Quartz vein displaying lattice  bladed texture

By Miguel A Heredia

During the thirty-nine week of the year (September 23^th to September 29^th, 2019), at least 21 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with seven informing on exploration results, six disclosing deals and corporate issues, three announcing financial rounds, two communicating production results, one reporting on resources and development of their projects, one commenting on Mexican issues, and one notifying on social responsibility.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Los Gatos mine was inaugurated in San José del Sitio, Chihuahua with an investment of USD $366M.  ON EXPLORATION, In Baja California Norte, One World Lithium announced the continuation of the phase 3 drilling program at its Salar del Diablo project. In Sonora, Ridgestone released historical assays results from its Rebeico project. In Chihuahua, Kootenay reported drilling results from its Columba project.  In Durango, Canasil reported high grade sampling results from its Nora property. In Jalisco, GoGold released drill results from its Los Ricos project. In Veracruz, Mexican Gold announced 3,000m of drilling and its exploration plan for the remainder 2019 on its Las Minas project, and Azucar Minerals released drilling results from its El Cobre project. ON MINING, Mexus Gold provided an update on its Santa Elena mine in Sonora. Azure also provided an update on the first phase small-scale mining program at its Oposura project in Sonora. ON FINANCING, Aztec Minerals applied to the TSX to extend the term of 2,551,250 common share purchase warrants (Cervantes project, Sonora). Silver Viper closed a private placement for gross proceeds of $4M (La Virginia project, Sonora). Gold Resource declared its monthly dividend for September 2019 to shareholders (Arista mine, Oaxaca).  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Prime informed that the company completed a formal visit to its Los Reyes property in Sinaloa, to attend meetings with local stakeholders, to secure surface access and begin site preparation, and to initiate exploration and engineering work for the planned production phase. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Advance Gold announced that a geophysical adviser was added to its exploration team (Tabasquena project, Zacatecas). Colibri Resources entered into a property option agreement with Tocvan Ventures Corp., on its Pilar property in Sonora. Consolidated Zinc completed the acquisition of a 100% interest of the Plomosas mine in Chihuahua. Vizsla entered into a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire an option on the Panuco-Copala mining camp in Sinaloa. Ridgestone entered in an agreement to acquire a 100% interest in 10 mining concessions adjacent to its Rebeico project in Sonora. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Fortuna Silver, through its subsidiary Minera Cuzcatlán, has invested MXP $177.2M in social programs in Oaxaca, Mexico.

 ON MEXICO ISSUES

• Los Gatos mine was inaugurated in San José del Sitio, Chihuahua. The governor of Chihuahua State, Javier Corral, participated in the inauguration of the Los Gatos mines, located in San Jose del Sitio, Chihuahua. The mine was built with an investment of USD$ 366M among the Japanese company Dowa Mining and the American Sunshine Silver Mining company, for an estimated daily production of 2,500 tons of ore, which will be processed in the same plant with state-of-the-art technology, to obtain concentrates of Ag, Pb, and Zn. Governor Javier Corral celebrated the alliance of Japanese and American capital that occupied 1,800 people in construction and will give permanent employment to another 510 on its operation.

