Cabral Gold Timeline 2023 - Charting Path to Near Term Gold Production

About Cabral Gold

Cabral Gold Inc. is a junior resource company engaged primarily in the exploration and development of gold properties in Brazil. Its flagship project is the Cuiú Cuiú gold district located in the Tapajós Region of northern Brazil with two main gold deposits defined with indicated resources of 21.6 million tonnes at 0.87 g/t gold (604,000 ounces) and inferred resources of 19.8 million tonnes at 0.84 g/t gold (534,500 ounces). 

The company was founded by President/CEO Alan Carter in 2016 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Cabral Gold continue to focus on exploration in the Tapajós, site of one of the world’s largest-ever gold rushes, and elsewhere in Brazil for more gold and copper deposits. 

What Happened in 2023?

December

Drill Results Expand Oxide Gold Mineralization at Central Gold Deposit

Cabral Gold announced encouraging drill results from 10 additional reverse circulation (RC) holes at its Central gold deposit in northern Brazil. Key highlights included:

• Intercept of 28m @ 1.2 g/t gold with 2m @ 6.5 g/t gold in hole RC365
• Intercept of 30m @ 0.6 g/t gold in RC366
• 35m @ 0.8 g/t gold in RC367

The results provide further confirmation of the continuity of high-grade oxide mineralization near the surface at Central Gold and will improve modeling of high-grade areas to prioritize mining for a potential low-cost trial oxide mining and heap leaching operation at Cuiú Cuiú. 

With over $5 million in the treasury, Cabral Gold is well funded to continue aggressively drilling in order to grow the oxide resource base and further de-risk the project ahead of an upcoming Preliminary Feasibility Study in 2024.

Gold Production to Fuel District Exploration in Brazil

Recent drilling results delivered strong high-grade intercepts from shallow oxidized "blanket" zones, with an aim to expand resources and complete a pre-feasibility study by Q2 2024. 

The company anticipate rapid resource growth from the existing 230,000 oz gold oxide inventory based on pending assay results from 50 holes. The upcoming PFS will assess the economics of a proposed starter heap leach operation targeting high-grade zones, with potential capex ranging $15-25 million. By establishing initial positive cash flow within 12-18 months after a possible construction decision, Cabral aims to self-fund extensive ongoing exploration at Cuiú Cuiú to fast-track gold production and generate near-term cash flows to fund further exploration across the district.

November

Exploration Updates at Cuiú Cuiú Gold Project  

Drill results from the Central deposit at its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in Brazil were reported with highlights including exceptional high-grade intercepts of 16m at 5.2 g/t gold and 9m at 4.6 g/t gold, demonstrating continuity of mineralization near the surface and along strike in weathered saprolite material.

The results mirror the success seen at the MG deposit, confirming high-grade primary zones extend upward into oxidized sediments amenable to open-pit mining and heap leach processing. Cabral aims to update the oxide resource model to support a prefeasibility study focused on mining these zones.

Drilling Expands Near-Surface Mineralization

Cabral Gold provided an update on efforts to advance a potential starter heap leach operation targeting high-grade oxide gold mineralization at its Cuiú Cuiú project in Brazil. A pre-feasibility study examining the viability of a low-capex, high-margin operation focused on near-surface oxides is underway while infrastructure and permitting activities progress to further de-risk the project.

With over 50 pending drill holes, ongoing studies, and advancing infrastructure efforts, Cabral has multiple upcoming catalysts as it works to establish Cuiú Cuiú as an exceptional high-grade, low-cost gold development opportunity to enhance recoveries and economies of scale.

Continuous Results from  5000m, 75-hole drill program

Cabral Gold announced more drill results from 12 RC holes at the MG deposit of its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in Brazil. The holes intersected significant near surface oxidized gold mineralization, including highlights of 20m at 1.6 g/t gold from the surface and 15m at 1.8 g/t gold from 5m depth. This latest drilling successfully accomplishes key goals of the ongoing 5000m, 75-hole drill program which forms a component of a prefeasibility study for a potential trial mining operation. 

With the drill program still ongoing, exploration remains at an early stage across much of the broader 29,000 hectare Cuiú Cuiú district leaving substantial resource expansion potential through additional target delineation and drilling.

October

Strong First Drill Results at Cuiú Cuiú Project

Results from the first six RC holes of the ongoing program testing near surface oxide mineralization at the MG deposit of its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in Brazil were announced where highlights included exceptional high-grade intercepts of 27m at 1.9 g/t gold from the surface and 28m at 1.8 g/t gold from surface. 

