Drilling at the Boumadine Polymetallic Mine in Morocco Intersects High-Grade Ore

According to Mining.com, Aya Gold & Silver's latest drilling at the Boumadine polymetallic project in Morocco has encountered the strongest mineralization to date at the project, discovering a new high-grade parallel structure.

Hole BOU-MP25-087 intersected 15 meters of ore at a depth of 138 meters, grading 3.31 g/t gold, 1,900 g/t silver, 4.8% zinc, 1.8% lead, and 0.03% copper. This includes an 8.7-meter-thick ore body grading 5.37 g/t gold, 3,208 g/t silver, 6.3% zinc, 2.8% lead, and 0.05% copper.

Ovais Habib, a mining analyst at Scotia Capital, stated in an investment note, "To date, both infill and peripheral drilling at the Boumadine project indicate potential for resource growth."

The above drilling results were released three weeks after Aya announced that a preliminary economic assessment for Boumadine showed the company could recoup its investment in less than three years if gold prices remain high.

Aya stated on Wednesday that Hole BOU-MP25-087 was drilled south of the main trend at Boumadine, outside the scope of the pre-feasibility study's designed open pit.

Along the main trend, Boumadine's team has drilled approximately 133,000 meters this year at Tizi, Imariren, and other regional targets. Results received so far confirm continuous mineralization along a 5.4-kilometer strike length, open in all directions. Both Tizi and Imariren remain open in all directions.

Over the next two years, the company will deploy an infill drilling program. Up to 16 drills will be operating, with a planned meterage of 360,000 meters.

Other significant intersections released on Wednesday include:

◎ Hole BOU-RC25-026 intersected 6 meters of ore at a depth of 50 meters, grading 37.03 g/t gold, 334 g/t silver, 2.8% zinc, 1% lead, and 0.2% copper.

◎ Hole BOU-RC25-043 intersected 9 meters of ore at a depth of 152 meters, grading 2.69 g/t gold, 45 g/t silver, 0.1% zinc, 0.1% lead, and 0.1% copper.

◎ Hole BOU-DD25-623, located in the southern part of the mining area, discovered a new high-grade parallel structure with continuous mineralization. It intersected 47 meters of ore at a depth of 183 meters, grading 0.94 g/t gold, 399 g/t silver, 1.4% zinc, 1.2% lead, and 0.03% copper.

Aya has already planned follow-up drilling on this new structure, which has the potential to increase the overall resource.

"Boumadine still has expansion potential," said Benoit La Salle, the company's CEO, in a statement. High-grade ore intersections "all point to resource growth, larger mining pits, and expanded scale."

Aya Company holds an 85% equity stake in the Bumading Project and plans to construct six open pits and three underground mines. The mine is expected to have a mine life of 11.1 years. The company's strategy is to maintain a processing capacity of 8,000 tonnes per day.

On November 4, Aya Company stated that, based on a gold price of $4,000 per ounce, the Bumading Project has an after-tax net present value of $3 billion, an internal yield of 77%, and a payback period of 1.2 years.

The main ore body at Bumading generally has a width ranging from 1 meter to 4 meters, with northwest-trending sulphide lenses dipping to the northeast. Massive sulphides are mainly composed of pyrite, along with varying amounts of sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite.

The project is located in the Errachidia Province of Morocco, approximately 220 kilometers east of the city of Ouarzazate. Aya Company holds mining rights over an area of 339 square kilometers, with an additional 600 square kilometers under application for exploration permits.

In February, Aya Company announced a 160% increase in indicated resources and a 24% increase in inferred resources for the project. The Bumading Project has indicated ore resources of 5.2 million tonnes grading 91 g/t silver, 2.78 g/t gold, 2.8% zinc, and 0.85% lead.

Inferred ore resources amount to 29.2 million tonnes grading 82 g/t silver, 2.63 g/t gold, 2.11% zinc, and 0.82% lead. In terms of metal content, this equates to 76.8 million ounces of silver, 2.4 million ounces of gold, 615,000 tonnes of zinc, and 237,000 tonnes of lead.