Sonoro Gold Corp (TSX-V:SGO, OTCQB:SMOFF) told investors it plans to resume drilling at its Cerro Caliche gold project in Mexico’s Sonora State as it expands the project's mineralized zones and targets potentially higher-grade near-surface mineralization.
The 10,000-metre (m) reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign will proceed alongside the proposed development of a heap leach mining operation (HLMO) with a projected capacity of up to 15,000 tons per day, the company said.
“This program has been under development since we paused drilling in May 2021,” the company’s president and CEO, Kenneth MacLeod said in a statement. “We maintain our strategy to expedite the commencement of operations to generate cash flow that will contribute to further drilling to increase the project’s potential.”
Sonoro said the six-month drilling program will focus on expanding the project’s oxide gold mineralization included in an updated resource estimate announced on September 15, as well as potential higher-grade targets recently identified by a surface sampling program. It noted that the new data will allow it to potentially add to its resource and target areas.
“Previous drilling intercepted gold mineralization in most holes, demonstrating a very good success rate, which I expect will continue based on the sampling and drill results,” Sonoro’s vice president of exploration Mel Herdrick added.
Sonoro noted that it plans 705m of infill and expansion drilling at the El Colorado corridor where previous drilling returned higher-grade results including drill-hole SCR-044 which intercepted 12.19m averaging 11.2 grams per ton (g/t) of gold, including 6.1m averaging 21.58 g/t gold.
A further 1,230m of drilling is planned along the El Colorado/La Ventana corridor where assay results from surface sampling announced on July 20 confirmed linear structural corridors of anomalous gold, silver, and base metal mineralization with a 600m extension to the southeast from El Colorado to La Ventana.
Additional sampling results announced on August 30 identified three oxide gold mineralized “windows” within the El Colorado/La Ventana corridor with assay results from 39 samples averaging 0.63 g/t gold and results from 51 samples averaging 0.76 g/t gold. Another seven samples returned grades between 4.4 g/t gold and 9.9 g/t gold.
To the east of El Colorado at the Buena Suerte mineralized zone, the company plans 1,215m of infill and extension drilling at the north and south ends of Buena Suerte. An additional 1,800m of drilling is targeted along the Buena Suerte/San Quintín corridor to the south of Buena Suerte.
Another 1,110m of expansion drilling is planned at El Rincón to connect with the northwest extension of the Veta de Oro gold mineralized zone located over 500m to the southeast along the same structure.
Drilling will also focus on extending mineralization at two zones excluded from the updated resource estimate due to lack of required drilling density, Sonoro said.
“The drilling campaign will focus on potentially increasing the size and grade of the gold resource while we continue with the proposed development of the HLMO,” Sonoro’s chairman, John Darch concluded.
“Confirmation of extensive, higher-grade mineralization could potentially improve the overall economics of the project.”
Sonoro Gold Corp (TSX-V:SGO, OTCQB:SMOFF) is a publicly listed gold exploration and development company with two exploration stage precious metal properties in Sonora State, Mexico.
The company has highly experienced operational and management teams with proven track records for the discovery and development of natural resource deposits.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com