The results showcase zones of significantly higher grades near the surface than previously modeled, demonstrating resource expansion potential. The program aims to expand higher-grade portions of existing oxide resources, improve confidence in the resources, and aid upcoming mine planning and feasibility studies focused on potential open pit mining and heap leach processing.

September

Near-Term Cash Flow and Massive Exploration Upside 

Cabral Gold provided an overview of its plans to advance its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in northern Brazil, which contains 1.2 million ounces of indicated and inferred resources. The company is completing a pre-feasibility study with a goal of commencing production by late 2024 or early 2025 should the study support positive economics.

Cabral recently raised $7 million to fund the study and initial development work. Cuiú Cuiú is located adjacent to G Mining’s permitted Tocantinzinho project, where construction of a $500 million mine will bring key infrastructure upgrades to the region.  Cabral sees massive exploration upside across its district-scale land package covering an area 10x larger than Tocantinzinho and holds permits to support an expedited development timeline for the proposed starter oxide operation.

August

Cabral Gold Appoints New Directors

Cabral Gold announced the appointment of Jon Gilligan, Ian Gendall, and Larry Lepard to its Board of Directors. 

• Jon Gilligan has over 35 years of experience including senior roles at companies like Liberty Gold, Torex Gold, and BHP, along with a PhD in Geology (gold).
• Ian Gendall's over 25 years of experience includes leading teams at Gencor, Billiton, and OceanaGold, with extensive Brazil and Tapajós region expertise from his prior COO role at Magellan Minerals.
• Larry Lepard with over 25 years as a professional investor and venture capitalist, is a Managing Partner at Equity Management Associates, an investment fund focused on precious metals with over $60 million under management.

According to Cabral President and CEO Alan Carter, the additions bring skills and expertise valuable for advancing ongoing prefeasibility studies of the Cuiú Cuiú gold district and recent agreements with Osisko Gold Royalties.

Drilling Commencement at Cuiú Cuiú Gold Project

Cabral Gold commenced a 25-hole RC and 21-hole auger drilling program at its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in Brazil, focused on expanding and better defining the high-grade portions of oxide gold resources at the MG and Central deposits. The goal is to upgrade and tighten the resource model to facilitate mine planning and sequencing for a potential trial mining operation targeting oxides.

The drill program is part of an ongoing pre-feasibility study examining a low-cost, open-pit heap leach operation to extract higher-grade saprolite and oxide blanket material. The current indicated and inferred oxide resources at MG and Central total 153,700 and 79,200 ounces respectively but previous drilling intersected significant high-grade mineralization including 60m at 3.5 g/t gold at MG which the new program will target.

July

Royalty Agreement with Osisko Gold Royalties

Osisko Gold Royalties has provided the second and final $2.5 million payment to Cabral Gold relating to a royalty purchase agreement granted on its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in Brazil.  Cabral has granted Osisko a 1% net smelter return royalty on production in exchange for the $5 million total payments. The Osisko deal provides crucial funding for Cabral to advance Cuiú Cuiú rapidly toward potential near-term cash-flowing gold production. The funds will support completing a preliminary feasibility study examining potential open pit mining and heap leach processing of near-surface oxide gold mineralization at Cuiú Cuiú.

June

Technical Analysis and Due Diligence

Cabral Gold provided an overview of the company and its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in the Tapajós region of Brazil where the company has been conducting infill drilling at the Central and MG deposits. Recent drill highlights have shown narrow intervals up to 32.8 g/t gold as Cabral aims to define distinct high-grade cores that were previously underestimated due to insufficient drill density. The company expects to update resources in 2023 or early 2024.

Beyond the known deposits, Cabral has made additional discoveries like PDM and Machichie which have returned high-grade drill results over significant widths like 34m at 5.4 g/t gold. Metallurgical test work is underway on oxide blanket mineralization at MG, with early bottle roll tests showing exceptional recoveries. Infrastructure is already in place with historic mining activity providing extensive road access. With 5 rigs currently drilling, Cabral aims to grow resources to 2-2.5Moz before commencing economic studies.

Metallurgical Testing at Cuiú Cuiú Project, PFS Continues

Additional metallurgical testing on near-surface oxidized gold mineralization was conducted at Cuiú Cuiú project in northern Brazil. This follows an earlier successful column leach test that achieved 82% recoveries on oxide samples from the MG deposit. The goal is to further define potential heap leach gold recoveries as Cabral advances a prefeasibility study examining the 21.6 million-tonne indicated oxide resource grading 0.87 g/t gold.

