Now elevated to CEO at Aguia, Hosking will maintain oversight of the company’s Brazilian phosphate push while assuming responsibility for the Santa Barbara gold project in Colombia’s prolific Serranía de San Lucas gold belt.
Aguia Resources new CEO Tim Hosking said: “I’m thrilled to take on the role of CEO at Aguia, as I see tremendous opportunities ahead, particularly with the potential growth of our phosphate operations in Brazil. Shareholders should recognise that we’re building a strong mining and processing business for an in-demand product, and our ongoing exploration drilling is uncovering promising new areas.”
Acquired in mid-2024 via a takeover of Andean Mining, Santa Barbara boasts high-grade mesothermal veins. Underground sampling has hit average grades of 38.91g/t gold over extensive strike distances, with widths up to 0.6m.
A 30 tonne per day pilot plant has processed 500 tonnes with recoveries around 24g/t gold. Recent upgrades, including a Merrill-Crowe circuit and expanded leaching capacity, are aiming for 50 tonnes per day by mid-2025.
While gold recoveries at the project are an ongoing challenge, the project nonetheless boasts exceptional geology and bonanza-grade hits gleaned from 2500m of drilling, with recent assays confirming continuity in high-grade systems.
Hosking has already initiated cost reductions at Santa Barbara, including workforce scaling and operational streamlining, with doré bar production underway for refining in Medellín, Columbia.
A new Colombian management team with specialisation in narrow-vein mining has boosted efficiency since October, leading to significant improvements in both mining and processing. The new strategy has resulted in reduced ore dilution, higher feed grades above 10g/t gold and more efficient plant recovery.
With its total 108Mt JORC phosphate resource in two locations and strategic Colombian gold holdings, Aguia is primed for dual-commodity and dual management momentum, with Hosking making changes at the coal faces and the ever-present Executive Chairman Warrick Grigor continuing to do the heavy lifting at a corporate level.
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