Santa Ana: a structural model finds a blind shoot

Drilling intersected what Outcrop Silver has designated “Shoot 7” in a zone the company selected because it fit a spacing pattern observed between three previously discovered shoots along the same structure. Hole DH648 returned 9.16 meters (5.28 meters estimated true width) grading 127 grams per ton silver and 0.70 grams per ton gold, equivalent to 188 grams per ton silver, including a higher-grade section of 0.40 meters (0.23 meters ETW) grading 1,930 grams per ton silver and 8.65 grams per ton gold, equivalent to 2,693 grams per ton silver.

Figure 1. Plan view of the Santa Ana vein showing the drill holes reported in this release. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Table 1. Santa Ana drill hole assay results. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Outcrop Silver has traced the Santa Ana structure, the namesake vein of the company’s primary project, along 1.7 kilometers of strike and 350 meters of dip. The company describes it as a shear zone with a pinch-and-swell geometry, in which the widest, highest-grade intervals occur where the structure bulges. Applying that pattern, geologists targeted a swell located roughly 300 to 400 meters from the previously identified San Juan shoot — the same spacing the company had already measured between the structure’s other shoots — and drilling confirmed ore where the model predicted it.

Shoot 7 has no expression at surface. It is the fourth ore shoot identified along the Santa Ana structure itself, following the Roberto Tovar shoot near the project’s colonial-era underground workings, the San Juan shoot (see news release dated January 5, 2021), and the San Antonio shoot (see news release dated June 15, 2021).

Figure 2. Geological cross-section A showing the Santa Ana vein. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Figure 3. Longitudinal section of the Santa Ana vein showing drill pierce points. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

This release reports assay results from seven holes at Santa Ana and its splay structures in total. Three of them — DH553, DH560 and DH656 — returned narrower intercepts ranging from roughly 100 to 560 grams per ton silver equivalent along the structure and its splays, detailed in the full assay table.

Separately, holes DH645, DH648 and DH650 each intersected a splay structure along the hanging wall of Santa Ana. Hole DH652 returned the single highest grade in the release within one of those splays: 0.30 meters (0.22 meters ETW) grading 5,196 grams per ton silver and 8.51 grams per ton gold, equivalent to 5,947 grams per ton silver. Outcrop Silver said the hanging-wall splays point to additional high-grade structure at depth that its existing geological model does not yet account for.

Las Maras: the high-grade core holds at depth, then narrows in one hole

The company also released results from five holes at Las Maras, a near-vertical, historically high-grade target where the current program was designed to test whether that grade holds up down-dip. Hole DH637 returned the strongest result: 2.86 meters (2.30 meters estimated true width) grading 1,760 grams per ton silver and 5.14 grams per ton gold, equivalent to 2,214 grams per ton silver — the widest high-grade interval yet reported at the target — including 0.30 meters (0.24 meters ETW) grading 4,285 grams per ton silver and 8.18 grams per ton gold (5,006 grams per ton silver equivalent) and 0.51 meters (0.41 meters ETW) grading 4,185 grams per ton silver and 15.27 grams per ton gold (5,533 grams per ton silver equivalent).

Figure 4. Plan view of the Las Maras target showing the drill holes reported in this release. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Figure 5. Geological cross-section B showing the Las Maras vein system. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Figure 6. Geological cross-section C showing the Las Maras vein system. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Table 2. Las Maras drill hole assay results. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

A splay structure along the hanging wall of Las Maras also returned high-grade results: hole DH624 intersected 0.30 meters (0.21 meters ETW) grading 3,386 grams per ton silver and 10.99 grams per ton gold, equivalent to 4,355 grams per ton silver. Hole DH640, the deepest hole drilled at the target to date, intersected a narrower interval of the structure with lower silver grades at that specific point. Outcrop Silver said it is incorporating that result into its geological model rather than treating it as evidence the target is closing off, citing the strength of DH637 along the same trend. Holes DH630 and DH653 returned additional results consistent with the structure’s continuity.

Figure 7. Longitudinal section of the Las Maras vein showing drill pierce points. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Background: a rebuilt leadership team and a resource update due this month

Outcrop Silver — known as Outcrop Gold Corp. until a name change effective June 14, 2021 — has spent the past year rebuilding its leadership. Rob Bruggeman became chief executive in April, and Carlos Torres, a geologist with more than 20 years of experience in mineral exploration, including extensive work in Colombia, who previously served as vice president of exploration at Sun Valley Investments, joined as vice president of exploration in May. The company has said that transition pushed back the release of an updated mineral resource estimate to the third quarter of this year; Outcrop Silver now says that update is anticipated this month. The company graduated from the TSX Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange in November 2025, continuing to trade under the ticker OCG.

