- Continuation of significant high-grade intercepts at the producing Sandra K and
El Silencio mines - Success continues in our brownfield drilling campaign on the La Guarida-Cristales Vein System including 48.45 g/t Au and 34.2 g/t Ag over 0.47 meters
Significant high-grade intercepts from the latest drill results include:
In-mine
- Sandra K: 146.33 g/t Au and 712.0 g/t Ag over 0.30 meters on the Sandra K Techo Vein (SK-ES-035);
El Silencio : 271.16 g/t Au and 142.9 g/t Ag over 0.88 meters on the 450 Vein (ES-EU -047); and,El Silencio : 78.09 g/t Au and 20.0 g/t Ag over 1.29 meters on the Nacional Vein (ES-EU -48)
Brownfield
- Marmajito: 23.55 g/t Au and 22.0 Ag over 0.60 meters on the Marmajito Vein (MAR-
EU -018); - Vera: 8.81 g/t Au and 479.9 g/t Ag over 0.54 meters on a SNO Vein (VER-ES-032A); and,
- La Guarida-Cristales Vein System: 48.45 g/t Au and 34.2 g/t Ag on the Cristales Vein over 0.47 meters (CR-ES-047A)
The ongoing 2022 in-mine and near-mine in-fill and step-out drilling campaign commenced in early January with eight diamond drill rigs operating from purpose-built underground drill stations and surface drill platforms and comprises a total of up to 67,000 meters at its four producing mines, including up to 15,000 meters of underground in-fill drilling, for about 74% of the total drilling programs for this year. In and near-mine in-fill and step-out drilling is focused on replacing the 2022 mining production and organic growth through resource conversion to expand the current reserves at the Company’s core operating mines. Approximately 16% of the total in-mine and near-mine drilling programs for this year was completed by the end of April, the cut-off date for results reported in this press release.
The other 26% of the planned drilling campaign for 2022, comprising up to approximately 24,000 meters, is focused on defining new resources from the brownfield exploration targets covering the 24 veins within the
In-mine and near-mine drilling
- Two rigs are carrying out step-out drilling at the
Sandra K Mine from two purpose-built surface platforms; and, - Four rigs are carrying out resource definition on the
El Silencio Deep Zone from one purpose-built underground drill station in theEl Silencio Mine to test the 450 and Manto veins from the Lejanias sector, and two additional purpose-built underground drill stations on Levels 11 and 17 of theProvidencia Mine to test the Nacional Vein. The fourth rig is conducting directional in-fill drilling on the southern ore-shoot below Level 38A from a purpose-built underground drill station on Level 3 of theSandra K Mine ; - One rig is carrying out resource definition at the
Carla Mine from a purpose-built underground station off Level 3 to guide the mine development.
Brownfield drilling
- Two rigs are operating from surface on the La Guarida-Cristales Vein System; and
- One rig is operating from surface on the Manzanillo Vein.
Key Highlights
IN-MINE and NEAR-
Sandra K
In-mine in-fill drilling from underground station SK5680, installed off Level 6, was completed in early March with additional 11 drill holes totaling 1,147 meters. This program was intended to better delineate and further extend down-plunge a cluster of narrow, discontinuous, high-grade zones to approximately future Level 9, outlined by previous mining on the upper levels, which occur at the northernmost end of the
Step-out exploration drilling from surface platform SK6020, located at the northernmost end of the northern fault block of the Sandra K Vein System, delimited by a set of faults striking NE and steeply dipping to the north related to the Lejanias Fault System, was completed with an additional drill hole totaling 495 meters. This program was designed on a 150 m x 150 m drill spacing and was aimed to extend down-dip the main vein system from future Level 9 to Level 15 and along strike. This drilling was extremely successful confirming the down-plunge extension of the cluster of narrow discontinuous, high-grade zones tested by drilling on underground station SK5680. Drill hole SK-IU-032 intercepted the deepest, high-grade intersection of the Sandra K Vein System encountered so far, some 200 meters vertically below the deepest level of the ongoing operation, returning 20.17 g/t Au with 887.0 g/t Ag over 0.53 meters on the Sandra K Techo Vein.