ON EXPLORATION

• One World Lithium, announced the continuation of the phase 3 drilling program at its Salar del Diablo project in Baja California Norte. The phase three will consists of 3 holes adjacent to previously partly drilled holes 1, 9, and 11, and 1 hole located 50km to the south, for a total of 2,400m. Each hole has planned depths of 600m. Each hole will be drilled with a mud rotary rig that will set casing to 200 meters and then core drilled to the planned total depth of 600 meters. Objectives of the drilling program are “to determine the presence of aquifers that may contain concentrations of lithium in brines at depth; to collect representative, depth-specific groundwater samples for chemical analysis of major elements, including Li; to obtain drill core samples for analysis for drainable porosity that will assist in resource estimations; and to use borehole lithologic descriptions to identify hydrogeologic units and the stratigraphy of the basin; to help calibrate existing and future geophysical surveys; and to create a hydrogeologic model to develop a potential future Li resource”.
• Ridgestone Mining Inc., released historical assays results from its Rebeico project in Sonora. These assays are from rock chip samples obtained by the Servicio Geológico Mexicano (SGM) at El Cobre, Tres Hermanos, Amargosa I and II, La Amargosita, and Campo Seco old workings. At El Cobre, two samples taken on the vein reported 0.8 g/t Au, 39 g/t Ag, 1.67% Cu, and 0.12% Mo over 1.18m, and 0.7 g/t Au, 50 g/t Ag, 0.51% Cu, and 0.18% Mo over 1.12m. In addition, two dump samples returned 0.5 g/t Au, 102 g/t Ag, 2.41% Cu, and 0.30% Mo, and 0.35 g/t Au, 38 g/t Ag, 2.07% Cu, and 1.22% Mo. At Tres Hermanos, highlights include 14.6 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag over 1.30m; 8.13 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag over 1.20m; 3.4 g/t Au, 23 g/t Ag, and 0.14% Cu over 1.90m; and 1.4 g/t Au, 137 g/t Ag, and 2.72% Cu over 1.0m. At La Amargosa I and II, 10 g/t Au and 3.48% Cu over 0.7m; 5.86 g/t Au and 1.85% Cu over 0.68m; and 2.66 g/t Au and 0.55% Cu over 0.71m. At La Amargosita, 17 g/t Au, 73 g/t Ag, and 0.45% Cu over 1.30m and one dump sample with 0.1 g/t Au, 777 g/t Ag, and 1.56% Cu. At Campo Seco, 0.1 g/t Au, 18 g/t Ag and 7.49% Cu over 0.55m.
• Kootenay Silver Inc., reported drilling results from three holes drilled on the F Vein and five holes drilled on the I Vein at its Columba project in Chihuahua. Significant drill intersections were encountered in hole CDH-19-011 with 133 g/t Ag, 0.04% Pb, and 0.15% Zn over 11.0m, including 245 g/t Ag, 0.13 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over 5.0m, and including 648 g/t Ag, 0.63 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 0.6% Zn over 1.0m, on the F Vein, and 228 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.6% Zn over 1.2m and 102 g/t Ag, and 0.1% Zn over 1.68m on the foot wall vein; in hole CDH-19-012 with 184 g/t Ag, 0.2 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.4% Zn over 11.0m, including 476 g/t Ag, 0.66 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 1% Zn over 3.15m, including 476 g/t Ag, 0.66 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 1% Zn over 3.15m, and including 755 g/t Ag, 1.16 g/t Au, 0.5% Pb, and 1.7% Zn over 1.75m on the F Vein, and three intersections on the hanging wall of 113 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 1.35m, 699 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, and 0.8% Zn over 2.1m, and 113 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 0.6m; in hole CDH-19-013 with 273 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn over 4.15m on I Vein, including 697 g/t Ag, 0.15% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over 0.65m, and 328 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn over 2.65m; in hole  CDH-19-014 with 261 g/t Ag, 0.3% Pb, and 0.6% Zn over 5.01m on the I Vein, and 894 g/t Ag, and 0.4% Zn over 0.42m on the hanging wall; in hole CDH-19-015 with 1,005 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, and 0.7% Zn over 0.3m on the I Vein; and in hole CDH-29-016 with 357 g/t Ag on the I Vein. “Drilling continues at the property with a total of 24 holes completed to date and the program being expanded from 3000 meters to approximately 4500 meters. It is anticipated that a total of 35 to 40 holes will be completed by early November with assay results continuing into December”.
• Canasil Resources Inc., reported high grade results from 21 surface samples taken along the Candy vein, 31 samples collected from adjacent country rocks, and 12 dump samples at its Nora project in Durango. The Candy vein, an epithermal Au-Ag target, has not been previously drilled. There has been limited, historical mining of the Candy vein, and small mineralized waste dumps are present. Average of the 21 samples collected along the Candy vein is 1.69 g/t Au, 140 g/t Ag, 0.4% Cu, 1.6% Pb, and 0.6% Zn over 0.68m, with the highest Au value of 12.55 g/t Au, 12 g/t Ag, 1% Cu, 2.7% Pb, and 0.7% Zn over 0.40m, and the highest Ag value of 605 g/t Ag, 3.72 g/t Au, 0.97% Cu, 1.2% Pb, and 0.4% Zn over 1.0m. The average grade of the 12 dump samples is 1.40 g/t Au, 86 g/t Ag, 1.1% Cu, 3.4% Pb, and 1.6% Zn. These results will be interpreted to identify possible locations for subsequent drilling.
• GoGold Resources Inc., released drilling results of four new holes drilled at Los Ricos Main Area and three new holes drilled at San Juan Area from its Los Ricos project in Jalisco. Significant drill intersections at Los Ricos Main Area were encountered in hole LRGG-19-038 with 0.72 g/t Au and 165 g/t Ag (2.92 g/t AuEq) over 21.2m, including 1.33 g/t Au and 302 g/t Ag (5.36 g/t AuEq); in hole LRGG-19-040 with 0.4 g/t Au and 115 g/t Ag (1.93 g/t AuEq) over 17.5m, including 0.89 g/t Au and 281 g/t Ag (4.64 g/t AuEq) over 4.5m; in hole LRRGG-19-041 with 1.14 g/t Au and 115 g/t Ag (2.68 g/t AuEq) over 23.3 m, including 4.6 g/t Au and 398 g/t Ag (9.91 g/t AuEq) over 5.5m; and in hole LRGG-19-042 with 0.47 g/t Au and 69 g/t Ag (1.40 g/t AuEq) over 29.2m, including 1.65 g/t Au and 224 g/t Ag (4.63 g/t AuEq) over 6.7m. At San Juan Area, the most significant drill intersections were encountered in hole LRGG-19-045 with 0.59 g/t Au and 34 g/t Ag (1.04 g/t AuEq) over 20m, including 2.92 g/t Au and 91 g/t Ag (4.123 g/t AuEq) over 3.5m; and in hole LRGG-19-046 with 0.36 g/t Au and 62 g/t Ag (1.19 g/t AuEq) over 36m, including 1.3 g/t Au and 220 g/t Ag (4.24 g/t AuEq) over 5.5m.
• Mexican Gold Corp., announced an aggressive exploration plan for the remainder of 2019 at its Las Minas project in Veracruz, including a drill program of 3,000m. The company plans to drill test the Pueblo Nuevo, Cinco Señores TEM anomaly, Las Minillas, and El Dorado targets, and test the conceptual targets of Sub-Sill and the Mancuerna Dike Swarm for potential skarn mineralization.
• Azucar Minerals Ltd., reported results from its ongoing drilling program at its El Cobre project in Veracruz at Norte, Villa Rica, Porvenir and Suegro targets. The most significant intervals were encountered at the Norte Target, where the hole EC-19-077 intersected 0.26 g/t Au and 0.11% Cu over 43.50m, including 0.53 g/t Au and 0.21% Cu and the hole EC-19-082 intersected 0.25 g/t Au and 0.12% Cu over 237.30m, including 0.63 g/t Au and 0.27% Cu over 44.45m, and another interval of 1.01 g/t Au and 0.33% Cu over 12.75m. At El Porvenir target, hole EC-19-078 intersected 82 g/t Au and 0.02% Cu over 12m, including 20.6 g/t Au and 0.01% Cu over 1.0m.

