Impact: Neutral
Aztec Minerals announced that it had commenced a step-out drill program at its 77.7%-owned Tombstone Au-Ag project in Arizona. The program is planned to test shallow, bulk tonnage, and potentially heap leachable mesothermal Au-Ag oxide mineralization adjacent and below the historic Contention pit. Drilling is also planned at the Westside Area, where 2024 surface exploration identified prospective targets including the Westside anticline, Westside fissure, Arizona Queen anticline, and the Sulphuret dike-Arizona Queen fissure intersection. As demonstrated by previous channel sampling and reconnaissance sampling results from the Contention pit and Westside area (read here and here), we believe the ongoing drill program could unravel additional mineralization outside the pit and at depth, which was potentially left unmined due to low commodity prices at the time, rather than a lack of mineralization.