Arizona Gold finds high-grade zones at main project

New drilling by Arizona Gold & Silver (TSXV: AZS; US-OTC: AZASF) at its Philadelphia project in Arizona has encountered high-grade zones that extend gold mineralization below the Red Hills target.

Hole PC26-173 cut 7 metres grading 4.24 grams gold per tonne and 15.2 grams silver from 456 metres depth, within a broader 44-metre interval grading 1.48 grams gold and 7.2 grams silver from about 446 metres downhole, Arizona Gold said Wednesday in a statement. The broader intersection also contains 22 metres of 2.52 grams gold – from 447 metres downhole — and 13 metres of 3.51 grams gold, from 456 metres depth.

Located about 320 km northwest of Phoenix, Philadelphia is Arizona Gold’s main development asset. It lies in the historic Oatman mining district, which has produced more than 2.5 million oz. of gold from high-grade underground veins. Arizona Gold is now targeting a low-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver system along the 3-km-long Arabian Fault corridor.

“Drilling beneath Red Hills continues to intersect broad zones of gold mineralization with higher-grade intervals,” Lex Lambeck, the company’s senior vice president of exploration, said in the statement.

“We are using each hole to better understand the geometry and continuity of those higher-grade zones while also evaluating the broader mineralized envelope. It is still early in the exploration program, and we see potential for both a higher-grade underground scenario and a larger-scale open-pit scenario. Further drilling will help us assess both possibilities.”

Bulk-tonnage test

Vancouver-based Arizona Gold has been advancing Philadelphia since 2019, when it began to drill at the property’s north end. It secured a series of patented claims in 2021, leading to the discovery of the high-grade Perry vein and a broad stockwork zone. Crews are now expanding drilling to test thick bulk-tonnage mineralization.

Other drill highlights released Wednesday include hole PC26-172, which returned 70 metres at 1.16 grams gold and 5.6 grams silver from 417 metres depth, including 10 metres of 3.27 grams gold and 19.3 grams silver from 459 metres downhole.

The results are being used to refine the position of a north-plunging higher-grade zone within the Perry zone.

Drilling is continuing. Hole PC26-174 has been completed directly below PC26-173, with assays pending, while hole PC26-175 is being drilled about 60 metres north of PC26-173 to test the revised projection of the higher-grade zone. The program will also continue to examine the relationship between the Perry zone and a broad geophysical anomaly beneath Red Hills.

Arizona Gold shares dropped 15% to 57¢ Wednesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at about $87 million (US$61 million). The stock has traded between 44.5¢ and $1.23 in the past year.