Colibri to drill Pilar starting January - 2 rigs turning Another quiet week of "Christmas Trading". Tocvan closed Friday at $0.47 on 32,500 shares, only 143,000 shares for the entire week.
I see that Colibri, Tocvan's JV partner, put out a press release on Friday indicating they would start drilling the first week of January.
A reason for the delay in drilling has finally been given.
" Drilling was originally planned to commence in early December with a very tight timeline for completion before the Christmas holidays, however, due to seasonal staffing challenges with the drillers, it was decided as a best practice to push back the start date to ensure proper staffing and safety on the rig."
I fully expect Tocvan to put out a release soon updating shareholders about drilling progress and this new development. It is great that there will be two rigs finally turning - core drilling on the main zone and RC drilling on structures that extend onto Gran Pilar. Brodie indicated in a post on "X" that drilling is progressing rapidly, quote as of December 17th.
"Quick progress. Second drill hole of the campaign complete, total depth 201.3 m. Northern extension of fault structures appear to continue. These can be key conduits for mineralization."
My guess is they wouldn't have drilled the second hole step out hole this deep without encountering mineralization. The first hole was also over 200 m (203 m). It is great to see that Tocvan is drilling on their 100% owned property adjacent to the main zone. It is also encouraging to see that assays measured at the surface are confirmed by the visuals from cores below, i.e., "extensions of fault structure appear to continue".
The continuation of fault structure in the first two holes on Gran Pilar leaves me with the big question, how far does this fault structure extend? As Brodie has mentioned previously, Gran Pilar could hold a multi-million oz deposit.
Not to sound too positive, but confirmation of the main fault continuing onto Gran Pilar is music to my ears.
The next step will be to see if assays support the mineralization identified in the first two cores. They should be well underway to completing 3 or 4 cores prior to Christmas break. The early part of the first quarter in 2025 will be very busy with two rigs drilling and preparation for the pilot mine begins. From Colibri's press release dated December 20, 2024. "Colibri Resource Corp. and its partner, Tocvan Ventures Corp., will commence a diamond core drilling program of up to 1,250 metres focused on the main zone target at the Pilar gold and silver project in Sonora, Mexico, in the first week of January."
They have also partially clarified as to how they are meeting their 49% ownership requirement of their JV Agreement with Tocvan. The credit of $174,000 (U.S,) appears to have occurred during the purchase of an RC drill rig with a Mexican drilling company.
"Core drilling will be focused across the main zone to build out a robust geological model, which is needed for an upcoming maiden resource estimation. Colibri will contribute to the expense of this program by way of utilizing a portion of the balance of its $174,000 (U.S.) credit with the Mexican drilling company that purchased the company's RC (reverse circulation) drill rig earlier this year."
Ian McGavney, president and chief executive officer of Colibri, commented: "We continue to believe that Pilar holds the potential to be a near term producing-asset and are excited to move forward with our partner, Tocvan Ventures, to unlock its potential. The data generated in the current program will be extremely useful in furthering our understanding of the deposit and developing additional targets for its growth. The new assays and data will be added to the project's geological model and added to an upcoming maiden NI 43-101 resource estimate. The resource estimate will act as a baseline for project value and guide future work and its development. We look forward to updating our shareholders of our progress at Pilar."
Colibri goes on further to provide an overview of the test mine/bulk sample plans.
"Near-term exploration permitting applications at Pilar will include a program for the extraction and processing of a 50,000-tonne-bulk test mine sample scheduled for next year. The ground preparation for the test mine is expected early in the first quarter of 2025 and will include systematic trenching and channel sampling."
"The company's partner, Tocvan, which acts as operator of the Pilar gold and silver project, forecasts metals recovery at the test mine to be between 800 and 1,400 ounces (dependent on grade and recovery), as well as 5,000 ounces of silver (see Tocvan's news release dated Nov. 27, 2024). Tocvan's management believes that these are conservative estimates for recovery based on recovery rates experienced during the independently reviewed bulk sample completed in 2023, which yielded a head grade of 1.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) and seven g/t silver (Ag) with 62-per-cent recovery of the gold and 50-per-cent recovery of the silver."
Colibri also has stated in their press release that "The companies are reviewing several proposals, which will potentially allow for a non-dilutive method to fully finance the test mine facility, which is budgeted to cost approximately $1.7-million (U.S.)."
I hope everyone has a Great Christmas and Happy New Year.
Let's hope 2025 will be a defining year for Tocvan.