
Prime Mining Corp. (TSX: PRYM) (OTCQX: PRMNF) (Frankfurt: 04V3) is pleased to provide a summary of its 2023 drill program highlights from its wholly owned high-grade Los Reyes Gold-Silver Project in Sinaloa State, Mexico.
2023 Corporate Highlights
Advanced project investigations:
Strengthened Management Team and Board:
Ended year in strong financial position:
Demonstrated commitment to Environment, Social and Corporate Governance:
Scott Hicks, CEO of Prime, commented, “2023 was a standout year for Prime. In addition to other corporate and technical achievements, we effectively doubled the gold-equivalent resource ounces at our high-grade Los Reyes Project with drilling up to our December 2022 resource drilling cutoff. In 2023 we completed almost 60,000 metres of drilling, and we are excited to recap this 2023 exploration work today, as well as releasing notable new generative area intercepts at Mina, Orito Sur and Mariposa. Our 2024 drill program is already underway at Las Primas, Z-T and Guadalupe, and we are starting to see some exciting results from this initial 40,000-metre program come in. As in previous years, we will revisit this program as we continue to achieve our exploration goals for the Company and are looking forward to sharing results with our stakeholders along the way.”
Figure 1: 2023 Expansion and Generative Drilling
Note: In the discussion below, * denotes a newly released hole.
Z-T Trend – Expansion Drilling and Interpretation
Significant SE Strike Extension Potential and Below MRE
In 2023, Prime drilling continued to encounter high grades and wide zones of mineralization at the Z-T Trend, supporting expansion of the Au-Eq grade shell.
Drilling at silver rich Tahonitas extended mineralization 350 m to the south-east.
In the Zapote West area, exploration along the “300 Trend” began in 2023 as follow-up to the detailed surface mapping completed by the Prime exploration team. The 300 Trend is roughly a 2km long mineralized structure that splays from the main Zapote trend with a 300-degree azimuth and consists of structurally controlled quartz and quartz breccia zones. Eleven widely spaced diamond drill holes tested the structure over an 800 m strike length and to a depth of 250 m, intersecting the mineralized structure in all holes, with the best intersection returning 7.12 gpt AuEq (6.37 gpt Au and 57.6 gpt Ag) over 2.1 m estimated true width (“etw”).
High-grade plunging shoots remain open at depth and along strike in multiple areas along the Z-T Trend. While Prime has drill tested high-grade mineralization along a more than 3km strike length at Z-T, surface mapping has defined a strike length of more than 4km for the Z-T structure.
In 2024, Prime is targeting expansion drilling at Z-T along with generative drilling at Mariposa to the north-west.
Z-T Drill Highlights – Additional New Discovery Strike Extent Down Dip and Below MRE:
Significant SE Strike Extension Potential at Tahonitas:
Mariposa, a generative target northwest of Z-T, returned strong gold grades:
Guadalupe Trend Expansion Drilling and Interpretation
High Grades in Guadalupe East Hold Potential to Expand and Increase Mineralization
The Guadalupe Trend hosts approximately one-half of the Indicated gold-equivalent resource in Prime’s 2023 MRE. Within this trend, Guadalupe East hosts significant high-grade material, with drill hole 23GE-147 returning one of the highest grade intercepts ever recorded at the Project at 45.3 gpt Au and 2,723 gpt Ag over 4.75 m (80.6 gpt AuEq over 3.9 m etw). This hole expands the very-high grade mineralization along several antithetic structures within the 2023 resource pit and returned substantially higher grades than previously estimated in many instances.
Drilling completed in 2023 in the San Manuel-Echeguren shaft area, which includes 23GE-142, -144, and -145, resulted in the expansion of the >1gpt AuEq grade shell approximately 370 m along strike from the current Guadalupe East MRE pit crest (measured from pit to the intercept in 23GE-146), with mineralization open in several directions.
In 2024, drilling at Guadalupe is planned to expand the known high-grade areas.
Guadalupe East – High Grade Gold and Silver
Orito Sur, a generative target north of Guadalupe East, returned strong gold and silver grades:
Mina, a generative target northeast of Guadalupe East, also returned strong grades:
Central Trend Expansion Drilling and Interpretation
Filling the Gap with High Grade Near-Surface Material
2023 drilling at Noche Buena, located in the southeastern-most end of the Central Trend demonstrated mineralization up to 150 m along strike from the bottom of the MRE pit. Drilling confirms the ongoing expansion of potential gold-silver resources in addition to and not included in the Company’s MRE. Additionally, Prime intersected a substantial volume of high-grade mineralization in the previously untested gap between the Noche Buena and San Miguel East MRE pits.
