Three drill rigs are operating under the protection of Colombian police and the military following an operation that apprehended several people extracting gold illegally at the site.

With gold’s reputation as a store of value and recent gold-focused merger and acquisition activity, there is renewed investor interest in companies active in this exploration.

The project was previously explored by BHP and Newmont.

Company will sell its Oijärvi gold project in central Finland and the Solvik gold project, in southern Sweden for $10-million to Gold Line Resources.

The latest discovery is in the footwall of the higher-grade Kiena Deep A zone.

The site produced approximately 379,000 gold oz between 1964 and 1997.

A review of capital raisings between February 2020 and February 2021 found that of the $2.9 billion raised for gold projects in 41 countries, 75% went to projects in just five countries, Mining Intelligence says.

Shareholders, including US fund BlackRock, aim to raise $450-560 million by selling about 37% of the mid-sized gold miner.