Pinnacle Silver & Gold Corp (TSX-V:PINN, OTCQB:PSGCF, FRA:P9J) announced that it has identified gold-silver mineralization in previously inaccessible underground workings at its El Potrero property in Durango, Mexico, following rehabilitation and channel sampling.
The company reported that the newly accessible workings, known collectively as Dos de Mayo Norte, extend about 93 metres along the northwest strike of the Dos de Mayo vein and sit approximately 35 metres above the mine’s main level. The workings overlap the main level by about 25 metres, including an area where previous channel sampling identified higher-grade mineralization.
Sampling in the South Raise returned grades of up to 10.76 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 215 g/t silver over 1.3 metres. Within that interval, Pinnacle reported 26.1 g/t gold and 511 g/t silver over 0.5 metres, while another sample returned 5.41 g/t gold and 230 g/t silver over 0.8 metres.
The results provide additional information on the vertical continuity of mineralization between the Dos de Mayo main level, at 1,485 metres above sea level, and the surface at about 1,570 metres. Surface trenching in the area has previously returned some of the highest silver grades identified on the property, including 13.2 g/t gold and 2,280 g/t silver over 0.3 metres, and 9.9 g/t gold and 1,444 g/t silver over 0.3 metres.
Pinnacle CEO Robert Archer said that the new results provide further information on the nature and continuity of mineralization along the Dos de Mayo vein.
“As is typical of these low sulphidation epithermal systems, higher-grade mineralization occurs in sub-vertical ‘shoots’ separated by lower-grade vein material,” Archer said. “As systematic underground channel sampling is limited to the extent of the workings, combining this information with what we are starting to see in drill core from the underground drilling program is providing valuable insights to the El Potrero mineralizing system.”
The latest program involved 150 individual channel samples collected across exposed portions of the vein and adjacent wall rock, generally at approximately five-metre intervals. Most samples were collected from the main adit, with additional samples taken from a sublevel and two connecting raises.
Pinnacle reported that combined sampling from this section of the Dos de Mayo vein has outlined a sub-vertical gold-silver mineralized shoot measuring about 30 metres along strike and extending at least 85 metres vertically.
The company has drilled seven holes at the Dos de Mayo vein so far, with those holes positioned near the portal at the southeast end of the workings for logistical reasons rather than directly targeting the known mineralized zone. Across its broader underground drilling program, Pinnacle has drilled 45 holes, primarily at the nearby Pinos Cuates mine.
The company said that core logging from the underground program is showing a multi-phase system of breccia veins and faulting. Pinnacle cautioned that assay results have been limited by longer laboratory turnaround times amid increased exploration activity in Mexico, and that there are currently insufficient results to draw firm conclusions.
Surface drilling is planned to begin in September or October and is expected to test gaps between the historic mines as well as areas up and down dip and along strike to the northwest of the Dos de Mayo vein. Pinnacle also plans to drill the El Capulin and La Estrella mineralized veins for the first time.
The company expects to use the combined exploration results to prepare an internal resource estimate, which would then support development of a preliminary mine plan.
Shares of Pinnacle added around 5% on Tuesday morning.