Capitan Mining announced that the inferred resource at its Cruz de Plata gold-silver mine in Mexico increased by more than 120%.
The update focused on the Capitan Hill portion of the project. The project now has an inferred resource of 39.8 million mt of ore grading 0.41 g/t gold and 3.3 g/t silver, containing 525,000 ounces of gold and 4.2 million ounces of silver. Compared to the initial resource estimate in 2020, the announced gold and silver resources increased by 72% and 129%, respectively.
"While silver remains our primary target and the main contributor to the resource growth at Cruz de Plata, the increase in pit-constrained gold resources at the Capitan Hill deposit adds value to the project," said Alberto Orozco, CEO of the company. "Achieving resource growth through limited drilling highlights the quality of this deposit and the new options it brings to our silver-focused project."
Medium-Sized Metal Deposit
In terms of metal content, this update places Capitan Hill among the medium-sized gold-silver projects in the silver-rich Durango state, although it has a lower grade and is at an earlier stage compared to Silver Storm's La Parrilla and Southern Silver's Cerro Las Minitas deposits.
The resource within the open-pit shell at the Capitan deposit used a cut-off grade of 0.18 g/t gold, assuming a gold price of $2,500 per ounce (C$3,465/oz). The Cruz de Plata project consists of the Capitan Hill and Jesús María deposits, with the former covering about 1% of the project area.
12,209 Meters of Drilling
This resource update is based on 12,209 meters of reverse circulation drilling from 49 holes at Capitan Hill conducted from 2020 to 2021. Capitan Silver has completed two-thirds of its 15,000-meter drilling program for this year.
Drilling at Cruz de Plata will continue until December 20, with an additional 6-7 reverse circulation rigs operating until the holiday break. The primary objectives of this drilling are the down-dip extension of the Jesús María silver zone and other high-grade areas.
