Colombian Gold Play Hits 20 g/t Au, Plans Major 2025 Drill Program

• Collective Mining had a strong 2024, continuing aggressive drilling and making a new discovery called the Ramp Zone at its flagship Guayabales project in Colombia
• Plans 60,000m of drilling in 2025, its biggest campaign yet, fully funded with $40M cash on hand
• Ramp Zone discovery shows high-grade gold associated with bismuth and tellurium at depth, similar to the adjacent 6.3Moz Marmato mine owned by Aris Mining
• Ramp Zone mineralization starts right where a future access tunnel would be built, providing early access and potential for gravity-assisted mining
• Believes the Guayabales project will grow to over 10Moz of high-grade gold and become a major mining camp, attracting interest from senior gold producers

Collective Mining (TSXV:CNL) is advancing its flagship Guayabales project in the heart of a prolific mining district in Colombia. The company had a banner year in 2024, continuing aggressive drilling and making an exciting new high-grade gold discovery at depth. With its biggest ever drill campaign planned for 2025, Collective is positioning itself as the next major gold story in Colombia.

Aggressive Drilling Leads to New Discovery

‍Collective Mining kept its "aggressive hats on" in 2024 from a geological and drilling perspective at Guayabales. This approach paid off with the discovery of the Ramp Zone, a new high-grade gold zone within the Apollo target area.Ramp Zone is unique in that it exhibits a "reduced" mineral assemblage, with very high gold grades associated with bismuth and tellurium - a signature not seen in the upper part of the deposit. Early drill results are impressive, with intercepts like:

• 57m @ 8.11 g/t gold equivalent, including 18m @ 20 g/t
• 15m @ 20 g/t gold equivalent

Importantly, mineralization starts about 1000m below surface at the exact elevation where an access tunnel would be built for underground mining. Executive Chairman Ari Sussman explains the significance:

"Coming in from below means that at least a 1000m of the deposit is going to be in a gravity assisted scenario in mining. After you mine a stope, you drop the rock down the shoot, it falls to the bottom to a truck or conveyor and it goes out to the plant. Think about the savings versus the cost of expensive large trucks having to go up a ramp."

Similarities to Aris Mining's Marmato Deposit

‍The Ramp Zone discovery has many similarities to Aris Mining's Marmato underground deposit next door, which hosts 6.3Moz at 2.5 g/t gold. However, early indications are that Ramp Zone could deliver even higher grades due to a better host rock and vein overprinting.

Two more drill holes are pending which will provide more data points. However, if Ramp Zone comes even close to Marmato's endowment, it has potential to add multi-million ounces to the Guayabales resource base.

Interview with Executive Chairman, Ari Sussman

Biggest Ever Drill Campaign in 2025

‍To follow up on this success, Collective Mining is embarking on a 60,000m drill program in 2025, its biggest ever on an annual basis. The company is fully funded for this work and well into 2026 with ~US$40 million cash on hand.

While Apollo will be the main focus given the Ramp Zone discovery, several other targets across the Guayabales project remain to be tested. The ultimate goal is to define a project with at least 10 million ounces of high-grade gold that can produce over 400,000 ounces per year - a tier-one asset by any measure.

Potential for a Major New Gold Camp

‍Ari Sussman is bullish that Collective Mining has found a new gold camp in Colombia that will host multiple deposits and mines over a 5x5km area. Between Guayabales and the adjacent Marmato mine, he sees potential for 30 million ounces of gold to ultimately be defined.

The scarcity of major gold discoveries in recent years makes this all the more compelling. As Sussman points out:

"Who's the last gold company to find a camp? We don't even use that word anymore. I strongly predict that we have found a camp and I include Marmato as part of the same geology."

The Path Forward

‍While Collective Mining's end goal is to be taken over by a major gold producer, Sussman stresses they will put the team in place to build a mine if needed. The company is already getting a head start on key ESG and sustainability work to minimize lead time for any future buyer.

The mining-friendly jurisdiction of Colombia's coffee region is a big competitive advantage. Access to inexpensive hydro power, labor, and infrastructure sets up Guayabales to be a low-cost operation. Permitting is also highly streamlined, with only 10 months needed by law.

With the gold price in a bull market and producers hungry for new ounces, Collective Mining appears well positioned to attract interest and a potential takeover offer in future. In the meantime, investors can look forward to steady news flow as the drills keep turning to unlock the full potential of this emerging gold camp.

The Investment Thesis for Collective Mining

• Exposure to an rapidly growing multi-million ounce high-grade gold-silver-copper discovery in a top mining jurisdiction
• Potential for over 10 million ounces of gold at Apollo plus silver and copper credits with a clear path to a over 400,000 ounce per year production scenario
• Major upcoming catalysts with 60,000m of drilling planned in 2025 to expand the recent Ramp Zone discovery which remains wide open
• Well-financed with $40 million in cash to fund exploration and G&A for over a year
• Located in an extremely favorable jurisdiction for mine development with nearby mines, cheap power, abundant labor, and fast permitting
• Proven management team with a track record of exploration success (Continental Gold) and value creation for shareholders

Macro Thematic Analysis

Collective Mining Executive Chairman Ari Sussman touches on several key macro themes in the gold sector. Firstly, there is the growing importance of frontier jurisdictions for making new discoveries as traditional mining destinations mature. Countries like Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana in northern South America are seen as highly prospective yet underexplored compared to the more mature Peru and Chile.

Secondly, Sussman discusses the M&A landscape and expects a "record amount" of deals in 2025 as long as commodity prices hold up. Gold producers are merging with each other due to a lack of organic growth, but eventually will have to turn to new discoveries to replenish reserves. He notes the scarcity of quality projects in the pipeline:

"I've never seen the cupboards this bare with new discoveries. It is stark. So there's going to be a dash at M&A - I'm sure we'll be one of them."

Finally, there is the strategic importance of the West controlling its own mineral supply chains - a theme amplified by politicians like Trump. As Sussman points out, northern South America is poised to benefit from this given its prospectivity and relative geopolitical stability compared to other parts of the world.

These macro drivers, together with a bullish gold price, set the stage for a company like Collective Mining to deliver outsized returns for investors as it advances a major new discovery.