Pinnacle Silver & Gold Corp (TSX-V:PINN, OTCQB:PSGCF) said on Monday it has completed an airborne LiDAR survey over its high-grade El Potrero gold-silver project in Durango, Mexico, advancing surface exploration in preparation for drilling.
Data from the survey, which covered the full 11-square-kilometre property, is now being reprocessed and interpreted by GeoCloud Analytics in Australia, with final results expected in early to mid-December, Pinnacle said in a statement.
LiDAR technology, which uses laser light to penetrate vegetation and soil cover, can map geological features with 15 to 30 centimetre accuracy and help identify structures associated with mineralization.
The survey also included high-resolution colour aerial photography to support fieldwork and infrastructure planning.
“Although we have been able to follow and map out the Dos de Mayo vein system along strike for approximately 1,600 metres so far, our geologists are restricted by the amount of outcrop exposure,” CEO Robert Archer said. “The LiDAR survey should allow us to ‘connect the dots’ along this structural trend and better define not only the main vein but parallel and splay veins nearby.”
Archer said the technology could also reveal subtle or buried features such as historic mine workings or overgrown pits that may point to additional mineralization.
El Potrero lies in the Sierra Madre Occidental, near several operating mines including Fresnillo’s Ciénega and Luca Mining’s Tahuehueto operations. The project hosts high-grade gold-silver mineralization in a low-sulphidation epithermal breccia vein system and has seen little modern exploration.
Pinnacle aims to refurbish a historic 100-tpd plant and underground workings to achieve near-term production after permitting. The company will earn an initial 50% interest upon the start of production, with a path to increase ownership to 100% subject to a 2% NSR.