Additional step-out exploration drilling from surface platform SK5430, still located on the northern fault block of the Sandra K Vein System, was completed with 7 drill holes totaling 2,989 meters. This program was designed on an 80 m x 100 m drill spacing and was aimed to extend down-plunge the Sandra K main ore-shoot. Drilling was successful in demonstrating continuity together with high grades at depth, extending the mineralization down-plunge by 200 meters. Multiple high gold grades were intersected with maximum intersection grades of 146.33 g/t Au with 712.6 g/t Ag over 0.30 meters (SK-ES-035).
Exploration drilling from surface platform SK4950 was completed with an additional 4 drill holes totaling 2,294 meters. This drilling was designed to test the southern fault block of the Sandra K Vein System, south of the main mine area, confirming that results continue to be so erratic that it has not yet been possible to clearly define a sector of interest for the operation. There are some drill holes of interest, such as drill hole SK-ES-36 that returned 12.72 g/t Au with 19.7 g/t Ag over 0.90 meters on the Sandra K Techo Vein, but in-fill drilling is warranted to test the continuity of the mineralization.
In-mine exploration drilling from underground station ES4950, installed on Level 38 of the
The ongoing directional drilling program on the
Mother hole ES-MH09 (440 m deep) intercepted two unknown structures at depths of 97.0 meters and 267.0 meters, which returned 11.32 g/t Au with 13.0 g/t Ag over 0.39 meters and 9.28 g/t Au with 13.4 g/t Ag over 0.79 meters, respectively.
A medium grade intercept was intersected from kick-off hole ES-MH09-01 (748 meters) with intersection grades of 6.32 g/t Au with 4.9 g/t Ag over 0.52 meters on the 450 Vein.
The table below lists the key intercepts from the ongoing 2022 in-mine and near mine drilling campaigns that were received since the press release issued on
Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Width (m) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | Vein |
SANDRA K MINE | ||||||
Surface Drilling platform SK6020 | ||||||
SK-ES-032 | 457.03 | 457.56 | 0.53 | 20.17 | 887.0 | SKT |
Surface Drilling platform SK5430 | ||||||
SK-ES-035 | 347.15 | 347.45 | 0.30 | 146.33 | 712.0 | SKT |
SK-ES-037 | 338.46 | 339.06 | 0.60 | 43.03 | 92.4 | SKT |
SK-ES-040 | 341.50 | 342.10 | 0.60 | 7.38 | 47.3 | SKT |
SK-ES-043 | 365.20 | 366.90 | 1.70 | 11.32 | 23.2 | SKT |
including | 365.56 | 366.35 | 0.79 | 21.00 | 41.6 | SKT |
SK-ES-043 | 467.61 | 467.92 | 0.31 | 10.68 | 19.5 | SNO |
SK-ES-043 | 490.30 | 490.63 | 0.33 | 51.84 | 40.5 | SNO |
Surface Drilling platform SK4950 | ||||||
SK-ES-036 | 530.69 | 531.59 | 0.90 | 12.72 | 19.7 | SKT |
UG Drilling station SK5680 | ||||||
SK-IU-216* | 86.10 | 87.44 | 1.34 | 2.30 | 52.01 | SNO |
including | 87.12 | 87.44 | 0.32 | 6.46 | 159.8 | SNO |
El SILENCIO MINE | ||||||
UG Drilling station ES4950 | ||||||
ES- | 97.64 | 98.29 | 0.65 | 81.33 | 30.2 | 450-HW |
ES- | 60.00 | 60.50 | 0.50 | 8.27 | 25.1 | 450 |
ES- | 0.00 | 4.86 | 4.86 | 10.42 | 22.0 | NAL |
including | 0.53 | 1.10 | 0.57 | 76.39 | 164.9 | NAL |
including | 3.95 | 4.86 | 0.91 | 7.31 | 6.8 | NAL |
ES- | 83.84 | 85.61 | 1.77 | 135.72 | 72.0 | 450 |
including | 83.84 | 84.72 | 0.88 | 271.16 | 142.9 | 450 |
ES- | 0.74 | 13.50 | 12.76 | 9.65 | 18.0 | NAL |
including | 1.37 | 2.66 | 1.29 | 78.09 | 20.0 | NAL |
including | 11.59 | 13.50 | 1.91 | 6.88 | 39.8 | NAL |
El SILENCIO DEEP - DIRECTIONAL DRILLING | ||||||
UG Drilling station ES5690 | ||||||
ES-MH09** | 96.87 | 97.26 | 0.39 | 11.32 | 13.0 | SNO |
ES-MH09** | 264.71 | 265.50 | 0.79 | 9.29 | 13.4 | SNO |
* Denotes underground drill holes. The underground in-fill holes were drilled at 49 to -90 degrees from the horizontal. Sample interval grades over 6.0 g/t Au are reported. Grades are for quartz vein intersections and are length-weighted composites. The width is the sample length and is not necessarily the true width of the vein. All gold and silver grades are uncut and are not diluted to a minimum mining width.
