Tocvan Ventures Corp has updated on Phase 3 drilling at its Pilar gold-silver project in Mexico, where early signs have been encouraging for a potential future mine development.
The drilling is focused on Main Zone expansion targets and newly identified targets, said Tocvan, and one core drill hole has hit "a heavily oxidized and fractured mineralized breccia".
This hole is a twin of a reverse circulation (RC) one sunk in 2020, which hit 9.2 meters (m) of 10.8 grams per ton (g/t) gold and 38 g/t silver. Lab assays for the hole are pending.
Tocvan CEO Brodie Sutherland told investors that although the results of this latest hole were only "visual at this stage", the direct correlation with assays from the 2020 twin indicated that the Main Zone was hosted within a mineralized breccia.
"This is significant as it suggests that mineralization is not isolated to narrow veins but in places hosted in a broad breccia body that is much more attractive as a development target," he said in a statement.
READ: Tocvan Ventures discovers high-grade gold and silver from sampling at its Pilar project in Mexico
"Historically Pilar has seen over 22,200 meters of RC drilling and only 1,307 meters of core drilling leaving a lot unknown about the true style and host of mineralization.
"What we have been able to accomplish early on in this program will have a profound impact on how we explore Pilar moving forward. We are excited to apply this knowledge across the property as we drill target beyond our Main Zone."
Tocvan also noted that a second rig had now been mobilized to the Pilar project to increase productivity, namely, a diamond drill rig to accompany RC drilling.
Also in the statement, Tocvan said it had struck a deal with a local producer to assist in metallurgical studies at Pilar, and a bulk sample from a trench had been submitted to SGS (Durango) for column leach study.
"The local producer has also agreed to process additional samples to aid in the advancement and optimization of metallurgical work. These studies have the ultimate goal of preparing Pilar for a larger bulk test mine scenario," said the company.
Tocvan is earning 100% into two exciting opportunities in Sonora state, Mexico - the Pilar asset and the El Picacho gold-silver project.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com