Aya Gold & Silver posts new high-grade assays at Boumadine, Morocco
Aya Gold & Silver Inc. [TSX-AYA; OTCQX-AYASF] reported new, high-grade drill exploration results from its 2024 program of 120,000 metres at Boumadine in Morocco. Today’s results extend the main mineralized trend by 800 metres and continue to demonstrate continuity of the Boumadine main zone, which remains open in all directions. The corporation has also secured the right to seven additional exploration permits, expanding the Boumadine exploration footprint to over 198 km2.
Key highlights – Extension of Boumadine strike length to 5 km: BOU-DD23-265 intersected 1,355 g/t silver equivalent (AgEq) over 3.1 metres (16.25 g/t gold, 86 g/t silver, 0.1% zinc, 0.1% lead and 0.1% copper) and 442 g/t AgEq over 8.0 metres (4.51 g/t Au, 58 g/t Ag, 0.3% Zn, 0.2% Pb and 0.2% Cu).
BOU-DD24-292 intersected 354 g/t AgEq over 2.9m (4.06 g/t Au, 27 g/t Ag, 0.4% Zn, 0.1% Pb and 0.03% Cu).
BOU-DD24-284 intersected 1,317 g/t AgEq over 1.9m (15.70 g/t Au, 91 g/t Ag, 0.05% Zn, 0.1% Pb and 0.2% Cu).
Extension of the Tizi strike length to 1.6km: BOU-DD24-310 intersected 445 g/t AgEq over 13.7m (4.90 g/t Au, 42 g/t Ag, 0.3% Zn, 0.4% Pb and 0.1% Cu), including 1.6m at 1,988 g/t AgEq and 1.5m at 813 g/t AgEq.
BOU-DD24-306 intersected 1,021 g/t AgEq over 3.0m (11.48 g/t Au, 89 g/t Ag, 0.8% Zn, 0.2% Pb and 0.2% Cu) including 1.5m at 1,755 g/t AgEq.
New style of mineralization with very high silver grade: BOU-DD24-310 intersected 7,820 g/t Ag over 1.0m. Secured seven new exploration permits totaling 56.9 km2 at Boumadine.
“Today’s high-grade drill results including BOU-DD23-265 in the north of the Main Trend extend the Boumadine footprint to 5km, and BOU-DD23-310 at Tizi confirms the potential to increase the resource,” said Benoit La Salle, President & CEO. “We are excited to expand our presence further at Boumadine through the strategic addition of 7 new permits, as part of our ongoing strategy to grow our land package and underscoring our confidence in the region’s mineral potential. With an area of almost 200 km2 in what we consider to be a generational asset and a potential district, we are in position to deliver value for all stakeholders.”
This year, 60 diamond drill holes for 27,122m have been completed at Boumadine. Drilling was conducted on strike along the main trend (north zones), Tizi and North-West Zones. The majority of results have been received for drill holes up to BOU-DD23-310.
Results received since January 2024 including hole BOU-DD24-292 confirm the high-grade continuity of the Main Trend and extend the mineralized strike length to 5km. The Main Trend remains open in all directions. Today’s results also significantly extend the strike length of the Tizi Zone from 600m to 1.6km. The Tizi Zone also remains open in all directions.
Hole BOU-DD24-310 returned high-grade silver results including 7,820 g/t Ag over 1.0m in a small East-West structure. Because the drilling was planned for Tizi, the East-West structure was intersected at a very low core-angle. True thickness is still unknown but is probably less than 0.2m This type of vein will be better targeted with a specific East-West drill program.
The main mineralization generally consists of one metre to four metre wide (locally reaching over a 10 m width), N340-oriented massive sulphide lenses/veins sharply dipping eastward (greater than 70 degrees). The massive sulphide veins (greater than 80%) are mainly composed of pyrite, with variable proportions of sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite. Tizi and Imarriren share the same characteristics except for their N000 orientation.
Significant upside potential exists to expand the Boumadine Main Trend, which currently extends 5.0km and remains open in all directions. Currently, the corporation has mobilized seven drill rigs to complete the 120,000m drilling program.\
Half of the program will test the continuation of the known trend and infill. The remaining 50% will focus on geological targets generated by 2023 work and will be informed by the ongoing hyperspectral and high-resolution geophysical surveys. Hyperspectral and the geophysical surveys began in early 2024 and results are expected in late Q2-2024. The results from ongoing geology work will determine additional development work.
Aya’s Moroccan mining assets are complemented by its Tijirit Gold Project in Mauritania, which is being advanced to feasibility.