GR Silver Mining Ltd (CVE:GRSL) (OTCQB:GRSLF) (FRA:GPE) announced it now owns 100% of the promising San Marcial project after finalizing a deal with SSR Mining Ltd (TSE:SSRM) (NASDAQ:SSRM) (FRA:ZSV).
San Marcial is a near-surface, high-grade silver-lead-zinc open pit-amenable project in Mexico with a 36-million-ounce silver equivalent indicated resource and another 11 million ounces in the inferred category.
The junior company made the final option payment of C$2.5 million and issued 1.5 million shares to SSR Mining, it said in a statement. SSR’s subsidiary Silver Standard México was also granted a 0.75% net smelter returns royalty.
READ: GR Silver Mining unveils new high-grade results from drill program at San Juan area of the Plomosas silver project
Vancouver-based GR Silver is retaining a buy-back right on the NSR that can be exercised in exchange for a C$1.25 million payment.
San Marcial has been in GR Silver’s sights for a few years. The company acquired an option on the project in April 2018 and has since spent over C$4.6 million in exploration, increasing the indicated resources by 57% and the inferred by 126%. What’s more, the company has discovered an additional 14 greenfield exploration targets that are currently being explored.
CEO Marcio Fonseca told shareholders in a statement that the company is “very pleased” to have closed the acquisition.
“While a number of companies have reviewed this project over the past 20 years, GR Silver Mining is the first to recognize its significant potential, having expended over C$4.6 million in producing a NI 43-101 silver resource estimate in 2019, discovering new silver and gold drill targets and now obtaining full ownership,” the CEO said.
The consolidation of 100% ownership of San Marcial will pair well with GR Silver’s other projects in the Rosaria mining district: the neighbouring Plomosas and La Trinidad projects. Fonseca told investors that the company now has control of two past-producing precious metal mines and unrestricted access to all exploration targets on three mineralized trends totaling 75 kilometres, where initial fieldwork has already identified 24 old silver-gold workings.
“The company today has control of a district-scale mineralized silver-gold system, with potential for continuous discoveries and resource expansion,” Fonseca added.
At the nearby Plomosas project, GR Silver is working on two resource estimates expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.
Fonseca said that the new resources “support our strategy for continuously increasing the company's resource inventory, with the objective of future integration of all projects into combined development."
Meanwhile, GR Silver said it will continue to explore new near-surface silver-gold mineralized zones, providing potential for drilling, additional discoveries and resource growth.
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