Sonoro Gold Corp (TSX-V:SGO, OTCQB:SMOFF, FRA:23SP) said on Thursday it has acquired a 100% interest in the Diana mineral concession in Sonora, Mexico, a move the company believes could expand the resource potential of its flagship Cerro Caliche gold project.
The Canadian junior miner said its wholly owned Mexican subsidiary, Minera Mar de Plata, purchased the 51-hectare concession from four local vendors for a one-time payment of $600,000.
The deal does not include any share issuance or royalty obligations, and the vendors are at arm’s length to the company.
The Diana concession is adjacent to the central-eastern boundary of Cerro Caliche and is considered prospective as a potential extension of northwest-trending mineralized corridors near the historic El Batamote mine.
CEO Kenneth MacLeod said the company had long identified the concession as a target but sees increased value following the recent northern expansion of Cerro Caliche, which now nearly surrounds the Diana property.
“Combined with historic drilling data, the acquisition enhances the potential for the upcoming 50,000-metre drilling campaign to define a larger resource at Cerro Caliche,” MacLeod said.
The drill program will include expansion drilling at the newly acquired concession to test for structural continuity across the broader project area, Sonoro said.
With the addition of Diana, Cerro Caliche now comprises 26 contiguous mining concessions covering nearly 4,000 hectares, adding what Sonoro described as high-potential exploration targets.
Cerro Caliche is currently in the final permitting stage for a proposed open-pit, heap-leach gold operation. The project hosts multiple near-surface, low-sulphidation epithermal gold zones distributed along northwest-trending structures.