“Adding Medellín to our network reflects our desire to expand our network while meeting a real demand from our clients for both leisure travel and family reunions,” said Sebastian Ponce, Transat’s chief revenue officer. “This expansion is in line with our strategy of targeted growth from Toronto, focusing on high-potential markets such as Colombia.”

The new service, which is still subject to final regulatory approval, will also add a frequency to the flight schedule to Cartagena from Toronto, strengthening Air Transat’s presence in this destination. This approach, says Air Transat, enables the airline to optimize the use of its fleet while serving cities that are not yet easily accessible by direct flight from Canada.

Air Transat says that its full Winter 2025-2026 program, including the start date of operations and the opening of sales, will be announced soon.

Photo credit: Air Transat.

Finance Colombia’s Executive Editor Loren Moss spent a few minutes with Mineros SA CFO Alan Wancier to discuss the company’s social commitments and unusual (for Colombia) mining techniques.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Alan Wancier of Mineros. Mineros has been a long-time sponsor of the Colombia Gold Summit. We’re here at CGS 2024. You just gave a really interesting presentation talking about Mineros. Mineros is a mining company. I think, if I’m not mistaken, you guys are based right here in Medellín, right?

Click on the above image to view the video.

Alan Wancier: Yes, our headquarters are in Medellín. Yeah.

Finance Colombia: Yeah, but you’re on the TSX.

Alan Wancier: Yes, also.

Finance Colombia: Great, great. And so, you guys have an interesting model because a lot of the mines, the precious metals mines that I’ve seen here in Colombia are your traditional kind of deep tunnel mines, but you guys have diverse operations. You guys have here in the north of Antioquia an interesting alluvial mining operation. If you could touch a little bit on that.

Alan Wancier: Yeah, so, we have an alluvial operation in El Bagre, Antioquia. It’s called the Nechí Mine. We have roughly five bucket dredges, nine suction dredges, and another couple of Brazilian dredges. We mine the bank of the river. Not the river, per se, in a closed pond. We create a closed pond, water doesn’t mix with the river water. And our deposit is between 15 meters and 30 meters deep. We dredge the deposit, we do the beneficiation within the bucket dredges, and inside the bucket dredges, all gold is separated just by water and gravity.

Finance Colombia: So that’s another thing I was going to ask you, because a lot of traditional mining operations need either cyanide or mercury, but you guys have a process that you use, I think a gravity-based process, that’s a lot more environmentally friendly.

Alan Wancier: Yes. We only use water and gravity, no chemicals, and the electricity for the dredges comes from our hydroelectric plants. So we have a very, let’s say, green gold. Our gold is very, very sustainable. And as we move upwards in the deposit or downstream in the river, we close the mine, we put a layer of soil, we plant again, and grass and forests grow again.

Finance Colombia: So, very environmentally responsible.

Alan Wancier: Yes, very environmentally responsible.

Finance Colombia: Now, that area of Colombia has also suffered from underinvestment and a lack of attention from the authorities. You also mentioned some of the things that, you know, you talked about the environmental responsibility that you guys have, but you also have some social programs and ways that you interact with the local economy up there, right?

Alan Wancier: Yes, we invest a lot in the local economy. We have a bee plantation, a bee…I’m not sure how you say it in English.

Finance Colombia: In Spanish.

Alan Wancier: An aviary…Beekeeping.

Finance Colombia: For a bird. Hatchery, a bird-

Alan Wancier: No, but for bees. Bees.

Finance Colombia: Oh, bees. Okay, apiculture.

Alan Wancier: Apiculture.

Finance Colombia: I forget the word for honey and bees. Yeah, there’s a word for it. I forget what it is in English [laughs].

Alan Wancier: We also have one of the biggest rubber plantations-

Finance Colombia: Oh, wow.

Alan Wancier: In the country. We also have some small projects, growing fish. And we also invest a lot in infrastructure.

Finance Colombia: Okay.

Alan Wancier: We invest a lot in the education; we have built bridges, we have built roads, and we invest a lot in the community, and we are very, very close to the community, and the community is very close to us for that reason.

Finance Colombia: I see, and that’s good. You know, I know that you guys have been good citizens. I’ve followed you all for some time, being here in Colombia. And I think one of the things also that you talked about, you know, our audience is made up of a lot of institutional investors, and it sounds like your shares are kind of trading at a bargain rate of discount, right now.

Alan Wancier: Yes, our shares, compared to our peers, are very cheap.

This is because, maybe several reasons. Probably the major reason is that we’ve been public in Colombia for 50 years.

