Source : THE AGE NEWS
Advance Metals has hit paydirt again at its Gavilanes silver project in Durango, Mexico, with its fourth consecutive diamond drill hole intersecting high-grade silver and extending the known mineralised system a further 55 metres to the south. The latest results include a broad 13.2m intersection grading a notable 311 grams per tonne (g/t) silver from 123m, which housed an even higher-grade 6m core running an even more impressive 612g/t silver from 125.4m.
The hole also reamed out a deeper 6m section assaying 6m at 199g/t silver from 150.6m, including a 2.4m interval at 367g/t silver from 151.8m depth.
The project sits in one of the world’s most productive silver belts, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and any fresh high-grade drilling in a district of this calibre tends to get the market’s attention. The Gavilanes project is located just 23 kilometres from First Majestic Silver’s world-class San Dimas mine – a goliath that has churned out more than 745 million ounces of silver and 11 million ounces of gold over its life.
Gavilanes’ polymetallic character provides another dimension with the markets traditionally showing a preference for deposits that carry multiple payable metals and Advance’s drilling results so far hint at a vertically stacked mineral system containing multiple elements. While drilling is nailing near-surface high grade silver, previous drilling has also returned broad copper-gold-silver intervals at depth, suggesting a much larger and more complex mineralising event may be at play.
‘What excites me most about Gavilanes is the combination of grade, scale and exploration upside.’
Advance Metals managing director and chief executive officer Dr Adam McKinnon
This latest hit in the fourth hole drilled follows on the heels of a string of impressive results from the company’s maiden program, including 33.9m at 220g/t silver in the first hole, 8.4m at 245g/t silver in the second, and 15.6m at 309g/t silver in the third, which included 3.4m at 569g/t silver from 32.6m.
Importantly, the system appears to be getting more interesting at depth. The previous and third drill hole, put in just north of the most recent hole, ended in a 37.5m polymetallic zone from 205.8m grading 83g/t silver, 0.8g/t gold and 0.6 per cent copper, with minor associated lead and zinc.
Similarly, the second hole delivered a 54.6m zone grading 0.6 per cent copper, 22g/t silver and 0.3g/t gold from 180m.
Advance Metals managing director and chief executive officer Dr Adam McKinnon said: “Four holes into our program at Gavilanes and every single one has hit high-grade silver.“… “Importantly, we are continuing to expand the system rather than define its limits. The mineralisation is open up-dip, down-dip and along strike. Assays are also still pending from GV-26-005 and GV-26-006, our largest southern step outs drilled to date.”
The project already hosts a non-JORC foreign estimate of 2.83 million tonnes at 246g/t silver equivalent for a contained 22.4 million ounces. However, this estimate is based on previous work and Advance believes it has only scratched the surface.
The known mineralised corridor extends over 750m of strike, but the company says only a tiny fraction of the 136-square-kilometre project area has ever seen a drill bit. Numerous mapped vein systems on the property remain completely untested.
With the first phase of drilling now looking like a resounding success, anticipation is building for what comes next. Assays are pending for holes five and six, which are the largest southern step-outs drilled by the company to date, testing the structure more than 120m south of the recent high-grade hits.
With a maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource targeted for the fourth quarter of this year, a steady stream of news flow looks set to continue from this prospective patch of Mexican dirt. The system remains open in every direction and with each hole, Advance seems to be building a compelling case for a significant deposit at Gavilanes.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
