Advance Metals has commenced diamond drilling at its Gavilanes silver project in Durango, Mexico, marking the launch of its maiden on-ground exploration program at the asset. The program is expected to include up to 4,500 meters of diamond drilling across 15 to 18 holes.
It is also designed to test depth and strike extensions to the existing high-grade silver system, which hosts a Foreign Estimate of 22.4 million ounces of silver equivalent at 246 g/t AgEq.
“The commencement of drilling at Gavilanes is an important milestone for Advance and represents the next phase of our Mexican silver growth strategy,” Advance Metals Managing Director and CEO Dr. Adam McKinnon said.
“Following the successful delivery of our maiden 33 [million ounce] AgEq JORC Resource at Yoquivo [silver-gold project], we are now applying the same disciplined and systematic approach at Gavilanes, combining targeted diamond drilling with a review and sampling of historic core to unlock value from another high-grade Mexican silver system.”
“Gavilanes already hosts a substantial high-grade Foreign Estimate and previous drilling has returned exceptional silver grades from shallow depths,” he continued. “Our maiden program is designed to test extensions to the known mineralization, assess new discovery targets, and generate the data required to support a planned JORC Resource upgrade later this year.”
While most of the program will focus on extending high-grade mineralization associated with the existing Foreign Estimate, drilling is also planned at the El Nopal prospect to the southeast and the La Cruz and La Tuna prospects to the west. These targets provide potential to identify additional mineralized zones beyond the current Foreign Estimate.
Advance has also identified previously unassayed historic core from Gavilanes, which will be sampled as part of a low-cost data generation workstream. Results from the new drilling and historic core sampling are expected to support a planned Gavilanes JORC Resource upgrade later this year.