Cabral has engaged Testwork do Brasil to conduct the latest metallurgical tests on high-grade oxide samples from both the MG and Central deposits. The work ties into an ongoing trial mining prefeasibility study led by Ausenco do Brasil focused on potentially fast-tracking production from the oxidized near-surface mineralization.

May

Plans for Advancing Gold Project Towards Production in Mid-2024

Cabral Gold aims to initiate the production of oxide material by mid-2024 for near-term revenue to advance its gold project in Brazil. The company currently has 230,000 ounces of oxide material and aims to expand production given the presence of high-grade, near-surface material. 

The company's strategy focuses on mining oxide material with low strip ratios using simple excavation and leaching processes. A key advantage is the relatively low capital expenditure of $10-30 million required for a thousand-ton-per-day operation which allows Cabral Gold to maintain control while pursuing near-term production goals. With two deposits currently holding 1.2 million ounces conservatively, further exploration of known mineralized areas could increase overall resources.

April

Pre-Feasibility Study on Trial Mining at Cuiú Cuiú Gold Project

Cabral Gold’s Brazilian subsidiary, Ausenco do Brasil Engenharia Ltda., commenced a Pre-Feasibility Study on trial mining and heap leach processing of near-surface gold-in-oxide material at its Cuiú Cuiú project. This follows several months of internal scoping by Cabral regarding the potential for a trial mining operation and recovery circuit on the free-digging saprolitic gold material. The Pre-Feasibility Study will be NI 43-101 compliant and include processing, infrastructure, hydrogeological and geotechnical design, plus a financial analysis across five successive work packages. 

Earlier column leach tests on a composite oxide sample from Cuiú Cuiú’s MG deposit returned 82% recoveries after 70 days. Additional metallurgical testing, drilling, surveys and planning studies were also executed in parallel with completion expected in Q4 2023. The new Pre-Feasibility Study is viewed as a major milestone in Cabral’s development with the goal to eliminate dependence on dilutive financing to fund Cuiú Cuiú exploration and expand resource.

March

$2M Private Placement Financing

Cabral Gold releases the terms of a non-brokered private placement of up to 20 million units at $0.10 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $2 million. Each unit consists of one common share and one 2-year warrant with an exercise price of $0.20. Cabral may pay finders fees of up to 6% cash commission. The company intends to use proceeds to repay debts, including amounts owed to management, general working capital, and exploration activities if sufficient funds allow. 

Cabral also sought TSXV approval to reprice 6.2 million warrants issued in November 2022 by reducing the year 1 exercise price from $0.30 to $0.205 and the year 2 price from $0.40 to $0.30, with other terms unchanged. Additionally, Cabral entered a new term loan agreement with President/CEO Dr. Alan Carter to acknowledge the $760,000 plus $50,858 interest he had advanced the company through January 2023.

Closing of Oversubscribed Private Placement

The closing of its previously announced non-brokered private placement was announced, which was oversubscribed by $790,000, for total gross proceeds of $2,790,000. As a result, the company issued 27,900,000 units at $0.10 per unit. 

Additionally, Cabral obtained TSX Venture Exchange approval to reprice the 6,200,000 warrants issued in its November 25, 2022, private placement and no changes were made to the 1,500,000 finder warrants issued. The oversubscribed financing provides additional working capital to advance Cabral’s project for exploration and development activities.

January

PFS and Targets for 2023 and Beyond

Cabral Gold outlined targets for 2023 to advance its Cuiú Cuiú gold project in Brazil. The company's goal is demonstrating the economic viability of oxides while expanding resources to unlock significant value, with a rising gold price renewed investor interest appears forthcoming.

The company’s top priorities are: to demonstrate the economic viability of the oxide blanket in terms of the PFS, to continue expanding the resource by getting additional drilling done on the 2 new discovery zones, and to carry out additional drilling work at the MG and PDM deposits. While the company has been actively looking at the disposal of non-core assets, 99% of its effort has been focused on Cuiú Cuiú.

Internal scoping studies have shown potential for quick, low-cost production from Cabral's large oxide deposits. In 2023, a Preliminary Feasibility Study on constructing a heap leach to generate cash flow, reducing reliance on dilutive financing is planned with additional drilling to expand resources at existing and two new deposits, and financing options include selling non-core assets.