Apollo Silver expands Measured and Indicated Silver Resources at Calico Project, California
Apollo Silver Corp. [TSXV: APGO; OTCQB: APGOF; FSE: 6ZF0] reported results of an updated independent Mineral Resource estimate (MRE) for its Calico Silver Project in San Bernardino County, southern California.
Total silver Measured & Indicated tonnes at the Waterloo property have increased by 61% to a total of 55 million tonnes grading 71 g/t silver for a total content of 125 million troy ounces. This represents a 14% increase in silver ounces compared to the previous MRE (dated March 6, 2023). In addition to updating the gold resource at Waterloo, inaugural barite (BaSO4) and zinc resources have been included in both the Indicated and Inferred categories.
News Highlights: New combined Measured and Indicated total of 55 Mt grading 71 g/t Ag for a total of 125 Moz Ag; 61% increase in tonnage and a 14% increase in Ag ounces representing an increase of 15 Moz contained Ag.
Inferred total of 0.6 million tonnes grading 26 g/t Ag for a total of 0.51 Moz contained Ag. Sensitivity analyses show resiliency of the Ag resource to changes in metal price. Inaugural BaSO4 and Zn resources are estimated as Indicated: 36 Mt at 7.4% BaSO4 and 0.45% Zn for a total content of 2.7 Mt BaSO4 and 354 million pounds Zn.
Inferred: 17 Mt at 3.9% BaSO4 and 0.71% Zn for a total content of 0.65 Mt BaSO4 and 258 Mlbs Zn. Gold ounces have increased by 86% in the Inferred category for a new total of 17 Mt at a grade of 0.25 g/t Au and total Au content of 0.13 Moz. One single pit for all metals at Waterloo deposit with a low strip ratio of 0.8:1. The increased quantities of Ag and Au, the addition of two new critical minerals, and the larger single pit with low strip ratio has derisked the Calico Project
Silver: There remain further opportunities to expand the Ag mineralization below the base of the 2025 MRE in the northern region of the Waterloo deposit.
Barite and Zinc: The indicated and inferred mineral resources for BaSO4 and Zn show clear potential to be upgraded into M&I via infill drilling and re-assays.
Gold: Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth. Future work will target additional mineralization along strike with a particular focus on the high-grade structures.
Langtry Property: Many areas under the Quaternary cover remain untested. In addition, the potential for BaSO4 and other metals have not yet been evaluated in detail at Langtry.
Ross McElroy, President and CEO, commented: “TheCalico Project continues to increase in value, scale and optionality. Already boasting one of the largest undeveloped silver deposits in the US, new data confirms the presence of additional minerals, such as barite and zinc, which are included on the US critical mineral list. These findings will contribute to our project development plans, including an upcoming Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). Notably, much of the mineralization occurs at shallow depths, resulting in a low economic strip rate. With a substantial land position, there is strong potential for further discoveries at Calico.”
The Calico Project is located in San Bernardino County, California and comprises the adjacent Waterloo, Langtry, and Mule properties which total 8,283 acres. The Calico Project is 15 km (9 miles) from the city of Barstow, 5 km (3 miles) from commercial electric power and has an extensive private gravel road network spanning the property.
The Calico Project is situated in the southern Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert, in the south-western region of the Basin and Range tectonic province. This 15 km (9 mile) long northwest-southeast trending mountain range is dominantly composed of Tertiary (Miocene) volcanics, volcaniclastics, sedimentary rocks and dacitic intrusions.
Mineralization at Calico comprises high-level low-sulfidation silver-dominant epithermal vein-type, stockwork-type and disseminated-style associated with northwest-trending faults and fracture zones and mid-Tertiary (~19-17 Ma) volcanic activity. Calico represents a district-scale mineral system endowment with approximately 6,000 metres (19,685 ft) in mineralized strike length controlled by the company. Silver and gold mineralization are oxidized and hosted within the sedimentary Barstow Formation and the upper volcaniclastic units of the Pickhandle formation along the contact between these units.
The Calico Project hosts a large, bulk minable silver deposit with significant barite credits – a critical mineral essential to the US energy and medical sectors.