Kootenay Silver Inc. (TSX-V:KTN) has reported significant progress on a 15,000-meter (m) drilling program at its Columba high-grade silver project in Chihuahua State, Mexico.
The Vancouver-based exploration company, focused on mineral projects in Mexico's Sierra Madre region, said a “considerable proportion of assay results are outstanding” so it will pause until it gets results to help it in targeting additional step-outs.
Columba is a past producing high-grade silver underground mine and the area is known to host dozens of mineralized veins. Kootenay initiated its first drilling program in 2019 and has returned many high-grade silver intervals.
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The current drilling program will test extensions of F Vein, D Vein, B Vein and JZ Veins as well as exploratory step-outs on other prospective veins, said the company.
The 2022 program kicked off with a series of drill holes targeting F Vein and D Vein. Core logging to date confirms that each hole at F and D successfully encountered its target. Kootenay said it is “eagerly” awaiting results as additional holes may be warranted.
Current program vein intercepts from F Vein range from less than 1m to over 5m in drilled length in 7 holes for an average of 2m of drilled width, noted the company. Associated stockwork veining and hydrothermal breccia zones adjacent to the F-Vein range from 6m to 30m in drilled length.
Kootenay said that step-outs from previous intercepts range from 50m to 75m, each hole successfully expanding the known size of the F Vein. Prior to this current program drilling had established 700m of strike along the F Vein down to a vertical depth of 200m and open to depth.
D Vein step-outs from previous drilling vary from 50m-to-100m and all 11 holes from the current program intercepted the target, pointed out the company. Including previous holes D Vein has been hit consistently along a strike of over 430m and a vertical extent of 340m and remains open in all directions, said the company.
Kootenay said assay results will be released once final assays are compiled. It added that turnaround time has been longer than anticipated.
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