after A$40 million institutional placement
- Scoping Study targeted for early 2027, with feasibility work due by year-end
Six rigs push Cerro Bayo towards its next resource milestone
Andean Silver Limited (ASX:ASL) is putting more drilling muscle behind its attempt to restart the Cerro Bayo silver-gold project in Chile, with six rigs now operating across resource-growth and infill programs. The September quarter report positions the company between exploration and development: it is upgrading material for economic studies while testing extensions beyond the existing mine areas.
The work builds on the company’s existing 136 million ounces of silver equivalent Mineral Resource, including 60 million ounces in the Indicated category. Infill drilling is focused on mineralisation near existing infrastructure, while broader drilling has begun at the Taitao open pit and elsewhere across the Laguna Verde Mine Complex. The company says the results are also being used to refresh geotechnical and metallurgical inputs for future mine planning.
That campaign followed the A$40 million institutional placement, which was priced at A$2.45 a share and completed during the quarter. Andean ended September with A$70.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared with A$42.7 million at the end of June. The quarterly cash-flow report recorded A$9.43 million of operating and exploration outgoings, implying 7.47 quarters of funding on the company’s stated calculation if that spending rate were maintained, although a restart program could alter future cash requirements.
Juanita adds a large exploration target outside the current resource
The most eye-catching exploration development is Juanita, a newly identified breccia-hosted silver-gold trend north of the historic Cerro Bayo district. The mineralised trend has been traced over about 2km, with breccia zones observed at widths of up to 18 metres, outside the current Mineral Resource.
Initial surface samples included assays of up to 62,663g/t AgEq, comprising 25,047g/t silver and 453.2g/t gold. Other samples also returned exceptionally high grades. Those numbers are from outcrop sampling rather than a defined resource, however, and the company’s immediate task is to map the area, complete sawn-channel sampling, define drill targets and secure greenfields drilling permits across the Juanita-to-Droughtmaster corridor.
The target had already been flagged in the Juanita bonanza-grade discovery, where the company reported that historic work had not comprehensively tested the high-grade breccia zones. The current filing adds no new resource estimate for Juanita, so its significance remains contingent on systematic drilling and successful conversion of surface indications into continuous subsurface mineralisation.
High-grade drilling continues at Trinidad and Delia SE
Within the established mine areas, drilling delivered further high-grade intersections at Trinidad and Delia SE. At Trinidad, the first drilling in more than 10 years included 2.4 metres at 15,558g/t AgEq, including 1.4 metres at 25,340g/t AgEq. The results support the company’s stated aim of extending and converting an 800-metre mineralised trend that has so far been drilled over only part of its vertical extent.
At Delia SE, drilling beneath existing infrastructure returned 3.1 metres at 3,356g/t AgEq, with the company describing multiple stacked lodes at depth and along the southern plunge of the shoot. Results from the Appaloosa-Taitao, Coyita and Temer areas were generally narrower or lower grade, but are being used alongside the higher-grade intersections to support resource conversion and technical study work.
These results sit within the broader Cerro Bayo drilling campaign, which previously included a standout Trinidad intersection of 1.4 metres at 268.6g/t gold and 3,045g/t silver. The latest quarter’s emphasis is less on a single headline intercept than on building enough continuity, classification and technical confidence for the development studies.
Studies and restart works move onto a defined timetable
Andean plans to complete a Mineral Resource update and Scoping Study in early calendar 2027, followed by a Feasibility Study and maiden Ore Reserve by the end of 2027. Early restart activities are also planned during 2027, including mill refurbishment, underground dewatering and infrastructure upgrades. The company continues to maintain the site while those studies and permitting work progress.
The timetable is ambitious rather than assured. A resource update will need to convert parts of the current drilling inventory into higher-confidence categories, while the study outcomes will depend on mining, metallurgical, infrastructure, permitting and commodity-price assumptions. The placement gives Andean substantial cash to pursue the program, but the company remains pre-production and the report does not establish a restart decision or future production profile.
Bottom Line?
The next test is whether six rigs can turn strong intercepts and Juanita’s surface grades into a larger, mineable resource before the early 2027 Scoping Study.
Questions in the middle?
- How much of the ongoing drilling will convert Inferred material into Indicated Resources in the next update?
- Will Juanita drilling confirm continuity beneath the exceptional surface samples and add material ounces to Cerro Bayo?
- Can the company advance mill refurbishment, dewatering and permitting without materially increasing its funding requirements?