Finance Colombia: Yeah.

Alan Wancier: Since the 1980s, give or take. But Colombia is a very illiquid market. We were the only gold mining company in the exchange. So, people and investors do not know how to value us in Colombia.

Finance Colombia: Right.

Alan Wancier: That’s why we did an IPO in Canada in 2021, with the idea that more people are going to know us and the idea for us to be better valued and to be able to do more business with other mining companies. In Canada, we started with a small float, only $25 million in the IPO.

But we’ve slowly been moving shares, or investors have been moving shares, from Colombia to Canada. And as more shares are moving in Canada, we get more liquidity in Canada and a better share price. As an example, last year in Canada, we were trading at 20,000 shares per day on average. Today, we’re trading 80,000 shares per average. So we have quadrupled the liquidity in Canada, and our strategy is to keep increasing that liquidity to maybe get a better rate or to get a re-rate in the future. Our stock has almost tripled since nine months ago, a year ago, for various reasons. Primarily because we have a new majority shareholder.

So those changes in shareholders have made a good positive impact in the Canadian and economic market. Also, of course, the price of gold has increased. That helps all gold mining companies. We have had very good results, and we hope to continue to have good results in the future. We also have had a bigger exposure to investors. We are going to every conference we can, and we are getting our name out.

Finance Colombia: I see that, and that’s important. You guys, I think that, one, when you bring in a majority shareholder, that’s a vote of confidence from the institutional capital markets. And it’s also, I think, important to point out that you guys are no startup. I think you guys are celebrating, like, your 50th anniversary.

Alan Wancier: We celebrated our 50th anniversary about a month ago, 3 weeks ago. Yes, we’re no startup, and we produce cash. We’re one of the few companies that actually makes cash and pays a dividend, and we pay a hefty dividend. Our current dividend yield is at 10%, and we have paid dividends for decades. We are probably an aristocrat dividend payer, probably compared to Agnico in terms of the number of years paying dividends consistently.

Finance Colombia: That’s unusual because a lot of the mining companies we see here in Colombia, not all of them, but a lot of them, are early-stage, still exploratory, juniors, things like that. But you guys are an established operation with a track record, and so I think that your move to TSX, your continued growth, and your responsibility as a company means that more investors are going to be inevitable, and I think that they are aware of you. So, thanks again for your time. Great presentation. And I think that mineros.com.co is how people can find out about it. And what’s the TSX symbol again?

Alan Wancier: MSA.

Finance Colombia: MSA.

Alan Wancier: MSA on the TSX.

Finance Colombia: Worth keeping a look-out.  I’m going to add that to my watch list, if not more, so thanks a lot.

The new routes from Colombia to Punta Cana, a prominent Caribbean tourist hub, will connect travelers to North American destinations like Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City, and Cancún through Arajet’s network. Arajet’s CEO, Victor Pacheco Méndez, noted Colombia’s high demand for flights, emphasizing the promotion as a gesture of appreciation to Colombian travelers.

Tickets under this promotion cover travel from October 2024 to June 2025 across multiple fare packages, with limited seat availability. For further details, visit Arajet.

This adds to the drill rigs that are currently operating at the Apollo, Box, Olympus and Trap targets, “with the sixth rig to commence drilling for the first time at the grassroot generated X target located in the southern portion of the project area,” according to the Toronto-based company.  “Drill cores from multiple holes are currently being assayed at ALS Laboratory in Lima, Peru, with results expected in short order.”

Collective Mining noted that it will also soon begin an airborne geophysical survey covering the company’s Guayabales Project in Caldas.

“The primary objective of the program is to detect conductive sulphide bearing ore bodies, similar to the Apollo system, at depths beginning directly below the surficial cover to up to 2,000 metres depth,” noted Collective Mining.

This survey will be conducted by Geotech Ltd., which will carry out helicopter borne Versatile Time-domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) and Z-Axis Tipper Electromagnetic system (ZTEM) surveys, and cover a total area of 74 square kilometers with 1,449 flight line kilometers.

The company expects the surveys to be completed in July 2024, with full results ready by the end of the third quarter. Depending on the outcome, drilling on new targets generated from the survey could begin as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, noted Collective Mining.

“The enormous potential of our Guayabales Project has already been proven based on the number of discoveries that we have made by drilling within the confines of areas defined by limited outcrop exposure,” said Ari Sussman, executive chairman, in a statement.

“Since over 90% of the project remains under cover,” added Sussman, “commissioning an airborne VTEM and ZTEM survey makes a lot of sense to assist us in outlining new targets in areas with no outcrop. In particular, we are excited to use the results to refine planned future drilling at the Plutus target given its sheer scale and lack of outcropping rock to sample.”

