Golden Minerals Company (“Golden Minerals”, “Golden” or the “Company”) (NYSE-A: AUMN and TSX: AUMN) has today provided updates related to ongoing work at several of its Mexican gold-silver mining properties, in advance of the Company’s participation and presentation at the Precious Metals Summit in Beaver Creek, Colorado from September 13-16, 2022.
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Yoquivo Project: Completed drill holes and mapped veins (Graphic: Business Wire)
Yoquivo
The Company is pleased to report assay results of holes 10 through 24 from its third drill program at the Yoquivo gold-silver project in Chihuahua state, Mexico. (Results from holes one through nine were reported on July 7, 2022; available here.)
The 2022 program began in May 2022 and to date 24 holes totaling 5,693 meters have been drilled. Drilling was designed to follow up on high-grade intercepts reported in earlier drill campaigns and to explore the Pertenencia vein system with sufficient drill density to enable a maiden resource estimate in Q1 2023. Highlights include:
- 3.7m @ 4.5 g/t Au, 767 g/t Ag
-
9.3m @ 0.3 g/t Au and 209 g/t Ag
- including 3.4m @ 0.2 g/t Au, 448 g/t Ag
-
4.6m @ 11.4 g/t Au and 155 g/t Ag
- including 2.3m @ 21 g/t Au, 261 g/t Ag
- 1.9m @ 2.0 g/t Au, 315 g/t Ag
- 5.3m @ 2.5 g/t Au, 379 g/t Ag
- 35.4m @ 0.3 g/t Au, 66.4 g/t Ag
- 2.9m @ 6.7 g/t Au, 339 g/t Ag
Significant drill results are summarized in the table below, with complete results available on the Company’s website.
Hole_ID | From |
To |
Interval |
True Width |
Au |
Ag |
Comments |
(m) |
(m) |
(m) |
(m) |
(g/t) |
(g/t) |
||
YQ_022_013 | 159.2 |
159.8 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
0.79 |
191.0 |
Pertenencia Vein |
YQ_022_013 | 296.3 |
302.1 |
5.9 |
4.4 |
1.58 |
205.5 |
Camila Vein |
YQ_022_014 | 43.5 |
47.2 |
3.7 |
Unknown* |
4.49 |
767.3 |
San Francisco FW Vein |
including |
45.0 |
45.7 |
0.7 |
Unknown* |
23.30 |
3,850.0 |
|
YQ_022_014 | 106.6 |
106.8 |
0.2 |
Unknown* |
6.29 |
556.0 |
San Francisco FW_1Vein |
YQ_022_014 | 158.6 |
167.9 |
9.3 |
Unknown* |
0.28 |
209.1 |
San Francisco Vein |
including |
158.6 |
162.0 |
3.4 |
Unknown* |
0.21 |
447.6 |
|
YQ_022_015 | 39.5 |
41.1 |
1.7 |
Unknown* |
2.72 |
646.0 |
Tajitos Vein |
YQ_022_017 | 125.3 |
130.0 |
4.6 |
Unknown* |
11.42 |
155.2 |
Dolar Vein |
including |
126.0 |
128.4 |
2.3 |
Unknown* |
21.00 |
261.0 |
Dolar Vein |
YQ_022_020 | 104.7 |
112.2 |
7.5 |
5.6 |
0.83 |
109.7 |
Esperanza Vein |
including |
106.4 |
108.2 |
1.9 |
1.4 |
1.99 |
314.6 |
|
YQ_022_022 | 35.7 |
41.1 |
5.3 |
3.7 |
2.53 |
379.4 |
New Vein |
YQ_022_022 | 218.5 |
253.9 |
35.4 |
24.8 |
0.30 |
66.4 |
Pertenencia FW Vein |
YQ_022_024 | 204.3 |
207.3 |
2.9 |
2.1 |
6.70 |
339.1 |
Camila Vein |
including |
205.2 |
206.4 |
1.3 |
0.9 |
15.65 |
677.0 |
A follow-up drill program of about 2,500 meters is planned to start in late September to further delineate new veins and high-grade intercepts encountered on the Pertenencia, San Francisco, and Dolar vein systems.
