Vancouver, British Columbia, May 25, 2022 – Arizona Silver Exploration Inc. (TSXV: AZS) (OTCQB:AZASF) is pleased to announce that drilling at the Philadelphia project, Mohave County, Arizona has extended the strike of high grade gold-silver mineralization. Assays have been returned for two holes with two further holes in the assay laboratory. Drilling is continuing.
Holes PC22-89 and PC22-90 (beneath the “shark fin”)
These holes extend recently drilled high grade mineralization to the north under the “shark fin”, a weakly mineralized breccia. The two holes intersected the target as predicted, confirming the “boiling zone” model that guides our exploration. A high-grade vein was intersected 45 metres down-dip from the outcrop, with the deeper of the two drill holes yielding the best thickness and grade as anticipated.
PC22-90 (deeper hole)
- High grade (hanging wall) vein: 93.84 to 96.10 metres downhole depth (2.26m) at 11.81 gpt gold, 39.31 gpt silver, within
- High Grade Vein Interval: 91.68 to 99.70 metres (8.02m) at 7.50 gpt gold, 29.07 gpt silver, within
- Total Mineralized Zone: 82.41 to 113.41 metres (31.01m) at 2.38 gpt gold, 10.58 gpt silver
PC22-89 (shallower hole)
- High Grade HW Vein : 72.59 to 73.54 metres (0.95m) at 11.20 gpt gold, 27.88 gpt silver, within
- Total Mineralized Zone: 60.67 to 81.71 metres (21.04m), 0.97gpt gold, 1.33 gpt silver
Mr. Greg Hahn, Vice President, Exploration commented, “All of the assayed holes in this program have intersected potentially economic grade mineralization. The two new holes demonstrate how quickly the epithermal vein system changes with depth from no vein at the “shark fin”, to a narrow vein 45 metres below the outcrop (PC22-89), to a thick vein interval 35 metres deeper (PC22-90). The vein continues to depth, with intercepts in holes PC22-88 and PC22-91 (with assays outstanding).”
“We followed these holes with PC22-91, a deep test below this mineralization. The rig then moved 300 metres to the south to drill PC22-92, a core drill twin of a previous reverse circulation drill hole. That hole has been completed with the drill rig now sited on PC22-93, 350 metres north of the “shark fin.” Assays are awaited,” continued Greg Hahn.
Updated geologic sections and photos of core from the completed holes are posted to the web site at: https://arizonagoldsilver.com/philadelphia/.
Geologically, holes PC22-89 and PC22-90 tested the “shark fin,” a calcite cemented breccia that contains clasts of quartz vein material and altered Tr2 rhyolite. They were drilled from the same drill pad as the previous core holes but on a new azimuth of 325 degrees instead of 270 degrees. See Section 1.
Hole PC-91 tested down-dip of the holes reported here but was lost at 266 metres in mineralization. The zone started at 173 metres with abundant stockwork quartz in Tr2 breccia and quartz vein clasts, followed by the lower vein breccia. The drill rods became interminably stuck at 266 metres in the lower vein breccia resulting in the hole being abandoned. We plan to re-drill the hole at a later date from a different pad to complete the intercept in the footwall vein and to intersect the Arabian Fault.
The drill rig was moved to our southern access area located 300 meters to the south of the Section 1 holes reported above. The intervening 300 metre strike is undrilled to date pending road construction. A core hole, PC22-92 was drilled parallel to RC hole PRC21-85, which intersected 115.9 metres of 1.34 gpt gold and 5.78 gpt silver, our thickest drill intercept to date. The core twin is intended to provide a comparison of RC drilling results to core results where groundwater flow is present.
Lithologies compared quite favourably between the two drill holes. The presence of quartz in the footwall granite is readily explainable by a unique bi-lithic breccia consisting of quartz vein clasts and granite clasts below the stockwork quartz in Tr2 rhyolite, and by the continuation of stockwork quartz in the granite below the bi-lithic breccia. Both holes PC22-91 and PC22-92 are in the laboratory.
The drill is currently on hole PC22-93, located 350 meters north of the holes reported in this press release, drilling beneath a prominent hill of stockwork quartz in granite. The hole is currently down 54 metres, having intersected brecciated stockwork quartz in the Arabian Fault and in the footwall granite beginning at 27 metres depth. The hole is targeted for 180 metres, to test the full extent of the stockwork quartz system exposed on the hill.
There are no drill holes testing the 350 metre-strike length between this hole and the two holes reported in this release. Meridian Gold drilled the upper 30 metres of the hill in the early 1980s with good results, but they failed to test the down-dip potential due to right-of-way limitations at the time. Those issues were eliminated in the late 1990’s when the highway was relocated.
QA/QC Program
All assaying was conducted by ALS Global, an independent analytical laboratory. Core was trucked to the ALS sample preparation facility in Tucson, Arizona, where the samples are inventoried, dried, crushed and pulverized. Pulverized splits are sent to the ALS analytical facility in Vancouver, British Columbia for analyses. All material handling is done under a strict chain of custody protocol. Gold is determined by fire assay with an AA finish and silver is determined by ICP-MS methods within a 31-element suite.
The Company maintains its own program of inserting Standard Reference material in the form of standards and blanks to the sampling stream, prior to being shipped to ALS’s preparation facility in Tucson, Arizona, in addition to the independent QA/QC protocols of ALS Global.
Qualified Person
Gregory Hahn, VP-Exploration and a Certified Professional Geologist (#7122) is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
About Arizona Silver Exploration Inc.
Arizona Silver is a young exploration company focused on exploring gold-silver properties in western Arizona and Nevada. The flagship asset is the Philadelphia property. The company has recently received a positive Record of Decision on its Notice of Intent to drill an initial twelve exploration holes on its recently acquired Silverton gold-silver property that hosts Carlin-type targets. Drilling there will be scheduled as time and equipment allow.
Please take a moment and listen to Greg Hahn narrate our latest PowerPoint now available on the website link: https://youtu.be/W2CHsoW3P3w and visit our website at: www.arizonasilverexploration.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors:
ARIZONA SILVER EXPLORATION INC.
Mike Stark, President and CEO, Director
Phone: (604) 833-4278
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements in relation to the timing, cost and other aspects of the 2022 exploration program; the potential for development of the mineral resources; the potential mineralization and geological merits of the exploration properties; and other future plans, objectives or expectations of the Company. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s plans or expectations include the risk that actual results of current and planned exploration activities, including the results of the Company’s 2022 drilling program(s) on its properties, will not be consistent with the Company’s expectations; the geology, grade and continuity of any mineral deposits and the risk of unexpected variations in mineral resources, grade and/or recovery rates; fluctuating metals prices; possibility of accidents, equipment breakdowns and delays during exploration; exploration cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests; availability of capital and financing required to continue the Company’s future exploration programs and preparation of geological reports and studies; delays in the preparation of geological reports and studies; the metallurgical characteristics of mineralization contained within the exploration properties are yet to be fully determined; general economic, market or business conditions; competition and loss of key employees; regulatory changes and restrictions including in relation to required permits for exploration activities (including drilling permits) and environmental liability; timeliness of government or regulatory approvals; and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions, including that the Company’s 2022 programs would proceed as planned and within budget. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.