Aztec reports strong gold grades at Kootenay joint venture
Aztec Minerals Corp. [AZT-TSXV, AZZTF-OTCQB] shares rallied Wednesday after the company said it continues to intersect strong gold grades over broad widths at the California Zone at its Cervantes Project in Sonora Mexico. Aztec is exploring the project in a joint venture with Kootenay Silver Inc. [KTN-TSXV].
The company said it continues to intersect broad well mineralized gold mineralization from the 2022 reverse circulation drill program at the California target. Highlights include results for hole CAL22-012, which returned 152.4 metres of grade 0.87 g/t gold, including 33.5 metres of grade 2.05 g/t gold.
Cervantes is described as a highly prospective porphyry gold-copper property located in southeastern Sonora state, Mexico. The project lies 160 kilometres east of Hermosillo, within the prolific Laramide porphyry copper belt, approximately 265 kilometres southeast of the Cananea porphyry copper-molybdenum mine.
Other mines in the region include Alamos Gold Inc.’s [AGI-TSX, NYSE] Mulatos mine, Osisko Development Corp.’s [ODV-TSXV] San Antonio gold mine and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.’s (AEM-TSX, AEM-NYSE) La India mine.
The property is held 65% by Aztec Minerals and 35% by Kootenay Silver.
“This discovery further advances the California gold zone in demonstrating the open pit heap leach gold potential of the project,” said Aztec CEO Simon Dyakowski.
“The Cervantes 2021-2022 RC drill program continues to return strong gold grades over broad widths in every hold reported to date.”
Aztec shares advanced on the news, rising 9.8% or $0.03 to 33.5 cents on volume of 416,750. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 41 cents and 21.5 cents.
Kootenay Silver Inc. [KTN-TSXV] shares were unchanged at 17.5 cents and currently trade in a 52-week range of 36 cents and 15.5 cents.
Other California Zone drill highlights include hole CAL22-011, which returned 0.43 g/t gold over 132.2 metres in a mineralized quartz feldspar porphyry and hydrothermal breccias, including 12.2 metres of 1.29 g/t gold located at the northern edge of the central portion of the mineralized zone.
The primary focus of the Phase 2 RC drill program at Cervantes is to expand the previously drilled California zone by completing two drill hole fences parallel to and on either side of the 2017-18 Phase 1.0 drill hole fence. To date, every hole drilled at California has intersected near surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper oxides.
The Aztec-Kootenay joint venture has now completed its Phase 2 reverse circulation program of 26 holes, covering 4,649 metres of the Cervantes property. Drilling commenced in December 2021. A key aim of the program was to better define the open pit, heap leach gold potential of the porphyry oxide cap at California, evaluate the potential for deeper copper-gold porphyry sulphide mineralization underlying the oxide cap, test for north and west extensions of the California mineralization at California North, and Jasper, and assess the breccia potential at Purisima East.