AbraSilver has announced the first set of assay results from its fully funded Phase IV drilling program totaling 20,000 meters at its Diablillos gold-silver project located in Salta.
By Panorama Minero
According to the company, the Phase IV drilling program focuses exclusively on expanding the target areas with known mineralization and exploring new prospective targets within the land package concentrated in Diablillos. Key results from the latest drilling tests include the following holes:
-Hole DDH 24-003 intersected a broad zone of near-surface silver mineralization, consisting of 33 metres grading 87 g/t Ag starting at a down-hole depth of only 69 metres. The intercept is located in a zone within the conceptual open pit boundary that is currently classified as waste.
-Hole DDH 24-004 encountered a wide zone of high-grade silver mineralization, grading 245 g/t Ag over 33.4 metres. Drilling in this zone is designed to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to the Indicated category, within the conceptual open pit boundary.
-Hole DDH 24-005 intersected 26 metres grading 113 g/t Ag. This intercept is located approximately 35 metres south of the conceptual open pit margin and is expected to extend mineralization and the Mineral Resources in that direction.
John Miniotis, President and CEO, commented, “We are pleased to see this successful start to our Phase IV drilling program which demonstrates the significant upside potential at Diablillos. These initial results demonstrate the strong continuity of high-grade silver mineralization surrounding the JAC deposit, which continues to remain open in multiple directions.”
Dave O’Connor, Chief Geologist, commented, “We are excited by the initial drill results received from the Phase IV drill program. In addition to the ongoing step-out drilling near JAC, drilling is also currently underway in the area northeast of the Oculto Mineral Resource and the adjacent Cerro Bayo area. Additional holes in these areas will be sited with the aid of detailed structural mapping to optimize targets."
Phase IV Exploration Program Update
The ongoing, fully-funded 20,000 m Phase IV drill program is focused on the following high-priority exploration targets:
-Epithermal District: Approximately 75% of the drill program will focus on expanding the existing Mineral Resource estimates near the main Oculto deposit and on identifying additional near-surface high-grade silver-gold oxide mineralization.
-Oculto Northeast Zone: Broad spaced drilling within the conceptual open pit and its northeast extensions in 2023 intersected silver and gold mineralization which was not included in the latest Mineral Resource estimate. This new mineralized zone represents a high-priority target.
-JAC Extension / Alpaca: Recent drilling in this area has uncovered a trend of silver mineralization perpendicular to the JAC zone which is believed to connect the Alpaca target to the high-grade JAC zone. This is interpreted as being a conjugate set of mineralised structures, with silver occurring both within andesite volcanics and in underlying basement rocks.
-Cerro Bayo: A recent reinterpretation of geology has emphasised the possibility of shallow mineralisation in the Cerro Bayo area, which is located approximately 500 metres east of the Oculto pit boundary. A previous geochemical survey obtained highly anomalous gold results and a historical drill hole intersected shallow gold mineralization. Detailed geological mapping in the Cerro Bayo area and adjacent Oculto Northeast zone will be completed within the next month to define structures which will be targets for drilling.
-Fantasma: Historical drilling at Fantasma outlined a Mineral Resource estimate which is located approximately 1 km west-northwest of the Oculto deposit. Recent intercepts suggest that silver mineralization continues from Oculto towards the Fantasma zone and that these zones may connect.
-Laderas: Drilling is planned to explore for extensions of the existing gold dominant Mineral Resource historically outlined in this area, which is immediately north of the conceptual open pit boundary.
