Colin Sutherland, who took the helm at Toronto-based explorer Nayarit Gold in June last year, has wasted no time in accelerating the company's activities at its Mexican prospects, and expects to have an initial resource estimate to show for his efforts by the end of this year.

Nayarit, which trades on the TSX Venture Exchange, controls concessions covering about 105 000 ha in the state of Nayarit, Mexico.

The company is focusing drilling on the Animas structure on its Orion property, which, at about 528 ha, is one of the company's smaller concessions, Sutherland said on Wednesday.

Little more than a month after joining the company in mid-2007, Sutherland, who was previously CFO of similarly fast-moving Gammon Lake, had finalised the drilling contract, secured two drilling rigs (no small feat in the current environment of global mining equipment shortages) and begun drilling on the Orion district.

The company had drilled some 7 000 m by the end of last year, and plans to continue to speed up exploration going forward.

The drilling on the Animas vein had yielded “very positive results”, Sutherland said, with several holes in the first phase of drilling intersecting high-grade gold and silver mineralisation.

“From an exploration standpoint we are moving very quickly, and hope to have another 15 000 to 20 000 metres drilled by the end of this year,” he added.

FUNDING IN PLACE, FOR NOW

As with all exploration and development companies, cash inflow is a key issue for Nayarit.

However, the firm successfully raised almost C$2,3-million in an unbrokered private placement last month and the proceeds of the private placement, which was “significantly” oversubscribed, were expected to carry it through to the end of the year, including the completion of a NI 43101-compliant resource calculation.

Thereafter, Sutherland is hoping that the results of the resource estimate will be positive enough to buoy the company's share price to a point that will enable the exercise of warrants, to raise some C$3,3-million.

“Alternatively, we would be looking at the market for the necessary funds,” he said.

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