Santa Ana’s only mineral resource estimate to date, prepared by AMC Mining Consultants in a NI 43-101 technical report dated June 8, 2023, put the project’s indicated resource at approximately 1.35 million tons (1.226 million tonnes) grading 614 grams per ton silver equivalent, containing 24.2 million ounces, with a further 1.06 million tons (966,000 tonnes) inferred at 435 grams per ton, containing 13.5 million ounces. That estimate covered seven vein systems at Santa Ana; the current campaign has since confirmed mineralization in six additional systems, including Jimenez and Los Mangos, that sit outside the 2023 estimate entirely.

Assay samples were prepared at an Actlabs facility in Medellín and analyzed at the firm’s laboratory in Ancaster, Ontario, with blanks, duplicates and certified reference materials inserted at a rate of about three control samples per 20 drill samples. Torres, a registered professional geoscientist in Ontario, signed off on the results as the qualified person under NI 43-101.

Silver equivalent figures in this release are calculated using metal prices of $2,760 USD per ounce for gold and $32 USD per ounce for silver, with metallurgical recoveries of 98.5 percent for gold and 96.3 percent for silver based on the company’s own metallurgical test work reported in June 2024.

Silver equivalent (AgEq) formula used by Outcrop Silver. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Table 3. Collar and survey table for all drill holes referenced in this release. (Image courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Headline photo: A geologist logs core samples at the Santa Ana project’s core-handling facility in Falan, Tolima. (Photo courtesy Outcrop Silver)

Collective Mining Ltd. (Collective Mining) (NASDAQ: CNL) (TSX: CNL) has finished the access road to the portal site for its planned exploration adit at the Guayabales Project in the department of Caldas, Colombia, and is moving directly into portal-platform and box-cut construction, the company said August 18, 2026. With permits already secured, Collective Mining said the adit remains on schedule to begin construction in the fourth quarter of 2026, with underground drilling set to start in the first quarter of 2027 at Trap East, a newly identified extension of the company’s Trap system.

The update follows a progress report Collective Mining issued June 17, 2026, when it said engineering, permitting and site preparation for the adit were advancing and named former Ecopetrol projects executive Josué Romanos as vice president of projects (Finance Colombia reported on that update). The company first disclosed plans for the exploration adit on March 11, 2026. The August update also comes about a week after Collective Mining completed the transfer of its US listing from the NYSE American to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, a move it announced in late July and completed August 11 under the unchanged CNL symbol; its Toronto Stock Exchange listing was not affected.

The completed roadway is a 1.8-kilometer switch-back route built by upgrading an existing path connecting the Pan American Highway to the portal site, the company said, clearing the way for box-cut and portal-platform work to begin immediately.

Under Collective Mining’s current timeline, drilling of the Trap East target is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. Drilling of the Trap Main System is expected to follow in the second half of 2027, once the adit has advanced enough to allow construction of a cross-cut, with drilling of the Plutus target and the Ramp Zone to follow in 2028. The company said the portal location and access-road alignment sit within the area anticipated for future project infrastructure, close to both the Pan American Highway and existing power lines.

“We are excited to begin drilling the Trap System from underground, as we will be able to rapidly test the system from suitable drilling angles while testing for extensions to the mineralization,” said Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman of Collective Mining. “Following a recent detailed review with our geological team, I am confident that Trap has all the potential to develop into a second large-scale precious-metal system at Guayabales.” Sussman said the Trap system’s proximity to both the adit portal and the company’s proposed future mining infrastructure is a key advantage: “Should our underground drilling confirm the system as we expect, Trap would provide a second independent working front alongside Apollo, enhancing mill feed flexibility in a future mining scenario.” He added that he is not ruling out the possibility of discovering yet another mineralized system as the adit advances toward Apollo, given the amount of mineralization already found across Guayabales through limited surface drilling to date.

Ned Jalil, Chief Executive Officer, said the company remains on track to meet its milestones. “Once established, the adit will fundamentally expand the way we can explore Guayabales,” Jalil said. “Underground access will enable us to drill-test Apollo’s Ramp Zone, the Trap System and the Plutus Target over more than a vertical kilometer from optimal orientations that are not available from surface.”

Collective Mining said it is prioritizing local employment and procurement for the early-works program, with much of the current workforce recruited from communities in Caldas. The company said the work is being carried out under its own health and safety standards as well as Colombia’s applicable regulatory requirements.

