Blackrock Silver drills 3,745 g/t AgEq (1,921 g/t Ag and 20.26 g/t Au) over 2.6 metres at Tonopah West, Nevada
Blackrock Silver Corp. [TSXV: BRC; OTCQX: BKRRF; FSE: AHZ0] reported initial assay results from its fully funded 2024 drill program at its Tonopah West project located within the prolific Walker Lane trend in Esmeralda and Nye Counties adjacent to the town of Tonopah, Nevada, USA.
Highlights: TXC24-087 returned 2.59 metres of 3,744 g/t silver equivalent (AgEq) (1,920.93 g/t silver (Ag) and 20.26 g/t gold (Au)), including 1.07 metres of 8,514.5 g/t AgEq ( 4,328 g/t Ag and 46.5 g/t Au).
TXC24-101 returned 1.28 metres of 1,286 g/t AgEq (687 g/t Ag and 6.56 g/t Au). TXC24-092 returned 3.35 metres of 952.6 g/t AgEq (470.56 g/t Ag and 5.35 g/t Au), in addition to 1.13 metres of 1,156 g/t AgEq (534 g/t Ag and 6.9 g/t Au).
TXC24-100 returned 2.26 metres of 898 g/t AgEq (530.30 g/t Ag and 4.08 g/t Au), including 0.92 metres of 1,587.1 g/t AgEq (943 g/t Ag and 7.15 g/t Au).
The company’s 2024 drill campaign on Tonopah West, which commenced in late July 2024, includes an in-fill drilling component with a goal to upgrade and expand the shallowest portion of the DPB resource area from inferred mineral resources to measured and indicated mineral resources (the M&I Conversion Program) and an exploration component that is targeting expansion potential across a 1 km trend of vein corridor linking the DBP and the NW step-out resource areas.
The drilling utilized a reverse circulation (RC) drill to complete pre-collar drillholes to various depths and then core tails to drill through the modelled target zones in DBP and the Northwest step-out areas. Initial results from the M&I Conversion Program at DPB show continuity of the high-grade gold and silver.
Andrew Pollard, President and CEO, stated, “As we seek to de-risk our ounces through the early years of anticipated production at Tonopah West, initial results from our M&I Conversion Program not only establish exceptional continuity of high-grade mineralization, but have also been successful in stepping out beyond the existing resource envelope identifying significant near-surface expansion potential at higher-than-average grades.
“Multiple intercepts exceeding 1 kg/t AgEq were reported, including our highest-grade interval at Tonopah West to date of 1.07 meters at 8,514.5 g/t AgEq (4,328 g/t Ag and 46.5 g/t Au). These findings bolster our confidence in the model presented in our recent preliminary economic assessment and suggest the possibility of shortening the pre-production development timeline as we track high-grade gold and silver mineralization closer to the surface. An additional 6 drillholes have been added to our M&I Conversion Program targeting the high-grade chute identified in TXC-24-087.
“The drills are slated to remain at site well into the new year, with additional drillholes to be added as new targets continue to emerge.”
Drillholes TXC24-087, -090, -091, -100 and TXC24-101 define a new high-grade gold and silver chute that has a direction of azimuth 320° to 330° and a pitch of 32° along the Merton/Bermuda high-grade vein system. The length of the high-grade ore chute is approximately 175 metres but open to the NW and SE. More work is required to understand the high-grade chutes, orientation and periodicity.
The drill program is completing 2 to 3 core tails per week with lab turn around at roughly 6 to 8 weeks, with 30 drillholes completed to date. Many drillholes have pending assays which will be released as batches through the fall and winter months.