ON MINING

• Mexus Gold US, provided an update on its Santa Elena mine in Sonora. The compnay informed that all systems are working properly but the Merrill Crow Au recovery plant currently in use is running at 30 gpm and producing 3Oz Au per day. Mexus is moving a new plant to Santa Elena which will have the capacity to run up to 500 gpm. This new equipment is expected to be operational in October, which allows the company to reach its long term production goal.
• Azure Minerals Limited provided an update on the first phase small-scale mining program at its Oposura project in Sonora. Azure extracted and stockpiled an estimate of 6,100 tons of 13.4% Zn and 10.7% Pb from open pit, including 2,100 tonnes of 24% Zn and 18.3% Pb. Tonnages and grades exceed significantly the mineral resource estimate for this part of the deposit. Ore processing will start in the December quarter and will continue for 2-3 months. “Azure will produce separate Zn and Pb-Ag concentrates and expects to sell them on the spot market to locally-based metals traders or smelters, several of which have expressed strong interest in these products”.

ON FINANCING

• Aztec Minerals Corp., applied to TSX to extend the term of an aggregate of 2,551,250 common share purchase warrants by one year from October 21, 2019 to October 21, 2020. “Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share in the capital of the company at an exercise price of $0.25 per common share until the current expiry date of October 21, 2019. An aggregate of 23,750 warrants have been exercised to date and 550K warrants are held, directly or indirectly, by insiders of the company. The extension of the term of the warrants for an additional year is subject to the acceptance of TSX” (Cervantes project, Sonora).
• Silver Viper Minerals Corp., closed a private placement for gross proceeds of $4M. Net proceeds will be used to continue exploration and development of its la Virginia project in Sonora, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
• Gold Resource Corporation, declared its monthly dividend of 1/6 of a cent per common share for September 2019, payable in October 23, 2019 to their shareholders (Arista mine, Oaxaca).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