Mineralization at Trap outcrops at surface and has been drill-tested along a 1.4-kilometer northwest-southeast corridor, extending as much as 900 meters below surface and remaining open along strike and at depth; the planned adit is positioned to intersect the currently known southeastern end of that corridor. According to Collective Mining’s own project disclosures, Trap sits about 3.5 kilometers northeast of the Apollo system; the company first announced a discovery there through grassroots drilling in September 2022. The company currently has one rig testing for mineralization up to 200 meters further northwest than any prior drilling, with initial results expected in late September.

Previously reported drilling at Trap has returned both broad, continuous mineralized intervals and narrower high-grade vein zones, including:

• 632.25 meters at 1.10 g/t AuEq from 172.65 meters, including 51.50 meters at 2.73 g/t AuEq and 46.35 meters at 2.41 g/t AuEq (TRC-7A)
• 646.00 meters at 0.81 g/t AuEq from 19.50 meters, including 301.50 meters at 1.01 g/t AuEq (TRC-2)
• 174.45 meters at 1.19 g/t AuEq from 485.15 meters, including 40.85 meters at 3.76 g/t AuEq (TRC-11)
• 30.00 meters at 4.96 g/t AuEq from 11.85 meters (TRC-14)
• 200.85 meters at 1.06 g/t AuEq from 4.55 meters, including 40.50 meters at 4.01 g/t AuEq (TRC-30)
• 2.80 meters at 234.15 g/t gold from 122.00 meters, including 0.80 meters at 816 g/t gold (TRC-26)
• 1.30 meters at 49.30 g/t gold from 18.15 meters (TRC-25)

AuEq figures are presented as originally reported by the company in its respective press releases.

Collective Mining was founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining in an all-cash transaction that closed in March 2020, for approximately $1.4 billion CAD in enterprise value, according to Collective Mining. The company explores for gold, silver, copper and tungsten at two projects in Caldas, both located within an established mining district alongside 10 fully permitted and operating mines, and trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “CNL.” Management, insiders, a strategic investor, and close family and friends own 45.2% of its outstanding shares.

David J. Reading, an independent consultant, is the qualified person for this release under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and verified the technical information it contains. Reading holds an MSc in economic geology and is a fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geology.

Collective Mining Ltd. (NYSE American: CNL; TSX: CNL) reported zero lost-time injuries among its direct employees and no environmental non-compliance during 2025, while investing approximately $1.45 million in community programs across its exploration projects in Caldas, Colombia.

The company released its 2025 Sustainability Report on July 22, 2026, covering its environmental, social and safety performance as Collective expanded exploration at the Guayabales and San Antonio projects. During the year, the company completed 62,500 meters of exploration drilling, its largest annual drilling campaign to date.

“The outcomes outlined in our latest sustainability report reflect the company we are building: technically ambitious, locally rooted and disciplined in how we grow.” – Omar Ossma, President, Collective Mining

Improving safety and local employment

Collective reported zero Lost Time Injuries among direct employees during 2025 and a Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) of 0%. The company also reported zero instances of environmental non-compliance during the year.

Direct employment increased 38% year-over-year as the company expanded its exploration, engineering and social activities. Employees from Caldas represented 81% of the company’s direct workforce at year-end, while women accounted for 35% of direct employment.

The results come as Collective continues to expand exploration around the Apollo system, the centerpiece of its Guayabales Project.

$1.45 million directed toward communities

Collective invested approximately $1.45 million in social programs during 2025. The company said 57.5% of the funding came directly from Collective, while strategic partners contributed the remaining 42.5%.

The programs reached 18,880 beneficiaries across 1,745 families and strengthened the capabilities of 237 community leaders.

The initiatives operate under Collective’s “The Collective Way” framework, which emphasizes long-term partnerships in areas including water access and sanitation, infrastructure, education, agricultural development, technical training and community capacity building.

The company’s community strategy is particularly relevant to its operations in Caldas, where Collective’s exploration activities are located alongside established mining operations.

Exploration expands in 2026

Collective has continued its aggressive exploration campaign into 2026. The company reported in June that it had completed more than 184,000 meters of diamond drilling across the Guayabales and San Antonio projects, including 120,000 meters at Apollo.

The Apollo system has produced further exploration results during the year. On June 29, Collective reported a newly identified tungsten-enriched high-grade subzone approximately 300 meters below surface. Drill hole APC-162 intersected 27.35 meters grading 37.55 grams per tonne gold equivalent, including 1.68% tungsten oxide, 11.62 grams per tonne gold, 54 grams per tonne silver and 0.43% copper.

Collective said in July that it had also secured additional mining titles from Colombia’s National Mining Agency following public hearings in Supía and Marmato. The company said the new titles materially expanded its titled land position and created additional drill-ready targets within and adjacent to the Guayabales project area.