Photo: One of Collective Mining’s sites in Colombia. (Photo credit: Loren Moss)

The investment comes in the form of the sale of 4.5 million “units” at a price of $4.20 CAD, according to Collective Mining.

In an announcement, the Toronto-based company detailed the definition of a unit in this arrangement as “comprised of one common share of the company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant” that can be converted into a common share at the price of $5.01 CAD at any point in the next three years.

The announced arrangement is subject to normal regulatory approvals.

(Photo credit: Collective Mining)

According to the witness,

“I saw Jesse Wiseman (you have a blue alert out for him) on VIA Rail Train 2 vancouver to winnipeg on February 21st in Winnipeg, MB Canada. He’s wanted for the murder of a 20-year-old women (sic) Laura Lopera in Colombia earlier this month and fled the country, and you have a blue notice out for him. He punched me in the head on the train and was kicked off the train and taken in by Winnipeg police but released yesterday. He was heading to Toronto. I have video of him on the train.”

Finance Colombia immediately turned over all dialogue and the witness’ personal contact information to the Colombian National Police and the Canadian Embassy in Bogotá.

“Yeah he was travelling vancouver to Toronto, Feb 19-23 but got kicked off in Winnipeg on Feb 21 after he punched me. The staff said he wouldn’t be let back on a train for at least a month after this. The police put him in the drunk tank for the night and is now released. They wouldn’t give me any other information outside of this and he was def not mentally stable from having dinner with him…Other passengers said he spent most of the trip in his train cabin and was acting weird. It’s also odd cause these tickets are $2000 a piece so why would you get kicked off the train and punch somebody. Doesn’t make sense.” 

Wiseman is wanted in Colombia for the murder on February 10 of Laura Lopera in the downtown Medellín neighborhood known as “Boston.” According to Colombian prosecutors, Lopera’s body was found stuffed inside of a suitcase. Wiseman had already left the country on a flight to Guatemala before authorities began to pursue him. From Guatemala he was said to have flown to Turkiye, and now has reportedly turned up in his home country of Canada.

The witness submitted the above video, claiming that he ended up in an altercation with the suspect. The killing has caused outrage in the country and drawn comparisons to last year’s murder of Valentina Trespalacios, whose dismembered body was discovered in Bogotá in similarly grisly circumstances. US Citizen John Poulos is facing 50 years for the murder and dismemberment of Trespalacios, who was also found in a suitcase in Bogotá.

Finance Colombia is reporting on the claims made by the witness in this instance and welcomes any corrections, amplifications or clarifications.

The list includes both international and US companies traded on the market and is formulated by weighting a company’s total return and average daily dollar volume growth throughout 2023.

Bravo Mining Corp. ranked first on this year’s list ahead of the Toronto-based mining firm, which maintains gold and silver mining projects in Guayabales and San Antonio in the Colombian department of Caldas.

Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust, LithiumBank Resources Corp., and Data Communications Management Corp. rounded out the top five.

Three other Grayscale-tied firms and two other mining firms — Gold Reserve, Inc. and G Mining Ventures Corp. — completed the top 10.

Photo: Collective Mining personnel in Colombia. (Credit: Loren Moss)

Drilling at these two holes, APC-63 and APC-64, expanded the vein zones within the Apollo porphyry system from a previous 260 meters by 220 meters to 320 meters by 220 meters — and this area still “remains open for expansion to the north,” according to Collective Mining.

Photo: Ari Sussman at a mining site in 2018. (Credit: Collective Mining)

Additional drilling is planned at these holes this month. “New drill pads are nearing completion and are designed to test for extensions to the shallow mineralization, with drilling set to commence before the end of September 2023,” stated Collective Mining.

Results and modeling at another drill hole, APC-67, has led the Toronto-based company to believe that it has found a further extension of the Apollo system and an increase in the strike length of the system by 65 meters. Additionally, the firm noted that, “Apollo remains open for further expansion in various directions.”

With these positive results analyzed, Ari Sussman, executive chairman at Collective Mining, said in a statement that the company will continue its drilling campaign for the coming months into 2024 at Guayabales, including testing of Target 6 “over the next few days … for the first time.”

“The Apollo system,” said Sussman, “continues to shine with the system continuing to expand … It is a busy and exciting time for the company with five drill rigs now operating at site.”

A detailed breakdown of the latest results can be found on Collective Mining’s website.

