Even with the headwinds of a new law tightening mining regulations and the prospect of exploration disappearing altogether in the medium term, 2023 was not a bad year for drilling in Mexico, where, more than a handful of companies were able to produce striking intercepts from their projects.
The gold results from three projects in the Guerrero Gold Belt top the chart, with Ana Paula’s intercepts almost doubling the results from the next on the list. Thirteen companies had at least one intercept running over 100 gpt*m, which is a number we all would like to see on a project of ours:
- Heliostar Metals
- Torex Gold
- Alamos Gold
- GoGold Resources
- Bear Creek Mining
- Orla Mining
- Coeur Mining
- First Majestic Silver
- Regency Silver
- Chesapeake Gold
- Endeavour Silver
- Vizla Silver
- Prime Mining
This year results from deposits in the Guerrero Gold Belt are dominant, as Heliostar is trying to define a high-grade core for underground mining at Ana Paula, and Torex Gold is exploring and better defining the numerous deposits within its Morelos Complex package. The Guerrero Gold Belt is synonymous with skarn deposits, although Ana Paula’s high-grade mineralization is mostly within breccias. Other skarns in the table include Lucy (also in the short list), La Adelita, La Parrilla and Bolivar. Three deposits of high-sulfidation epithermal mineralization from Alamos Gold are in the short list, all in the Mulatos district. Many projects with low to intermediate sulfidation epithermal mineralization are in the table, and seven make it to the short list above, from top to bottom: Los Ricos South, Mercedes, Palmarejo, San Dimas, Bolañitos, Panuco and Los Reyes. Other deposit types in the short list include Camino Rojo, which has intermediate sulfidation mesothermal to epithermal mineralization associated to igneous intrusions in sedimentary rocks and Dios Padre, with Au-Cu-Ag mineralization in breccias associated to a porphyry copper environment.
Other ore deposit styles represented in the table include Evelyn, La Gloria and Los Pavitos projects classified as orogenic gold systems and Cordero, a complex deposit that includes skarn, replacement and intermediate sulfidation epithermal mineralization.
