Advance eyes bulk mining after wide Mexican silver-gold hits
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Andrew Todd
Advance Metals has flagged major resource upside at its Yoquivo project in Mexico, with broad, high-grade silver-gold zones from drilling underscoring the project’s bulk-mining potential.
Diamond drilling at the company’s Pertencia prospect has returned standout results, including 67.9 metres of mineralisation running at 134 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent from 306m, featuring 23.83m at 257g/t silver equivalent. A deeper interval in the same hole also delivered another 9.67-metre hit at 108g/t silver equivalent from 418m.
The hole was completed in an opposing direction to earlier drilling – a scissor hole – with the intercept confirming the scale and continuity of mineralisation from multiple orientations. Advance says the finding has significantly improved its understanding of the structure and increased confidence in the modelling ahead of the company’s upcoming JORC resource estimate.
Step-out drilling to the west at Advance’s Esperanza prospect has also doubled the known strike extent of mineralisation, returning hits up to 10.4m at 102g/t silver equivalent from 120.6m.
‘The confirmation of broad, high-grade silver-gold hits from opposing orientations strengthens our confidence in the emerging resource.’
Advance Metals managing director Dr Adam McKinnon
The results have added directly to last month’s historic core resampling program, which identified exceptionally broad zones of contiguous moderate-grade silver-gold mineralisation, largely overlooked by previous operators.
The broad mineralised envelopes, backed by new drilling from the opposite direction, are now pointing towards a much larger development concept – one that could support bulk-tonnage open-pit mining alongside the originally planned high-grade underground operation.
The shift away from a narrow-vein underground-only model has the potential to dramatically expand the project’s scale while slashing production costs. This combination could significantly improve the economics of the Yoquivo development.
Advance Metals managing director and chief executive officer Dr Adam McKinnon said: “These results represent a potential inflection point for Yoquivo. The confirmation of broad, high-grade silver-gold mineralisation from opposing drill orientations significantly strengthens our confidence in the emerging resource potential at Pertenencia.”
The latest success adds further momentum to the company’s Mexican silver-gold story that already hosts more than 100 million ounces of silver-equivalent in a foreign non-JORC resource across three advanced projects.
The company has outlined a stretch target that, if successful, would lift that inventory to a jaw-dropping 200-million-ounce JORC-compliant resource in the coming months, just as silver and gold prices hover near all-time highs.
Diamond drilling continues at Yoquivo, testing both resource extensions at Pertenencia and additional regional vein target extensions.
Advance says an updated JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate is scheduled for release by the end of the month, with assessment of bulk-tonnage open-pit potential likely to kick off at the same time.
With the rods furiously turning on its Mexican silver-gold assets and drilling continuing across the company’s high-grade Australian gold prospects, the resources are rapidly stacking up for Advance, creating a wealth of development opportunities with multiple growth pathways for the precious metals dynamo.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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