Reconnaissance Drill Program Outside the Apollo System

This summer, Collective Mining reported more positive results from exploration diamond drilling on the first of six well-mineralized and outcropping targets located within a 400-meter radius of the Apollo system. The company has three diamond drill rigs on site with a fourth rig expected to arrive in the near term.

The Apollo porphyry system is a bulk tonnage copper-silver-gold system with metal endowment. The system owes its metal endowment to an older copper-silver and gold porphyry system being overprinted by younger precious metal-rich, carbonate base metal vein systems within magmatic, hydrothermal inter-mineral breccia and diorite porphyry bodies.

“It is exciting to see that APC-54, which is our very first reconnaissance hole outside of the Apollo porphyry deposit in 2023, has intersected visual mineralization over two intervals,” said Sussman at the time. “Given our past success in making discoveries at the Guayabales project, I am confident that if we drill with persistence, we will make a fresh discovery in 2023.”

Juan Guevara contributed to this article.

Buriticá has a troubled history, formerly being in lands disputed by leftist guerillas and right-wing paramilitaries until about a decade ago. The town is near still-active narcotrafficking routes, and is a regional center for artisanal, illegal, and illegal artisanal mining (not all artisanal mining in Colombia is illegal).

In 2016, media & analysts visit Continental’s offices in the town of Buriticá where locals talked about their collaboration with and support of the miner (photo: Loren Moss)

When the Continental team came in, they first reached out to the mayor and locals to both explain their plans, but also get an understanding of the local situation, and how they could help. Buriticá Mayor Luis Hernando Zapata told London-based Diálogo Chino that “Continental Gold brought a social investment strategy, where there was motivating information for the territory, where the expectation of the municipality was employment, productive chains, business initiatives, and training.” On the other hand, “Zijin has only supported road construction projects and infrastructure repairs.”

This was the opposite approach to what was happening almost simultaneously with South African mining company Anglo Gold, almost 370 kilometers away near Cajamarca, Tolima. Though, Anglo had made all the right moves in the capital of Bogotá with politicians and regulators, the company failed to win the hearts and minds of the locals, and apparently did not understand the higher degree of citizen engagement and influence in Colombia. Cajamarca residents voted 6,165 to 76 against Anglo Gold!

Headline photo: The small town of Buriticá has less than 3,000 residents, with another 7,000 in the surrounding area. It is less than an hour past the popular tourist town of Santa Fé. itself 90 minutes from Medellín (photo: Loren Moss)

With such public opposition at the local level, Ashanti’s La Colosa and Quebradona projects are stalled, as Colombia’s environmental authority (ANLA) have so far refused to issue licenses. In 2019, Anglo sold a significant chunk of its Colombian assets to Royal Road Minerals.

As Continental developed its mine, it also worked to develop relationships with the local community, including with local artisanal miners who had been working in the area for centuries. Continental, which was building an environmentally friendly gold processing facility on site, instituted a program to buy and process gold ore from artisanal miners, so they wouldn’t have to try to poison themselves with mercury or sell gold to organized crime.

Continental did have to take action against illegal “claim jumpers,” who were not interested in collaborating with the company, but were mining on Continental’s claim, and causing the risk of landslides and collapses. Efforts were effective due in part to the close coordination and relationships between Continental, local, and national officials.

Unlike many mining companies, Continental employed highly qualified Colombians in top management, such as Mateo Restrepo Villegas as Executive Vice President and later, President, and Mauricio Castañeda as vice president of exploration.

“A very special recognition to the Continental Gold Women’s team, the first of its kind to participate in the National Mine Rescue Olympics and a champion of discipline, courage and bravery”. Silvana Habib Daza, President, The National Mining Agency (ANM).

Continental worked to open mining opportunities to women, and even sent an all-woman team to the 12^th International Mines Rescue Competition in West Virginia, USA. Continental employed local seamstresses in Buriticá to create the company’s uniforms, and supported local educational efforts, even opening a community center.

Investors were impressed when Continental’s management sold the mining company to China’s Zijin mining for over a billion USD. Zijin Chairman Chen Jinghe specifically said in a statement that “Zijin is conscious of the demonstrated responsibility of Continental’s operation towards the well-being of the local communities and the responsible management of environmental aspects of its operation. Zijin commits to continuing with a similar approach, focus and investment in that regard. Zijin will practice in all its operations with the same commitment of Continental towards transparency and ethics and will continue to operate in a highly responsible manner in Buriticá, Antioquia and Colombia more broadly.”

