Construction activities at Arizona Mining's Hermosa Project in Arizona for the lined tailings facility and water treatment plant. Source: Arizona Mining Inc.
Arizona Chief Operating Officer Don Taylor made the comment after the company announced Tuesday February 20 that it has intersected 86 feet assaying 28.6% combined zinc-lead and 3.7 oz/ton silver in an 850-foot step-out hole (HDS-501).
The result opens up an entirely new area to the southwest of the Taylor deposit, highlighting the continued potential for resource growth and increased grades as distinct from the updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA).
"Our exploration drilling continues to expand the deposit, but more importantly HDS-501 indicates how wide open the project is for major expansion and new discoveries," Taylor said.
"This and other successful infill and step-out drill holes in [Tuesday's press] release, coupled with others completed since drilling was cut off last October for the updated PEA, will be very accretive for the feasibility study now underway," he said.
The latest results are part of a 55,000-metre infill and step-out drilling program that will be included in the feasibility study, marking the next key step after a preliminary economic assessment update (PEA) was released on January 16, 2018.
Based on the updated PEA, the company continues to target first mineralized material-to-plant from a proposed 10,000 ton-per-day operation in 2020.
The Hermosa property is located about 80 km southeast of Tucson, about 13 km north of the U.S. border with Mexico. Located 1,600 meters above sea level, the property hosts two stratigraphically controlled mineral deposits, the Taylor Deposit and Central Deposit.
The current program is focused on the expansion of the Taylor Sulfide and Taylor Deeps zones. The Taylor Deposit, a zinc-lead silver carbonate replacement deposit, has a resource of 15.2 million tons in the measured mineral resource category, grading 4.0% zinc, 4.0% lead, and 1.6 oz/ton silver, or 9.6% zinc equivalent, plus 85.8 million tons in the indicated category, grading 4.2% zinc, 4.3% lead, and 2.2 ounces per ton silver, or 10.5% zinc equivalent.
On top of that is 43.6 million tons in the inferred category, grading 3.9% zinc, 4.8% lead, 3.4 oz/ton silver or 11.9% zinc.
The Taylor and Taylor Deep deposits remain open to the north, west and south over land controlled by the company and will be aggressively drilled to test the limits of the resource, the company said.
HDS-501 is a vertical step-out hole targeting Taylor Deeps mineralization in the southwest portion of an area called the Trench claim. The drill hole intercepted one vein and a very significantly mineralized Taylor Deeps Zone. The Taylor Deeps intercept extends the mineralization 850 feet to the southwest of the resource and demonstrates the lateral extent of the mineralization, the company said.
Arizona Mining eased 3.02% or $0.13 to $4.17. The 52-week range is $4.87 and $1.70.