As of March 31, 2026, Collective reported $113.3 million in cash and said it was fully funded for its 2026 exploration program, which calls for up to 100,000 meters of drilling. The company had 13 diamond drill rigs operating across Guayabales.

Management and the path toward development

Ned Jalil became Collective’s chief executive officer in April 2025, while Omar Ossma remained president. Finance Colombia previously reported that the appointment brought a mining executive with more than 25 years of international experience into the company’s leadership as Collective considered the longer-term development potential of Guayabales.

Ossma said the sustainability results reflect the company’s approach as it advances both Guayabales and San Antonio.

“As we advance the Guayabales and San Antonio projects, we remain focused on deepening local partnerships, managing our environmental responsibilities and ensuring that the value created through discovery is inclusive and long-lasting,” Ossma said.

Collective was founded by members of the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining Group for approximately $2 billion in enterprise value. The company is exploring for gold, silver, copper and tungsten in Caldas, where Guayabales and San Antonio form the core of its Colombian portfolio.

The company’s flagship Guayabales Project is anchored by the Apollo system, which Collective describes as a bulk-tonnage, high-grade gold-silver-copper-tungsten system. Current exploration priorities include expanding the Ramp Zone, testing the Northern Apollo Oxidized area, drilling the northwestern extension of the Trap target and pursuing additional greenfield targets.

Collective’s 2025 Sustainability Report provides the company’s latest formal account of its safety, environmental and community performance as it moves into a larger 2026 exploration program.

Headline photo : A mural showing artisanal mining in Supía Colombia, where Collective Mining has participated funding of municipal improvement projects.. (Photo by Finance Colombia)

Collective Mining (NYSE American: CNL; TSX: CNL) has advanced engineering and permitting work for its planned exploration adit at the Guayabales Project in Caldas, Colombia, while appointing Josué Romanos as vice president of projects to support the company’s next phase of development.

“The progress on our exploration adit marks an important step in accelerating our understanding of the system from underground and advances the Guayabales Project towards our ultimate goal of production.”
— Ned Jalil, Chief Executive Officer, Collective Mining

The company said construction of the exploration adit is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. The underground access project is designed to provide a new platform for studying the Apollo system and the broader Guayabales Project, including additional drilling, geotechnical and hydrological studies, and future metallurgical sampling.

Collective Mining first announced the exploration adit plans on March 11, 2026. Since then, the company said it has progressed engineering studies, execution planning, and permitting activities to prepare for construction.

Early preparations have included the construction of an explosives storage facility, which Collective said has been inspected and approved by the relevant authorities.

The adit will support underground drilling activities at Guayabales, where the company is focused on advancing exploration of the Apollo system and the high-grade Ramp Zone. The work is expected to contribute technical information required for future project studies and development decisions.

Alongside the exploration update, Collective Mining announced the appointment of Josué Romanos as vice president of projects, effective immediately.

Romanos brings more than three decades of experience in energy and infrastructure projects in Colombia. He spent more than 15 years at Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-controlled energy company, most recently serving as general manager of projects, where he oversaw engineering, construction, commissioning, and quality assurance activities across a multi-billion-dollar capital portfolio.

During his time at Ecopetrol, Romanos also participated in the company’s investment committee. Earlier in his career, he held operations and commissioning roles at BP Exploration and PetroSantander on projects in Colombia.

Romanos is a petroleum engineer from Universidad de América and holds a postgraduate specialization in gas engineering from Universidad Industrial de Santander.

Collective Mining said the appointment strengthens its internal project execution capabilities as Guayabales advances through technical studies, permitting, and operational preparation.

Founded by the team behind Continental Gold, which was acquired by Zijin Mining for approximately $2 billion in enterprise value, Collective Mining is exploring gold, silver, copper, and tungsten projects in Caldas.

The company’s Guayabales Project is located within an established mining district and is centered on expanding exploration targets including the Ramp Zone, Hanging Wall Vein Zone, and additional greenfield targets.

Collective Mining is listed on the NYSE American and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CNL. Management, insiders, strategic investors, and close family and friends hold approximately 45.2% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Vancouver-based Copper Giant Resources Corp. (TSXV: CGNT) (OTCQB: LBCMF) (FRA: 29H0) has released analytical results from drill holes MD-056 and MD-057 at its Mocoa copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Putumayo, Colombia. The results include a 257-meter intercept grading 0.63% CuEq and identify higher-grade mineralization at depth along the southern margin of the existing resource footprint.