Visiting continentalgold.com features on the home page content from 2017 highlighting a video from a visit of Silvana Habib Daza, who headed Colombia’s National Mining Agency two presidential administrations ago!

However, that has not been the case.

Immediately after the 2019 transaction, Finance Colombia began to reach out to executives of the new owners with the hopes of keeping open the excellent lines of communication enjoyed with the previous management. The new Zijin-Continental Gold management never responded to outreach and appeared to have a policy of reticence towards media. The perception is that, now a business unit of a global mining conglomerate connected with the Chinese government, there was no need for investor relations, media communications, community relations, or any such inconveniences.

Zijin executives seem to be highly media-shy and prefer not to engage with the public. Visiting continentalgold.com features on the home page content from 2017 highlighting a video from a visit of Silvana Habib Daza, who headed Colombia’s National Mining Agency two presidential administrations ago! In other words, the site has apparently been untouched since Zijin took control.

From community friend to villain

Soon after Zijin purchased Continental, local relationships began to sour. There have been three documented work stoppages at the Zijin mine, something that did not happen with the previous Continental ownership. While Continental took an aggressive stance against illegal miners, it did seek to collaborate with artisanal miners, and understood the difference. Before the sale to Zijin, Continental reportedly backed to the tune of $20 million USD a government operation against illegal mines often controlled by mafias and manned by trafficked victims. The efforts were backed by artisanal miners, who were always at the risk of extortion or displacement by illegal miners.

On the other hand, just this month, the Western Antioquia Miners Association that represents artisanal miners, has asked the Colombian government to take action against Zijin, who it accuses of filling subterranean tunnels with sludge, leading to the deaths of two miners last year.

In 2021 Zijin paid approximately $11 million USD to the Colombian government, but the municipality of Buriticá only saw about $100,000 USD of that, less than the cost of a nice condominium in Medellín.

In the sludge incident last August, Zijin asked the government to intervene and remove blockades set up by residents of Buriticá to protest the death of Victor Enrique Peña Alvarez and Jesús Arturo González, Contreras. At first Zijin denied that there were no dead miners thus no reason for protests…until the bodies were found. Locals accused Zijin of entombing the miners under sludge and rocks. Peña came to Colombia as a child from Venezuela, while González was an internally displaced refugee from Urabá, a rural region of Colombia north of Buriticá that suffers from domination by the Clan del Golfo mafia.

The town of Marmato, Colombia last week issued a proclamation recognizing Collective Mining’s (TSXV: CNL) (OTCQX: CNLMF) social activities and efforts within the municipality.

Relationships between Zijin and the local community have continued to deteriorate to the point where Zijin has released a letter dated January 26 of this year, addressed to President Gustavo Petro and copied to a couple dozen other politicians, military brass, and government functionaries. Petro, in the first year of his term as Colombia’s President, promised during his campaign to be an ally of artisanal miners.

While the team that built Continental has moved on to found a new mining company called Collective Mining already winning accolades for good relations with the local community, in Colombia Zijin seems to be playing from Anglo’s playbook with efforts focused on Bogotá, locals be damned.

It is true that to a real extent, mafia groups are active in the region. Three Continental Gold geologists were killed in 2018, but at the time, Continental executives pointed out to Finance Colombia that the criminal acts took place over eight hours away by road from Buriticá. Today, Zijin is making a grave mistake in painting the resistance to its activities and conduct, or local artisanal mining as mafia related.

The letter, reproduced below and translated by Finance Colombia, is fascinating in its tone, even irony. Signed by Leizhong Li, the last sentence of the fifth paragraph on the second page says of what it calls illegal miners: “the vast majority of them are foreigners and do not belong to the community of Buriticá.” As of press time, we have been unable to confirm whether in fact, the denouncer of foreigners, Mr. Li, is a “Paisa” belonging to the community of Buriticá.

Full disclosure, let it be known the editor of this piece is too, “a foreigner and does not belong to the community of Buriticá.”

Buriticá, 26 January 2023

Lord

GUSTAVO FRANCISCO PETRO URREGO

President of the Republic of Colombia

HOUSE OF NARIÑO

Bogota D.C. E.S.D

Ref.: Urgent request for intervention

Your Excellency Mr. President,

The company Continental Gold Limited Sucursal Colombia (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) is a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd., dedicated to the exploration, exploitation and development of mining properties and projects around the world, and whose main asset in Colombia is the Buriticá Gold Project, recognized as one of the “Projects of Strategic National Interest” (PINE) by the Intersectoral Commission on Infrastructure and Strategic Projects, as it is considered the first large-scale modern underground mine in Colombia.

