AbraPlata Resource (TSXV: ABRA) has released results from three diamond drill holes at its Diablillos project in Argentina. Drilling was designed to test extensions beyond the currently defined mineral resources, the company said.
The holes intersected numerous zones of gold and silver mineralization within oxides beneath the current resource boundary, highlighted by an intersection of 2 metres grading 10.20 g/t AuEq.
Two of the holes also intercepted zones of sulphide mineralization hosting copper with associated gold and silver farther down the holes, beneath the oxide zones, AbraPlata said.
The 80 square kilometre Diablillos property is located in the Argentine Puna region, which is the southern extension of the Altiplano of southern Peru, Bolivia and northern Chile. It was acquired by AbraPlata from SSR Mining in 2016.
There are several known mineral zones on the Diablillos property, with the Oculto zone being the most advanced with 11 diamond drill holes and approximately 90,000 metres drilled to date.
Meanwhile, the company has added a second drill rig at Diablillos and will be expanding its 2019-2020 drill program from 8,000 metres to approximately 13,000 metres in response to successful drilling results to date.
It will dedicate one rig to drill for expansions of the high-grade gold and silver oxide resources at Oculto and adjacent areas, as well as testing for the continuity of underlying copper-gold sulphide mineralization.
The second rig will be used primarily for reconnaissance exploration of peripheral target areas based on a recent ground mag survey.
“The addition of a second drill rig and expansion of the program to 13,000 metres allows us to further accelerate the discovery process aimed at expanding the large existing resource base at the Diablillos project,” president and CEO John Miniotis said in a press release.
AbraPlata’s stock surged 6.2% by 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday on the latest drill results. The Toronto-based miner has a market capitalization of approximately C$111.1 million.