In 2024 target, Prime drilling at Central is intended to increase the Central Area resource through additions at Noche Buena and its connection to San Miguel East.
Central – High Grade, Near-Surface Material at Noche Buena
Noche Buena and San Miguel East – Drilling to Fill the Gap Returns Strong Silver Values
Las Primas Generative Drilling and Interpretation
Prime Discovery Similar to Guadalupe East 500m to the Northeast
Las Primas, located between the Central and Guadalupe Trends, was first identified through historical records and the Company’s earlier sampling and mapping work. Newly discovered Las Primas mineralization lies entirely outside of the MRE and contains high-grades and significant thicknesses. The precious metals mineralization is in high-grade plunging shoots containing multiple gram per tonne AuEq centers with outer, lower-grade halos.
In 2023, mapping and drilling at Las Primas confirmed the continuity of at least two mineralized structural corridors that remain open in all directions. Drilling at Las Primas intercepted several new high grade mineralized structures that appear to have many similarities to Guadalupe East in particular, which is located 500 m to the northeast. Early mineralization modeling suggests a vertical extent of over 300 m and 450 m along strike.
In 2024, Las Primas is targeted as part of the generative drilling program.
Las Primas Area – Prime Discovery:
Fresnillo Generative Drilling and Interpretation
Highly Prospective Prime Original Discovery
Fresnillo, located between the Z-T and Central Trends, was first drilled as part of Prime’s 2022 drill program. Fresnillo is a highly prospective earlier stage target with 2023 drilling intercepting thick mineralized structures.
In 2024, follow-up drilling is planned with surface mapping and modelling ongoing.
Fresnillo – Prime Original Discovery
2024 Outlook
Prime is targeting 40,000 metres in its 2024 drill program and will continue to evaluate drilling plans using its success-based approach. This evaluation will also include prioritization of targets based on probability of resource development and generative area discovery potential.
Six drill rigs are active on site at Los Reyes, with 2024 exploration focused on:
Link 1– PDF Figures
Link 2 – PDF Drill Hole Tables
Note 1: Gold equivalent grades are calculated based on an assumed gold price of US$1,700 per ounce and silver price of $22 per ounce, based on the formula AuEq grade (gpt) = Au grade + Ag grade x ($22 / $1,700). Metallurgical recoveries are not considered in the in-situ grade estimate but are estimated to be 93% and 83% for gold and silver, respectively, when processed in a mill, and 72% and 25% respectively when heap-leached.
About the Los Reyes Gold and Silver Project
Los Reyes is a rapidly evolving high-grade, low sulphidation epithermal gold-silver project located in Sinaloa State, Mexico. Since acquiring Los Reyes in 2019, Prime has spent approximately CAD$48 million on direct exploration activities and has completed over 168,000 metres of drilling. On May 2, 2023, Prime announced an updated multi-million-ounce high-grade open pit constrained resource (see the May 2, 2023 press release for more details).
May 2, 2023 Resource Statement
Drilling is ongoing and suggests that the three known main deposit areas (Guadalupe, Central and Z-T) are larger than previously reported. Potential also exists for new discoveries where mineralized trends have been identified outside of the currently defined resource areas.
Historic operating results indicate that an estimated 1 million ounces of gold and 60 million ounces of silver were recovered from five separate operations at Los Reyes between 1770 and 1990. Prior to Prime’s acquisition, recent operators of Los Reyes had spent approximately US$20 million on exploration, engineering, and prefeasibility studies.
About Prime Mining
Prime is managed by an ideal mix of successful mining executives, strong capital markets personnel and experienced local operators all focused on unlocking the full potential of the Los Reyes Project. The Company has a well-planned capital structure with a strong management team and insider ownership. Prime is targeting a material resource expansion at Los Reyes through a combination of new generative area discoveries and growth, while also building on technical de-risking activities to support eventual project development.
Qualified Person
Scott Smith, P.Geo., Executive Vice President of Exploration, is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content in this news release.
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