Arizona Gold & Silver Inc (TSX-V:AZS, OTCQB:AZASF) announced new assay results from its ongoing core drilling program at the Philadelphia Project in Arizona, including the highest-grade and thickest intercept reported at the property to date.
The company said hole PC25-156 returned 9.04 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 34 g/t silver over 20.43 meters from 320.73 meters depth.
The hole also intersected 5.61 g/t gold and 29.2 g/t silver over 38.72 meters starting at 312.50 meters, including a section of 45.6 g/t gold and 54.9 g/t silver over 1.19 meters.
Arizona Gold & Silver noted that the results confirm the Perry Vein system, a gold-silver vein-style deposit, increases in both thickness and grade with depth.
The company added that metallic screen analyses are underway on recent holes to assess the impact of fine-grained visible gold seen in the core.
"These outstanding results validate our belief in the untapped potential at depth within the Perry Vein system. With consistent high-grade intercepts and visible gold in core, we are seeing increasing scale and grade as we drill deeper,” Arizona Gold & Silver CEO Mike Stark said in a statement.
“Our 2026 exploration expansion reflects our confidence in this project’s ability to evolve into a significant gold-silver deposit in Arizona."
Greg Hahn, Arizona Gold & Silver VP exploration, added that hole PC25-156 confirms the company is drilling a large and thick vein deposit and gold and silver that increase in grade with depth, as was suggested by previously reported vein textures.
“Importantly, the gold and silver grades are not confined to the banded and massive vein but include intervals within the vein breccia that carry clasts of vein material containing fine-grained visible gold and that likely represent fragments of un-brecciated banded and massive vein material present further down dip. I don’t believe we have seen the heart of the system yet,” Hahn said.
Exploration drilling is set to continue with three additional holes planned to test further extensions of the vein. The deposit remains open in all directions, according to the company.
Looking ahead, Arizona Gold & Silver has submitted an amendment to its Plan of Operations with the US Bureau of Land Management to expand its exploration area by 200 acres and to prepare 16 new drill pads for a 2026 program.
A new core rig is expected to arrive in October to complete the next phase of drilling, with results anticipated to inform the design of the 2026 exploration campaign.