The project, located in Buriticá, a municipality in western Antioquia, was launched in March 2020, after obtaining the corresponding approvals for its expansion and culminating with the construction phase, thus starting the large-scale commercial production of the Buriticá Mine, its main products currently being doré bars, copper concentrate, and gold.

 Our work is responsible with the environment, meets all quality standards and contributes to the territory. We have modern mining technology, we do not use mercury in any cycle of our process, and we achieve zero discharge of industrial wastewater. The company reports investments of more than 44 million dollars for the construction of the most modern water treatment plant in Colombia and one of the most modern in Latin America.

Within the framework of the above, we vehemently appreciate the support provided by the National Government, which has been key to the consolidation of the Project, as well as the immense efforts deployed by the different authorities in order to confront the situation of risk that the Illegal mining has generated in our mining work and in the municipality where we currently operate.

However, in Buriticá the action and control of illegal mining exercised by the Clan del Golfo continues, which puts at risk not only the situation of public order, but also the life and integrity of those who carry out this type of activities in an irregular way, of the Company’s personnel, their

contractors, the Public Forces and the community of the municipality of Buriticá and western Antioquia in general.

Faced with the above panorama, and despite the efforts made by the municipal and departmental authorities, we find that the situation has overwhelmed the capacity of the local Public Force, which has not been able to contain the advance of illegal mining activity that affects the municipality, and on the contrary has seen how illegal action increases over time.

Next, we allow ourselves in the most respectful way to share with you the situation of affectation of the Ilegal Mining in our operations of the Buriticá Mine.

The mining area of the company is divided into 3 development zones: high, medium and low, according to different levels, respectively called Yaraguá tunnel, Rampa Sur tunnel and Higabra tunnel. In the lower area, adjacent to the Higabra tunnel, most of the mine’s infrastructure is located: Processing Plant, Treatment Plant, Administrative Offices and Camps.

 Currently , 100% of the Yaraguá tunnel is affected by illegal mining, which has also invaded most of the Rampa Sur tunnel, forcing the Company to abandon its production mining operations in the upper and middle areas and concentrate its main efforts in the lower part of Higabra . However, at the end of 2022, illegal miners connected the structure of the Higabra tunnel, displacing Company personnel using firearms and improvised explosive devices, amid a display of violence that continues today.

According to the above, more than 50% of our underground mining bores are invaded by illegal mining; in recent months, there has been an increase in the presence of unauthorized miners in the Company’s infrastructure. It is estimated that this number has increased from 400 to 700 in the Yaraguá, Rampa Sur and Higabra tunnels. The above, together with the existence of unauthorized mining work in the municipality of Buriticá, in areas adjacent to the mining title, covers a total of approximately 2,000 people engaged in illegal mining activity, according to the calculations made by the Company, the vast majority of them are foreigners and do not belong to the community of Buriticá.

These activities are carried out through excavated accesses from private properties of third parties directed towards the underground infrastructure of the Company, from which they complete the strategy of “block domain”, invade the tunnels of the operation to carry out mining activities in a mechanized manner, with large-scale work, without control or planning, much less respect for environmental mining or safety in mining operations, also using illegally obtained explosives or artisanal manufacture that are also used to attack the Company’s personnel, its contractors, security guards and to the Public Force. It is estimated that around 100 tons of illegal explosives were used over the past year, of which approximately 70 percent were manufactured by INDUMIL. In addition, and in order to intimidate the employees of the Company, to contractors and repel the Public Force, they shoot handguns and rifles and install gas cylinders and fire extinguishers loaded with explosives in the tunnels.

 During the years 2021 and 2022 alone, the Company attended with its team of mining rescuers 16 injured by explosives, including direct personnel, contractors and Public Force, in addition to 5 people who were injured in the framework of activities unauthorized miners left in the tunnels to be rescued by Company personnel. Likewise, the discovery of 5 bodies of personnel outside the work of the Company abandoned inside the Yaraguá tunnel was reported.

Unfortunately, this situation of violence, framed by the use of firearms, illegal detonations inside the tunnels and the use of improvised explosive devices, has been increasing exponentially, as can be seen in the following comparative table:

In this way, in addition to blocking the work of the Company and putting at risk the lives of the personnel working inside the tunnels, an approximate amount equivalent to 1.5 tons of ore is illegally extracted through the illegal connections, not including the estimate of the illegal extraction in other areas of the mining title and surrounding areas, which represents for the State (according to calculations made during the year 2021) losses equivalent to:

+US$84M for theft of explosive material and blasting accessories

+US$ 3M for royalties lost

+US$11.8M for rent tax

+US$ 2M for self-withholding

The stolen ore is processed inside the illegal mining works, for which “Entables” processing plants have been built inside the tunnels, which makes them difficult to detect, causing environmental damage and human health due to the use of mercury.

