Kootenay Silver Inc (TSX-V:KTN) has started a new drilling program at its Columba project in Mexico, aiming to extend known vein limits and prepare for a major infill drilling campaign to delineate a maiden resource by late 2024.
The company said coring operations had begun with a second drill, focusing on extending the known limits of the D-Vein and testing the southeastern extensions of the B-Vein and B2-Vein.
In a statement, Kootenay said the second drill is strategically positioned to complement the ongoing work on the D-Vein by targeting the B-Vein trend's southeastern extension, where surface mapping indicates an intersection with the D-Vein trend.
Previous drilling on the B-Vein yielded promising results, with intercepts including 4.6 meters averaging 1,186 grams per ton (g/t) silver and 2 meters averaging 1,050 g/t silver.
The current program aims to establish the strike extent of the D-Vein mineralization, preparing for a fully funded follow-up program of 20,000 meters of infill drilling, expected to delineate a maiden resource by late 2024. The second drill will also test extensions of known veins and promising undrilled targets.
Kootenay has completed over 30,000 meters of diamond drilling since 2019 at Columba, intercepting numerous high-grade silver veins.
"We continue to step along D-Vein as a priority, this structure with its high grade and broad mineralized stockwork halo has the potential to contain a significant resource,” CEO James McDonald told shareholders.
“We are also eager to test our many undrilled targets. The erosion profile at many of these veins has not exposed the top of the mineralized horizon, we need to drill down to the optimal elevation to really see what these structures hold.”
The project, hosted within a volcanic caldera setting, has a surface extent of mapped veins measuring approximately 4 kilometers by 3 kilometers. Management believes Columba could be a newly recognized vein district, largely preserved from erosion.