Figure 1. Plan view of the exploration targets and the Mocoa porphyry Cu-Mo deposit. *Black dots denotes drill pads. (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)

The 2026 exploration program utilized “mother holes” to establish foundations for directional drilling. This technical approach allows multiple daughter holes to be initiated from a single platform, intended to improve drilling efficiency and minimize surface disturbance in the Amazonas region. Hole MD-056 was designed to test the southern edge of the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) toward the La Estrella target. It intercepted 386 meters grading 0.39% CuEq starting at 307 meters, including a final 77-meter interval grading 0.49% CuEq.

“Hole MD-057 confirms the predictability of our current resource model, which is a key step as we increase drill density in selected areas of the deposit with the objective of upgrading resources and advancing Mocoa toward PEA-level evaluation.” — Edwin Naranjo Sierra, Vice-President of Exploration at Copper Giant Resources Corp.

Geological mapping of MD-056 indicates the presence of a microdiorite porphyry phase with potassic alteration. This intrusive phase is interpreted by technical staff to be associated with a recently identified third high-grade zone within the Mocoa system. The mineralization in this sector was previously categorized as waste in the current MRE block model due to a lack of historical deep drilling, suggesting potential for resource expansion in under-drilled southern sections.

Figure 2. Plan view of holes MD-055, MD-056 and MD-057 mentioned in this release. White shadow denotes position of the cross-section shown in figure 3 and 5. *Collar for MD-055 and MD-057 are 314014E, 137979N and 1,720 m.a.s.l. Collar for MD-056 is 313689E, 136976N and 1,514 m.a.s.l. Coordinates are UTM system, zone 18N and WGS84 projection. For MD-055: azimuth of 45-degrees and dipping 85-degrees. For MD-056: azimuth of 15-degrees and dipping 45-degrees. For MD-057: azimuth of 295-degrees and dipping 70-degrees. Note: Hole 55 did not reach its planned target. (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)

Hole MD-057 served as an infill drill hole to increase data density in areas characterized by wider historical spacing. The hole returned 257 meters of 0.63% CuEq starting at 275 meters and 191 meters of 0.72% CuEq starting at 341 meters. These results were contained within a broader interval of 476 meters grading 0.43% CuEq. The objective of the infill campaign is to upgrade portions of the Inferred Mineral Resource to the Indicated category to support a future Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).

Technical calculations for copper equivalent (CuEq) utilized metal prices of $4.00 USD per pound for copper and $20.00 USD per pound for molybdenum. The Mocoa project is situated approximately 10 kilometers from the town of Mocoa and consists of 132,499 hectares of tenure. The deposit is hosted within Middle Jurassic dacite and quartz-diorite porphyries that intrude the volcanics of the Cordillera Central.

Figure 4. Mineralization and hydrothermal alteration observed in hole MD-056. A). Strong sericite altered Intramineral porphyry with disseminated chalcocite and late iron oxides. B). Strong chlorite – sericite altered Intramineral porphyry with quartz-chalcopyrite-moly veining (B-type). C). Strong sericite altered brecciated porphyry with chalcopyrite as matrix in-fill. D). Potassic altered microdiorite porphyry with massive chalcopyrite and pyrite. (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)

Copper Giant Resources Corp., part of the Fiore Group, reported that equipment malfunctions previously hampered hole MD-055, which was subsequently abandoned. However, two drill rigs remain active on-site to continue the 2026 program. The current Inferred resource at Mocoa stands at 1.12 billion tons grading 0.51% CuEq, containing an estimated 12.7 billion pounds of copper equivalent.

Figure 6. Mineralization and hydrothermal alteration observed in hole MD-057. A). Strong sericite altered microtonalite porphyry with quartz “eyes” texture, disseminated chalcocite and late chalcopyrite-pyrite veining. B). Strong sericite altered Intramineral porphyry with C-type veining (chalcopyrite dominant). C). Potassic altered Intramineral porphyry with molybdenite (Moly) disseminated and chalcopyrite veining. D). Strong sericite altered Intramineral porphyry with disseminated chalcopyrite and veining of molybdenite (Moly). (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)

The Mocoa system was originally identified in 1973 through a geochemical survey by the United Nations and the Colombian government. It is part of a Jurassic porphyry belt that extends into Ecuador, containing other significant deposits such as Mirador and Warintza. Management maintains that the extended fertile magmatic window at Mocoa, spanning approximately ten million years, accounts for the scale of the system’s metal endowment.

Figure 5. Cross-section along the hole MD-057 and planned daughter holes with a section width of 100-meters, showing the 2026 MRE block model and the Cu and Mo grade intercepted. (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)

Headline photo: Figure 3. Cross-section along the hole MD-056 and past holes mentioned in this release, with a section width of 100 meters, showing the 2026 MRE block model and the Cu and Mo grade intercepted. (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)