• Prime Mining Corp., informed that the company completed a formal visit to its Los Reyes property in Sinaloa, to attend meetings with local stakeholders, to secure surface access and begin site preparation and to initiate exploration and engineering work for the planned production phase. The company has initiated a 5,000m trenching and surface sampling program on mineralized structures to provide valuable assay data to be used in conjunction with down drill data to update resource estimation. “The current trenching program will provide greater confidence in the conversion of these blocks to indicated resources for the upcoming resource estimate”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

• Advance Gold Corp., announced that a geophysical adviser with over 40 years of international mining exploration experience was added to its exploration team (Tabasquena project, Zacatecas).
• Colibri Resources Corporation, entered into a property option agreement with Tocvan Venture Corp., on its 100% owned Pilar project in Sonora. Tocvan has been granted a 60 days exclusivity period to complete a due diligence by paying Colibri $25K. If the due diligence is positive and Tocvan decide to continue the option agreement, it will have the option to earn 51% of the property over a 5 years period by issuing 2M common shares, paying CAD $100K to Colibri, 60 days after signing the final agreement, and performing CAD $250K of exploration expenditures at Pilar property during the first year. On year 2, Tocvan will pay CAD $ 50K to Colibri and will perform CAD $350K of exploration expenditures. On year 3, Tocvan will pay CAD $75K and issue 1M common shares to Colibri, and perform CAD $400K of exploration expenditures. On year 4, Tocvan will pay CAD $75K and issue 1M common shares to Colibri, and perform CAD $500K of exploration expenditures. On year 5, Tocvan will pay CAD $75K and issue 1M common shares to Colibri, and perform CAD $500k of exploration expenditures. Upon completion of these terms Tocvan will be granted a 6 month option to purchase the remaining 49% of Pilar in exchange for CAD $2M and a 2% NSR on the project, of which 1% could be sold by Colibri for a price of CAD $1M. Tocvan will operate the project during the option period.
• Consolidated Zinc Limited, completed the acquisition of a 100% interest of the Plomosas mine in Chihuahua by acquiring the remaining 10% interest from Retec Guaru S.A. de C.V.
• Vizsla Resources Corp., entered in a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire an option over the consolidated mineral rights, infrastructure and processing facilities comprising the large scale Panuco-Copala mining camp in Sinaloa. Vizsla has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Canam Alpine Ventures Ltd. Vizsla will acquire Canam for a total staged consideration of 18M common shares of Vizsla by issue 6M common shares on closing of the acquisition, 6.5M common shares upon definition of a resource greater than 200K Oz AuEq, and 5.5M common shares upon exercise of the option. Also, Vizsla will pay USD $700K on signing, USD $450K in the first anniversary of signing, USD $5,184,500 and work commitment of USD $3,423,000 in the second anniversary of signing, USD $6,846,000 in the third anniversary of signing, USD $8,557,500 in the fourth anniversary of signing, USD $9,269,000 in the fifth anniversary of signing, and USD $11,907,425 in the sixth anniversary of signing.
• Ridgestone Mining Inc., entered in an agreement to purchase a 100% interest in 10 mining concessions adjacent to its Rebeico project in Sonora. These 10 mining concessions cover an area of 3,292 hectares and contain numerous artisanal old workings and mineralized outcrops. Terms of the acquisition include a cash payment of USD $83K and the issuance of 5M common shares of Ridgestone to the vendor.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., through its subsidiary Minera Cuzcatlán has invested MXP $172.2M in San Jose del Progreso, Oaxaca and surrounding communities, since it started operations in 2011. One of the most outstanding projects to date is the breeding and fattening of lambs in the community of El Cuajilote. This has been successfully promoted by Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán since 2016. The company contributes with inputs and technical advice, while producers provide labor. Additionally, the suppliers of inputs are 100% local, also benefiting companies in the region. Currently 70% of 400 square meters of productive infrastructure have been installed. The amount of sheep bellies, of a target of 90, has been increased by 45% by keeping them in the feeding and reproduction program. Likewise, the percentage of births has increased from 80% to 125%. In this way, Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán makes a difference for families benefiting from this and other programs, since they receive financial support by providing inputs for food by the company and training according to the productive or reproductive season.

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, quartz vein with stibnite and displaying lattice  bladed texture in a prospect in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.