** Denotes directional drilling mother and kick-off holes. Sample interval grades over 6.0 g/t Au are reported.
Vein name abbreviations: Vein. SKT: Sandra K Techo Vein. 450: 450 Vein. 450-HW: 450 Hanging Wall Vein. NAL: Nacional Vein. SNO: unnamed veins.
Results from in-mine exploration and in-fill drilling are reported for 20 holes (2,521 m) including: 11 holes (1,547 m) at Sandra K (SK-IU-207 to SK-IU-217); and 9 holes (974 m) at El Silencio (ES-
Results from step-out surface exploration drilling are reported for 12 holes (5,778 m) from Sandra K (SK-ES-032 to SK-ES-043). There are no results above cut-off grade for 6 holes, which are not listed in the table above.
Results from directional drilling from one purpose-built station on Level 3 at Sandra K are reported from 1 kick-off hole (ES-MH09-01), totaling 748 meters, drilled on the southern ore-shoot. In addition, 440 meters were drilled in one mother hole (ES-MH-009).
Please refer also to the attached illustrative maps showing the Sandra K and
Vera
Exploration drilling from surface station VER5420 was designed to test the continuity of the Lluvias Vein on the northern fault block of the Vera Vein System, east to the
Marmajito
The exploration drilling program on the Marmajito Vein from underground station MAR5380, installed on the exploration ramp that starts from Level 15 of the Providencia mine and leads to the western extension of the Marmajito mine workings, was suspended when drill hole MAR-
La Guarida-Cristales Vein System
Drilling from surface platform CR6550 was designed to test the down-plunge extension of the
Additional surface exploration drilling from drill platform CR7150, located to the north of the
The table below lists the key intercepts from the 2022 brownfield drilling campaign that were received since the press release issued on
Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Width (m) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | Vein |
Surface Drilling platform VER5000 | ||||||
VER-ES-032 | 87.02 | 87.49 | 0.47 | 9.89 | 370.8 | SNO |
VER-ES-032 | 90.03 | 90.40 | 0.37 | 2.25 | 357.7 | SNO |
VER-ES-032 | 226.91 | 227.21 | 0.30 | 3.66 | 151.0 | VER |
VER-ES-032A | 86.48 | 87.02 | 0.54 | 8.81 | 479.9 | SNO |
MARMAJITO VEIN | ||||||
UG Drilling station PV5630 | ||||||
MAR- | 286.70 | 287.40 | 0.70 | 5.64 | 2.5 | MAR |
MAR- | 13.60 | 14.90 | 1.30 | 12.46 | 12.7 | SNO |
Including | 14.00 | 14.60 | 0.60 | 23.55 | 22.0 | SNO |
MAR- | 315.00 | 315.50 | 0.50 | 8.61 | 5.8 | MAR |
LA GUARIDA-CRISTALES VEIN SYSTEM | ||||||
Surface Drilling platform CR7150 | ||||||
CR-ES-035 | 57.00 | 58.30 | 1.30 | 8.01 | 3.8 | CRI |
including | 57.68 | 58.30 | 0.62 | 16.22 | 7.8 | CRI |
CR-ES-036 | 49.75 | 51.10 | 1.35 | 3.18 | 2.0 | CRI |
including | 49.75 | 50.25 | 0.50 | 6.75 | 5.1 | CRI |
Surface Drilling platform CR6650 | ||||||
CR-ES-038 | 387.26 | 387.60 | 0.34 | 21.36 | 66.7 | CRI |
CR-ES-039 | 353.45 | 354.30 | 0.85 | 43.10 | 30.7 | CRI |
CR-ES-041 | 312.34 | 315.07 | 2.73 | 5.23 | 19.4 | CRI |
including | 312.76 | 313.32 | 0.56 | 17.79 | 71.8 | CRI |
including | 313.32 | 313.64 | 0.32 | 7.36 | 26.3 | CRI |
CR-ES-045 | 353.52 | 354.25 | 0.73 | 16.94 | 6.2 | CRI |
CR-ES-047 | 371.35 | 372.00 | 0.65 | 10.99 | 7.5 | CRI |
CR-ES-047A | 371.57 | 372.53 | 0.96 | 23.87 | 17.2 | CRI |
including | 371.57 | 372.04 | 0.47 | 48.45 | 34.2 | CRI |
* Denotes underground drill holes. The underground holes were drilled at 9 to 33 degrees from the horizontal. Sample interval grades over 6.0 g/t Au are reported. Grades are for quartz vein intersections and are length-weighted composites. The width is the sample length and is not necessarily the true width of the vein. All gold and silver grades are uncut and are not diluted to a minimum mining width.
