Aztec Minerals Corp., a Canadian-based minerals exploration company with two primary discoveries in North America, recently announced that it has completed the first seven holes of its proposed 11-hole drilling program at its Cervantes project in Sonora, Mexico. The seven holes total 963.2 meters in depth out of the 1,650 meters of the proposed drilling program at the 100% owned project. So far, chip logging from the holes shows favorable geology for potential gold expansion beyond the area’s previously drilled vicinities.
Aztec Minerals drilled the seven initial holes on the California gold zone target to hopefully expand to the north, west, and south of the company’s previous drilling efforts, where they had discovered extensive shallow and wide gold oxide mineralization. The company shipped all samples to the Bureau Veritas Minerals Laboratory to conduct geochemical analysis and expects to receive results within a few weeks.
Aztec Minerals drilled the seven holes following a basic grid pattern, which is the same one used at the California target. The company continues to explore step-out areas by supporting future drilling targets to define a potentially larger gold mineralization zone in the future.
The company’s primary project objectives that are both underway and planned for 2024 are to “continue to define the open pit, heap leach gold potential of the porphyry oxide cap at California, test the down dip extensions of the silicic-phyllic alteration in the Qfp intrusive for deeper copper-gold porphyry sulfide mineralization underlying the oxide cap, and test for extensions of the California North target,” according to the press release.
The Cervantez project is a highly promising gold-copper project in the Southeastern state of Sonora, Mexico. The porphyry exploration project sits just under 100 miles east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, meaning it’s directly on the bountiful Laramide porphyry copper belt. This belt sits around 160 miles from the Cananea copper-molybdenum mine in Grupo, Mexico.
Since the Cervantez project sits on the east-west trending gold belt, it’s surrounded by various high-yielding mines, including the Mulatos epithermal gold mine owned by Alamos Gold, the Osisko San Antonio gold mine, the La India mine owned by Agnico Eagle, and the Santana gold deposit owned by Minera Alamos.
The Cervantez project offers multiple key features, explaining why Aztec Minerals Corp. hopes to expand it. To start, the well-located property is not only expansive at 3,649 hectares but offers access to a solid infrastructure of grid power, nearby towns, road access, water wells, and more. The project is entirely on private land as well, offering ideal control.
The Cervantez project has nine prospective mineralized zones along the seven-kilometer east-northeast corridor. The area offers distinct geophysical anomalies, such as high magnetic areas, low resistivity markers, and high radiometric and chargeability anomalies.
The California zone offers extensive gold mineralization, with 118 soil samples averaging 0.44 grams per ton of gold in the 900-meter by 600-meter area. The trench rock channel samples averaged even higher at 0.47 grams per ton over 222 meters.
Clearly, Aztec Minerals Corp. has ample opportunity to continue expanding its efforts with the Cervantez project. As gold prices continue rising exponentially, it makes sense that major mining companies want to capitalize on the exceptional performance levels.
So far this year, gold prices have increased by over 11%. As of December 4, spot gold has broken the previous all-time record, breaching $2,100 per ounce and climbing to $2,110.8. Analysts predict the precious metal is only going to continue climbing from here as tensions in the middle east climb and the Federal Reserve begins cutting interest rates.
“With inflation still considerably above the Fed’s two-percent target, the U.S. central bank is unlikely to signal an imminent easing. As such, the yellow metal could well be range-bound without a sustained breakout toward our $2,100 target occurring for a quarter or so,” analysts at TD Securities explained in the 2024 gold outlook report.
Between the tensions in the Middle East worsening day by day and central banks like China purchasing gold at monumental rates, gold continues to enjoy substantial support.
“We believe the official sector will continue to be supportive in the months to come and should be a catalyst for our $2,100+/oz sustained price projection next year,” TD Securities explained.
With this support, major mining exploration companies like Aztec Minerals Corp. have no option but to expand their operations to meet the rising demand rates. As always, investors should consult their advisors before making any portfolio decisions.
