Photo by: Bloomberg
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NYSE-listed Endeavour Silver on Wednesday announced that exploration drilling continued to intersect high-grade silver/gold mineralisation in the Terronera vein system at the San Sebastián project, in Jalisco state, Mexico.
The Vancouver-based miner, which operates three mines in Mexico, reported that the main mineralised zone now extended more than 1 400 m in length, still wide open along strike and to some extent down dip.
Drilling highlights, to date, this year from the Terronera vein included 126 g/t silver and 4.02 g/t gold (367 g/t silver equivalent) over 12.76 m true width in hole TR23-1, including 213 g/t silver and 12.25 g/t gold (948 g/t silver equivalent) over 0.9 m true width. The silver equivalent ounces were calculated at a silver-to-gold ratio of 60:1.
The Terronera vein is a large structure up to 16 m wide that has been traced on surface for more than 2.8 km. In the mineralised zone, it often formed two parallel splays, the main vein and the hanging-wall vein.
Drill holes TR4S-1 and TR23-1 were 100 m step-out holes that clearly showed the mineralised zone was open to the south-east and north-west. Drill holes TR4S-1, TR17-2 and TR22-2 returned low core recoveries, owing to broken ground, and holes TR20-3 and TR21-1 bottomed in old mine workings where high-grade ore was previously mined.
"We are encouraged by the strong continuity, robust thicknesses and high grades of the mineralisation intersected by these drill holes,” VP of exploration Luis Castro stated.
He further said the company currently had three drill rigs working at San Sebastián to expand and delineate the mineralised zone ahead of a new resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment expected in the fourth quarter. The company last year completed an environmental baseline study and filed its mine development permit application.
"Our goal for 2014 is to complete enough work to consider a mine development decision by year-end. Management is of the view that San Sebastián has the potential to become a high-grade, underground silver/gold mine similar to the company's Bolañitos mine, in Guanajuato,” Castro added.
Endeavour noted that since its start-up in 2004, it had posted nine consecutive years of accretive growth of its silver mining operations. The company had set itself the goal of becoming a senior silver producer though its strategic acquisition and exploration programmes, combined with its three operating mines.
Despite closing down 1.14% on Wednesday at C$6.05 a share, the company's TSX-listed stock had gained 50% since the start of the year.