Vein name abbreviations: Vein. MAR: Marmajito Vein. VER:
Results from brownfield exploration drilling are reported for 28 holes (7,735 m) including: 5 holes (1,326 m) at Vera (VER-ES-029 to VER-ES-032A) of which one was lost; 4 holes (1,298 m) at Marmajito (MAR-
Please refer also to the attached illustrative maps showing the Vera, Marmajito and La Guarida-Cristales Vein System drilling programs.
Qualified Person
Dr.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
The
About
Additional information on
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information", which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to anticipated business plans or strategies, including exploration programs and mineral resources and reserves. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
For Further Information, Contact:
Chief Financial Officer
(416) 360-4653
investorrelations@gcm-mining.com
Attachment 1 – Sandra K Mine In-mine In-fill and Surface Step-out Drilling Grade Intercepts
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f428e55b-573c-4898-9e45-14ba164884d7
Attachment 2 – Cross section A-A’ of the Sandra K Vein System
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b77bd8c7-8c13-405b-9100-06af9822ff8c
Attachment 3 – Cross section B-B’ of the Sandra K Vein System
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/aef324c4-dfca-4b82-a05c-686f729164f5
Attachment 4 –
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a903e528-7b1b-45a2-af82-c5f641da3396
Attachment 5 – Cross section of the El Silencio Deep Vein System
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c0b705a6-8511-4ed7-a475-a75630259891
Attachment 6 – Vera Project Drilling Grade Intercepts
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/24586a32-e2a0-4273-bed0-c12e6f9ec5f5
Attachment 7 – Cross section of the Vera Vein System
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/434994ab-fcd8-4077-b5a9-2e8f033d9f97
Attachment 8 – Marmajito Vein Drilling Grade Intercepts
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a75f48bb-03fb-44eb-b22e-814cb539d30b
Attachment 9 – Cross section of the Marmajito Vein System
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/518d4cd7-5cb3-4938-b153-c59689464a0b
Attachment 10 – La Guarida-Cristales Trend Drilling Grade Intercepts
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/715d72ee-17ee-4e26-9b28-a92d2a492dd8
Attachment 11 – Cross section of the La Guarida-Cristales Vein System
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b51ba468-8a25-4983-a3fa-3206c5778f6c
Attachment 1
Sandra K Mine In-mine In-fill and Surface Step-out Drilling Grade Intercepts
Attachment 2
Cross section A-A’ of the Sandra K Vein System
Attachment 3
Cross section B-B’ of the Sandra K Vein System
Attachment 4
El Silencio Deep vein system In-fill Drilling Grade Intercepts
Attachment 5
Cross section of the El Silencio Deep Vein System
Attachment 6
Vera Project Drilling Grade Intercepts
Attachment 7
Cross section of the Vera Vein System
Attachment 8
Marmajito Vein Drilling Grade Intercepts
Attachment 9
Cross section of the Marmajito Vein System
Attachment 10
La Guarida-Cristales Trend Drilling Grade Intercepts
Attachment 11
Cross section of the La Guarida-Cristales Vein System
2022 GlobeNewswire, Inc., source