Great Panther drills 7.65 g/t gold over 3.9 metres at Tucano, Brazil

Great Panther Mining Ltd. [GPR-TSX; GPL-NYSE American] reported drill results for an additional 29 holes at the Urucum North (URN) underground project at the 100%-owned Tucano gold mine in Brazil. URN is the most northern of a series of open pits distributed along the 7-kilometre-long belt that hosts Tucano.

Surface diamond drilling focused on a zone of multiple plunging high-grade lodes beneath the URN open pit where underground mine development studies are advancing. The resource conversion drill program, which commenced in 2021, was completed in April 2022 and totalled 18,948 metres in 48 drill holes. Drill results from the first 19 holes were announced July 22, 2021. Highlights from the remainder of the drill program are presented below.

Drill hole 21URNDD028 returned 2.5 metres of 5.80 g/t gold from 342 metres. 21URNDD028 returned 3.8 metres of 4.71 g/t gold from 409 metres. 21URNDD049 returned 3.9 metres of 7.65 g/t gold from 114 metres. 21URNDD051 returned 3.0 metres of 4.65 g/t gold from 139 metres. 21URNDD053 returned 3.7 metres of 6.20 g/t gold from 432.2 metres.

Great Panther Chair and Interim CEO, Alan Hair, commented: “The zones of deeper, higher-grade mineralization being delineated at Urucum North demonstrate the potential for additional production from these underground resources in parallel with open pit operations at Tucano. In addition to the Urucum North underground zone, exploration has identified several similar potential high-grade zones associated with other pits along the seven-kilometre belt, which may also support underground production and warrant additional drilling. Drill results from the Urucum North underground will be incorporated into an updated underground resource estimate.”

Diamond drilling was primarily focused on the URN high-grade zone (HGZ1), which lies less than 100 metres below the planned URN final pit shell. In addition to the HGZ1 lode, drilling also identified an additional four high-grade lodes, which are being incorporated into the mine plan for Tucano. These lodes are expected to allow access to ore during early stages of ramp development prior to reaching the HGZ1 zone. The URN gold resource comprises five parallel, tabular bodies with grades ranging from 2 to 121 g/t gold and true thicknesses that range from a minimum true mining width of 2 to 7 metres. The gold mineralization is associated with pyrrhotite and hosted in banded iron formation and calc-silicate units. High-grade ore shoots plunge 20-30Ëšnorth.

Engineering studies for underground development at URN are currently in progress. The drilling plan and mine planning focus is on near-term development and production largely above the -200 masl level and will result in access to the top of the main high-grade zone (HGZ1) as well as provide access for reserve drilling along deeper parts of the HGZ1 and sub-parallel lodes and further infill drilling on the deeper, sub-parallel, plunging high-grade zone.

Great Panther owns a portfolio of assets in Brazil, Mexico and Peru that includes three gold and silver mines, an advanced development project and a large land package with district-scale potential.