Aztec Minerals drills 1.1 g/t gold over 88.4 metres at Cervantes, Mexico
Aztec Minerals Corp. [AZT-TSXV; AZZTF-OTCQB] has intersected a broad, high-grade, gold mineralized zone in the first reverse circulation drill hole at the California target on the Cervantes property located in southeastern Sonora, northern Mexico. Results for hole CAL22-001 includes 88.41 metres with grades of 1.1 g/t gold. Aztec has a 65% interest in the Cervantes property with Kootenay Silver Inc. [KTN-TSXV; KOOYF-OTC] holding 35%.
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 to 2018 phase 1 drill hole fence. To date, every hole drilled at California has intersected near-surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper oxides.
California zone drill highlights include 1.1 g/t gold over 88.41 metres in mineralized quartz feldspar porphyry, including 1.56 g/t gold over 54.9 metres. Reported lengths are apparent widths, not true widths.
Simon Dyakowski, Aztec’s CEO, commented: “After an approximate four-year drilling hiatus at Cervantes, our initial California zone drill results in 2022 have not disappointed. The first hole at California zone, where we are targeting potential open pit heap leachable gold mineralization, has returned strong grades over broad widths and has further expanded the gold mineralized zone, still open to the north.”
Hole CAL22-001 intersected extensive gold mineralization, extending the known mineralized zone at depth and to the north. The area currently being drilled measures approximately 800 metres long by 300 metres wide, with demonstrated, continuous mineralization of up to 170 metres depth. The porphyry gold-copper mineralization is still open in all directions.
The Aztec-Kootenay JV has completed the first 22 holes, totalling 4,164 metres to date, of the continuing 5,000-metre, 25-hole phase 2 reverse circulation drill program at the Cervantes property. Drilling commenced in December, 2021. The first four RC drill holes were completed to test the previously undrilled Purisima East target, where high-grade gold mineralization was sampled in a glory hole along the southern margin of a small felsic intrusion with coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalies. Preliminary gold assays in these four holes exhibit anomalous but sub-economic gold grades.
The planned testing of the four main targets of the Cervantes phase 2 drilling program is nearly complete. The primary objectives of the 2021 to 2022 phase 2 exploration program are 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 of Purisima East.
Drill samples cuttings are collected every five feet (1.52 m) from all drill holes. The samples are analyzed by Bureau Veritas for gold with a 30-gram sample size using the method After When drilling concludes, Aztec will carry out channel sampling and geologic mapping of the new drill roads at California, California Norte and Jasper, as well as to expand surface sampling and mapping on the property in general to continue the 2021 phase 1 surface program.