As confirmed by the same authorities, mining activities in the municipality of Buriticá are permeated by the Clan del Golfo, and mean a very important income for their criminal apparatus, which adds to the resources they obtain from drug trafficking, smuggling, among other illicit activities. This is also a fuel that clearly affects the environment in the area, society as a whole and threatens the security of the region and the country. As observed by the Company in the framework of its operation, the effects of illegal mining can be summarized in the following points:

1. 1. 1. Environmental pollution: These illegal groups carry out illegal exploitation anywhere. In their activities they leave residues such as tailings anywhere without any rigorous and technical disposal, which leads to a contamination of water resources and serious erosive processes in productive lands, so important today for the country.

In their illegal extraction activities, they have even reached the point of carrying out their beneficiation process underground, with the implementation of “entables” that constantly carry mercury. It is an archaic management, which uses a substance prohibited in Colombia for this type of use because of its harmfulness to humans and the environment. It is also a dangerous and highly destructive method for ground water and general water resources.

1. 1. 2. They only focus on mineral-rich resources regardless of the effects on natural resources. They do not mind wasting natural resources without taking into account processes of prevention, mitigation, remediation and compensation. Their focus is only on high-grade exploitation for the highest possible profits. In this way they leave other minerals forgotten, which becomes an inefficient process. Proof of this is that the Company’s ore recovery rate is more than 90% and that of these people does not reach 50%, with the aggravating factor of its polluting approach.

1. 1. 3. This anti-technical mining in Buriticá shows a lack of standards and no investment in industrial safety. Illegal mining does not implement Industrial Safety, Health and Environment or technical standards, it does not think about the integrity and work environment of miners. Because of this, there are constant safety accidents, injuries and even people killed in these activities. By entering these anti-technical sinkholes, the miners risk their lives.

1. 1. 4. Miners in the area are treated like slaves. Criminal activities have several modalities to take advantage of the work of these people and obtain profits. First of all, it is through the control of illicit mining. It also occurs through an agreement between these criminal organizations and the miners through renting land or charging them through extortion from ancestral miners. At the same time, these organizations control the miners through drugs, exploiting them so that they can obtain them, consume them and work tirelessly. This is clearly a perverse situation that affects the human rights of those who exercise this activity.

1. 1. 5. These criminal organizations threaten the national economy and damage social order. They exploit and smuggle gold without paying taxes or royalties to the country. This affects the Colombian economy. Most of the miners are foreigners who, due to their economic situation, accept these precarious conditions that affect their quality of life. At the same time, local populations are affected because these activities lead to an increase in drug consumption, prostitution, theft and in general environments of chaos, insecurity and social decomposition.

This increases deinstitutionalization in the territory, destroys the value system of the communities, their culture and affects the growth of young people and their expectations of life. Many of them succumb to the possibility of obtaining easy or illicit money, which affects the education and growth of the next generation of young people.

1. 1. 6. It threatens Zijin-Continental Gold’s normal operations and the company’s legal rights. Illegal Mining permanently and with impunity connects the Company’s tunnels from the surface, which also affects productivity, tools and machinery. In their actions they have managed to connect the ventilation system and the emergency tunnels. These facilities are at permanent risk due to the intention of these organizations to seize the mining panels through violence. To do so, they shoot and send explosives, which threatens the life and integrity of our employees, causing our daily operation to be frequently compromised. They act massively in the different ramps of the Company and since September 2021 they have invaded one of them (Yaraguá) completely.

Given the alarming situation affecting the legitimate mining operation carried out by the Company; the environment through the generation of irreversible environmental impacts; to the integrity of our workers, contractors, Public Force and the people who enter these farms without an adequate technical structure in terms of support and electrical connections, exposure to gases in deficient conditions of ventilation and countless conditions of insecurity that can trigger a catastrophic event, not to mention the economic detriment that the illicit extraction of minerals represents for both the Company and the State in terms of royalties and taxes, we request your urgent intervention to restore order and guarantee the development of an operation mining whose initial and main objective has been to contribute through modern mining, with a social and environmental vocation to the economic development of the country, which is not possible to achieve without its intervention. The situation is already critical and, if immediate and forceful actions are not taken, it will put an end to this project.

