Arizona Gold & Silver Inc (TSX-V:AZS, OTCQB:AZASF) CEO Mike Stark talked with Proactive about the latest developments from ongoing drilling at the Philadelphia Project in Arizona.
Stark revealed that Hole 154 not only successfully intercepted the target zone, but also delivered a longer-than-expected section of visible gold.
Looking ahead, drilling will continue for another 2 to 2.5 weeks, with more phases planned as long as conditions and safety permit
Proactive: All right, welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And now joining me from his Philadelphia Project in Arizona is Mike Stark. He's the CEO of Arizona Gold & Silver. And Mike, good to see you. And it's a little warm there, right?
Mike Stark: Hey. We're on our way to 110 today. Yeah, that's warm—about 28 degrees warmer than Vancouver.
Yeah, but it's not stopping you. You're continuing the drilling right now at the Philadelphia Project. And you're here to talk to us about a key hole that you just finished.
Yeah. Hole 154 has not only hit the target, but we're noticeably longer in the intercept of visible gold. I won't get into the fine details, but we're running more core to the lab than we've ever run before, so I'm excited about that. We've hit our target. Hole 136 was directly above Hole 154, and we've hit it now down there, showing the extension and continuation of the vein. This is exciting times.
Is that why you were drilling there specifically, just because of the result you had?
That's exactly right. We're chasing this down to maybe 1,100–1,200 feet. Then we fan out—we're working in a zone approximately 150 metres wide that we want to test. If it all comes back in the same kind of category, Steve, it adds an amazing amount of ounces to this discovery.
The other key thing here is, and you're standing right on it, is a road. You've got access to the Philadelphia Project, especially where you're drilling right now.
Directly below me. This was all was here before. Now we've actually built this little section ourselves, Steve. That's with the BLM at number two, or what we refer to as the Red Hill. That's the pad we had to produce. So when I get the question, "Why don’t you just step over and drill?"—you can see that’s not possible. We have to build these. And that’s what the permit process is all about. They look for land disturbance, what you're taking down—that’s all part of this intricate system we’re working on.
How much longer is the drilling going to go on? Obviously, we can see the drill in the background and it's working right now. What’s the plan for the next few weeks?
This drilling alone is going to take 2 to 2.5 weeks. If we're successful, we're going to go again. I have no intention of stopping drilling as long as we can keep the safety of the personnel. You can see we've got tents up now and we're looking at getting some misters as well.
One other thing to note—that’s been a really nice development—these black lines, they're actually water line steel. We now have our own water well on site, and we're using that water system for the drilling. So we’re no longer hauling water. It's saving probably $30,000 to $35,000 every quarter, over $100,000 a year. By utilizing our own water, it's here for the future.
In that particular area, the Red Hill area, as far as the whole project is concerned, it’s all around you, right?
It's 1.7km long right now. We're going a little east. The intention is to carry on for the remainder—three kilometers total. So another 1.5km to the south, yes.
Just so everyone is aware, that core you were talking about earlier—that’s going to the lab and you'll be waiting for results to confirm everything?
That's exactly right. We're really excited. I’ll be putting up core pictures on the website for people to view. I'll throw it out there—anybody guesses the grade way before we know it, I’ll hire them.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style