Pinnacle Silver and Gold (PINN ) has opened up previously inaccessible mine workings at its El Potrero project in Mexico.
The previously inaccessible workings were accessed during rehabilitation and drill station preparation in the historic underground mines at El Potrero gold-silver property.
The newly accessible areas have been cleaned for systematic channel sampling, resulting in the detection of significant gold-silver mineralization.
The newly accessible workings, collectively called Dos de Mayo Norte, extend approximately 93 metres along the northwest strike of the Dos de Mayo vein, 35 metres higher in elevation above the Dos de Mayo main level, and overlap the main level by approximately 25 metres.
This area of overlap includes the raise from the Dos de Mayo main level where the best mineralization was observed in previous channel sampling.
The Dos de Mayo Norte workings extend this mineralization up dip and along strike to the northwest, as evidenced by assays of up to 10.76 grams per tonne gold and 215 grams silver over 1.3 metres, and 5.41 grams gold and 230 grams silver over 0.80 metres in the South Raise.
As such, the new sampling provides important information on the vertical continuity of mineralization between the Dos de Mayo main level at an elevation of 1,485 metres above sea level (masl) and the surface at 1,570 masl.
It is at surface in this area that the highest silver grades observed to date on the property were obtained from small trenches.
Only seven holes have been drilled at the Dos de Mayo vein to date and, for logistical reasons, those were close to the portal at the southeast end of the workings rather than directly into the known mineralized zone. However, 45 holes have been drilled in the underground program, mostly at the adjacent Pinos Cuates mine, and core logging is revealing a multi-phase system of breccia veins and faulting.
“The new results from the Dos de Mayo Norte workings have provided further information as to the nature and continuity of the gold-silver mineralization in this part of the Dos de Mayo vein,” said Robert Archer, chief executive of Pinnacle.
“As is typical of these low sulphidation epithermal systems, higher-grade mineralization occurs in sub-vertical ‘shoots’ separated by lower-grade vein material. As systematic underground channel sampling is limited to the extent of the workings, combining this information with what we are starting to see in drill core from the underground drilling program is providing valuable insights to the El Potrero mineralizing system.”
View from Vox
Surface drilling is being planned to commence in September-October time, and this will fill in gaps between the historic mines in addition to testing up and down dip and along strike to the northwest on the Dos de Mayo vein. Other mineralized veins such as El Capulin and La Estrella will also be drilled for the first time ever. The combined results will then be used to generate an internal resource estimate that will, in turn, be used to develop a preliminary mine plan. So, even as further evidence of mineralization continues to come in, there’s still lots to look forward to as Pinnacle continues its extensive programmes.