Mr. President, we want to state that as a Company we have denounced all illegal mining activities, maintained contact with different local, departmental and national authorities and we have made known to the public the critical situation that the Company and the municipality of Buriticá are experiencing, as a result of the flagelo of illegal mining and the criminal organizations that have a presence in the region. Likewise, until the month of August

2022 an inter-institutional table was established, coordinated by the competent mining and environmental authorities, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior, spaces where the existing problems were discussed in search of solutions and that would be extremely opportune to resume.

The Company expresses its willingness to participate in all scenarios of dialogue and particularly in the Dialogue Tables convened by the authorities, Ministries and Government entities, likewise the company has always expressed its willingness according to the government’s vision to expand formalization programs and thus give more opportunities to our neighboring communities framed in the law.

I take this opportunity to reiterate our Company’s commitment to the sustainable development of Western Antioquia and our conviction that the acceptance of local, departmental and national communities and authorities is the basis of legitimacy to advance this mining operation with the highest standards and thus be able to take advantage of natural resources responsibly and rationally, as is our mission.

Finally, we reiterate the high valuation that the Company, its Board of Directors, its Management team and employees have of the work carried out by the National Government, the Ministries, the environmental authorities, the departmental and municipal authorities, the Public Force, the organs of control and justice to ensure that in Buriticá and western Antioquia human rights and freedoms can be enjoyed, the environment can be preserved and the rule of law and democratic institutions is strengthened.

We respectfully attach presentation of our company.

Cordially

LEIZHONG LI

CEO

Zijin Continental Gold.

With copy to:

Iván Velásquez Gómez, Minister of Defense Rafael Lara Losada, Deputy Minister of Defense Iván Danilo Rueda, High Commissioner for Peace

Helder Fernán Giraldo Bonilla, Commander General of the Armed Forces

Luis Mauricio Ospina Gutiérrez, Colombian National Army Commander Óscar Murillo Díaz, 7th Colombian Army Division Henry Armando Sanabria Cely, Director General of the Colombian Police

William Castaño Ramos, Commander of Carabineros and Rural Security National Police of Colombia Carlos Humberto Rojas Pabón, Commander Region Six National Police of Colombia

Irene Vélez Torres, Minister of Mines and Energy Giovanni Franco Sepúlveda, Deputy Minister of Mines

Fernando Lozano, Director of Public Safety and Infrastructure Maríto Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment

Alfonso Prada Gil, Minister of the Interior Rodrigo Negrete, Director of ANLA Álvaro Pardo Becerra, President ANM

Aníbal Gaviria Correa, Governor of Antioquia

Jorge Alberto Jaramillo Pereira, Secretary of Mines of the Government of Antioquia

Oswaldo Juan Zapata Quijano, Secretary of Security and Justice of the Government of Antioquia Francisco Barbosa Delgado, Attorney General of the Nation

Margarita Cabello Blanco, Attorney General of the Nation Carlos Hernán Rodríguez, Comptroller General of the Nation Carlos Ernesto Camargo Assis, Ombudsman

Roy Leonardo Barreras Montealegre, President of the Senate of the Republic of Colombia Juan Camilo Nariño, President ACM

Bruce MacMaster Rojas, ANDI President

María Bibiana Botero, Executive President of Proantioquia Luis Hernando Graciano, Mayor of Buriticá

Aicardo Antonio Urrego Úsuga, Mayor of Cañasgordas Alconides Úsuga Carmona, Mayor of Giraldo

Andrés Felipe Pardo, Mayor of Santa Fe de Antioquia

Sergio Cabrera Cárdenas, Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia to the People’s Republic of China.

Each unit will consist of one common share in the capital of Collective Mining, and one-half of a common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at an exercise price of C$3.25 for 18 months following the completion of the offering.

Collective has granted the underwriters an over-allotment option exercisable in whole or in part, to purchase up to an additional 666,720 units for a period of 30 days from the closing date to cover any over-allotments and for market stabilization purposes. If the over-allotment option is exercised in full, the aggregate gross proceeds of the offering will be C$1,500,120.

Collective management and insiders will be participating up to 15% in the offering.

The company intends to use the proceeds to fund ongoing work programs to advance the Guayabales Project, to pursue other exploration and development opportunities, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The offering is expected to close next week, with a target date of October 25th and is subject to certain conditions including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV).

Founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining for approximately $2 billion USD, Collective is an exploration and development company focused on identifying and exploring prospective mineral projects in South America. by making significant new mineral discoveries and advance the projects to production. Management, insiders and close family and friends own nearly 45% of the outstanding shares of the company and as a result, are fully aligned with shareholders.