Velardeña
Further review of the results from the Company’s test-mining activities at Velardeña over the summer and a review of the mine plans have led Golden to the decision to undertake a development and exploration drill program at Velardeña prior to proposing the restart of mining. The drilling is required to further delineate alternative veins to replace portions of the San Mateo vein in the Company’s mine plan. The eastern portion of the San Mateo vein did not meet expectations in the recently-completed test mining due to vein-parallel fractures in the host rock which led to unacceptably high mining dilution. The drill program, which will include both underground and surface drilling, will target veins that have not been mined recently at Velardeña but which show historical evidence of potential economic grades and widths. The Company anticipates starting the program in the fourth quarter, with results becoming available during the first quarter of 2023. During the balance of 2022, the Company is also evaluating screening and ore sorting alternatives to improve mine head grade, processing material mined during the test mining to confirm recovery expectations and completing a budget level capital study for the project. These activities are not expected to be completed until the first quarter of 2023 and therefore any decision on a potential restart of mining operations at Velardeña will be deferred until at least the end of the first quarter of 2023, and potentially later.
Rodeo
Rodeo continues to perform in line with its plan as we near the end of the third quarter 2022. Golden remains on schedule to meet its forecasted production range of 12,000 to 14,000 ounces of gold and 42,000 to 47,000 ounces of silver in 2022. Drilling and blasting at Rodeo have advanced ahead of plan in Phase I, which allows for maximum mining flexibility as the pit continues to develop and transition into Phase II.
Golden is very pleased with the safety record at Rodeo where the Company recently completed over one year and eight months without a lost-time accident and the past two quarters without an incident. This record demonstrates Golden’s value of safety and its employees’ commitment to work safely.
Participation in Precious Metals Summit
The Company is participating in this year’s Precious Metals Summit taking place at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Beaver Creek, Colorado from September 13 to 16, 2022. Golden’s Chief Operating Officer, John Galassini, will be giving a company presentation at the event on Thursday, September 15, 2022, at 4:15pm MT. Chief Financial Officer Julie Weedman will also be in attendance.
Review by Qualified Person and Quality Control
The technical contents of this press release have been reviewed by Matthew Booth, a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101. Mr. Booth has over 18 years of mineral exploration experience and is a Qualified Person member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG 12044).
To ensure reliable sample results, Golden Minerals uses a quality assurance/quality control program that monitors the chain of custody of samples and includes the insertion of blanks, duplicates, and reference standards in each batch of samples.
Quality Assurance / Quality Control
Yoquivo diamond drilling was conducted by Eco Drilling México S. de R.L. de C.V with a Coretech CSD 1300G rig. Drill holes were drilled to depths ranging from 150m to 351m and were drilled at azimuths of 107° to 347° and a dip ranging from -45° to -76°. No water was encountered during drilling. Holes were positioned with a hand-held GPS (accuracy +/- 5 meters) and later surveyed with a Differential GPS once the drilling campaign was completed.
Samples of the core were obtained using a diamond saw to cut the core in half, retaining one half for a permanent core record, and the other sent for analysis.
Drill-core samples were shipped to ALS Chemex sample preparation facility in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico for sample preparation and for analysis at the ALS laboratory in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
For a full statement regarding the QA/QC procedures visit the Company’s website here.
About Golden Minerals
Golden Minerals is a growing gold and silver producer based in Golden, Colorado. The Company is primarily focused on producing gold and silver from its Rodeo Mine and advancing its Velardeña Properties in Mexico and, through partner-funded exploration, its El Quevar silver property in Argentina, as well as acquiring and advancing selected mining properties in Mexico, Nevada and Argentina.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the timing of the preparation of a maiden resource estimate and follow-up drill program at the Yoquivo property; anticipated activities at the Velardeña property, including the commencement of an additional drill program and the timing of results of that program; the timing of a potential decision to restart operations at the Velardeña property; and forecasted production at Rodeo. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including changes in interpretations of geological, geostatistical, metallurgical, mining or processing information, and interpretations of the information resulting from exploration, analysis or mining and processing experience. Golden Minerals assumes no obligation to update this information. Additional risks relating to Golden Minerals may be found in the periodic and current reports filed with the SEC by Golden Minerals, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.
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Contacts
Golden Minerals Company
Karen Winkler, Director of Investor Relations
(303) 839-5060