0.8 g / t gold over 47.3 meters extends the Main Zone a remarkable 100 meters to the south
Full screen / spectacular new discovery directly on the surface of the earth, which is "open" to be enlarged with further drilling.
New TOP drilling results have arrived!
Mexico's emerging gold explorer Tocvan Ventures Corp. (CSE: TOC; NASDAQ: TSE: TOC; NYSE: A2PE64) announced today very encouraging drill results that are among the best achievements from the ongoing Phase 2 drill program on the Pilar Gold-Silver Project. But even in comparison with neighboring gold mines operated by large mining companies, these results are outstanding and show where the journey is headed for Tocvan and his shareholders:
47.3 meters @ 0.75 g / t gold + 5 g / t silver (0.80 g / t gold equivalent) in hole JES-21-47
What makes this drilling success so impressive :
• The hole returned 12.2 meters @ 1.1 g / t gold + 12 g / t silver directly to the surface, meaning that a new area has been discovered where a bulk sample is being mined can. These are above-average gold grades directly on the earth's surface, which are ideal for low-cost open-cast mining in Mexico.
• From a depth of only 27.5 m, 1.06 g / t gold + 4 g / t silver could be drilled (over a considerable length of 19.8 m)
• From a depth of only 44.2 m, 5.3 g / t gold + 22 g / t silver was obtained (over 3.1 m in length): This high-grade hit indicates that gold grades are increasing sharply at depth , where the deposit can be enlarged with further drilling ("open").
• This hole is not located in the high grade Main Zone, where more than 19,000 m of holes have already proven a minable deposit (e.g. 16.5 m @ 53.5 g / t gold and 94.6 m @ 1.6 g / t gold) t gold ). It is a so-called step-out well that was completed 100 m south of the main zone (hole JES-20-32). With today's drilling success, the Main Zone could be enlarged by a considerable 100 m to the south! As a reminder: In mid-June, Tocvan was able to enlarge the Main Zone by 100 m to the east ( 35 m @ 0.72 g / t gold equivalent ; see here ). Overall, the main zone could be enormously enlarged in several directions.
Full screen / The map shows the results published today from 6 drill holes (in green) and the 7 drill holes that have already been completed and are in the laboratory (in red), as well as the previously published drill results from Phase 1 and Phase 2 Drilling program (in black).
Tocvan's Chief Geologist Brodie Sutherland commented in today's news : "JES-21-47 is another significant step out to our Main Zone, expanding the size and potential further southeast along the trend. With each well we are learning more about how it is this system is behaving which gives us more confidence to test our new targets at Pilar, we are also starting to see results for the 4-Trench Extension target and we are pleased to have one of our first drill holes in the area Drilled 7.6 meters at 1.7 g / t gold With the completion of our Phase 2 drilling program, we look forward to releasing the remaining results as they become available and planning for the next phase of the program to start."
As mentioned by Brodie, laboratory results from drill hole JES-21-44 , which was completed east of the Main Zone ( 4-Trench Extension ) , were also released today :
• 7.6 m @ 1.7 g / t gold + 7 g / t silver from a depth of 47 m.
• 44.2 m @ 0.41 g / t gold + 4 g / t silver (0.45 g / t gold equivalent) from a depth of only 10.7 m, which means that at a depth of only 11 m there is a 44 m long gold zone begins which is enriched at 0.45 g / t gold equivalent. Important : These are minable gold grades in the vicinity of the Main Zone, so that the deposit (and a possible open pit!) Could be greatly enlarged with these drilling results. An open pit mine in the Main Zone can now be planned even larger than previously assumed. This is a huge success!
For comparison : the planned San Francisco gold mine of Magna Gold Corp. (Market cap: $ 94 million) has 1.4 million ounces of gold resource (M&I) with an average grade of 0.446 g / t gold . Such gold grades are therefore the goal of Tocvan in order to be able to realize an open pit (or a takeover by a large gold mining company). The San Francisco gold mine is also located in Sonora (only 12 km from Tocvan's second Picacho project and approx. 200 km from Pilar).
The direct neighbors of Tocvan's Pilar gold project include the Santana gold mine of Minera Alamos Inc. (market capitalization: $ 274 million) with average grades of 0.65 g / t gold and the Colorada gold mine of Argonaut Gold Inc. (market capitalization: $ 947 million) with grades averaging 0.59 g / t gold . Both are highly profitable gold mines, which are mined with an inexpensive open pit.
Full screen / The Pilar project is located just 50-80 km from 2 major gold-silver projects: The La Colorada gold mine from Argonaut Gold Inc. and the Santana gold mine (production start soon) from Minera Alamos Inc.
Full Screen / The Pilar Project is located near gold mines (red) as well as gold development (orange) and exploration (green) projects. Source: Mexico Mining Center
Conclusion & outlook
Tocvan's CEO Derek Wood spoke last year about how happy the whole team was with the Pilar Gold Project, as 17,000m of drilling has been completed in the Main Zone (from previous operators mainly in the 1990s when gold was below $ 500 and in the 2010s when the price of gold was in a long-term correction).
But now, after 2 successful drilling programs and a gold price well above the production costs of an open pit mine in Mexico, the real size and the realistic gigantic potential of Pilar is evident. Tocvan did everything right, and did it at an impressive pace during a global pandemic that has brought many things to a standstill. In Mexico, however, the clocks tick differently and the project was able to move forward without significant delays: drilling programs were approved and carried out quickly, while the laboratories in Mexico delivered the drilling results at an impressive pace (in other parts of the world shareholders waited more than 6 months for drilling results, not to mention approvals from the authorities).