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Pan American Silver (NASDAQ, TSX: PAAS) has released new infill and exploration drilling results that further demonstrate the size and quality of the mineralization at its La Colorada Skarn project. This large polymetallic deposit was first discovered in 2018 through brownfield exploration near the company’s La Colorada mine in Zacatecas, Mexico.
The new results comprise 22 holes totalling 18,071 metres. The best assays came from D-96-03-22, an infill hole in the western portion of the deposit. It contained an extensive zone of high-grade silver and base metal sulphide mineralization with an intercept of 295.5 metres at 234 g/t silver, 6.36% lead and 5.72% zinc, including 97 metres at 654 g/t silver, 15.35% lead and 11.38% zinc.
“Drill hole D-96-03-22 returned the highest-grade intercept from the more than 200,000 metres drilled to date on the La Colorada Skarn project,” Christopher Emerson, Pan American’s VP business development and geology, said in a news release.
“Further infill drilling will provide tighter spacing to help define this high-grade zone, while step out drilling targets extension of the footprint to the west where the mineralization is still open,” he added.
Other drill holes being highlighted include D-96-04-22, which returned 31.25 metres at 216 g/t silver, 5.60% lead and 4.82% zinc, and 40.65 metres at 99 g/t silver, 3.64% lead and 4.50% zinc. Both D-96-03-22 and D-96-04-22, according to Pan American, support its interpretation of an east-west trending high-grade silver zone between the Amolillo and NC2 veins that extends for at least 100 metres.
Underground and surface drilling in the western portion of the deposit, from drill holes west of U-11-22 and S-93-21, respectively, have also shown consistently wide intercepts and high-grade mineralization.
Elsewhere, infill drilling (D-95-10–22 through D-95-12–22) extending the mineralization to the south of the central block showed multiple skarn and breccia style mineralization with widths up to 90 metres.
D-71-07-22 drilled in the eastern block intercepted strong sulphide mineralization over 180 metres and further opens up exploration to the east and south. D-62-06-22 and D-62-07-22 also provided continuity of the mineralization 150 metres to the east.
The latest results will be incorporated into Pan American’s upcoming mineral resource update for the La Colorada Skarn project, which is anticipated in the third quarter of 2022. The deposit currently contains 141 million ounces of silver and a large volume of base metals based on an August 2020 inferred resource estimate of 100.4 million tonnes.
