Broad Gold-Silver Oxide Mineralized Zones Intersected At Contention Open Pit

VANCOUVER – Aztec Minerals Corp. reported on the drilling program at the Tombstone Property in Southeastern Arizona which has intersected broad gold-silver oxide mineralized zones in its first two step out RC drill holes in the Contention Open Pit target area.  Results for hole TR24-01 intersected 103.6 m at 0.75 gpt AuEq (0.59 gpt Au, and 12.48 gpt Ag); including 15.3 m at 3.11 gpt AuEq (2.84 gpt Au and 21.4 gpt Ag).  Hole TR24-02 intersected 0.19 gpt Au and 8.34 gpt Ag (0.30 gpt AuEq) over 149.4m.

The current Contention area step-out drilling program is targeting shallow zones, associated with recently completed surface exploration and 3D geological modelling, prospective for wide oxide gold-silver mineralization. The 2024 RC drilling program has now completed 10 RC drill holes. Visual observations of the drilled sample materials and initial assay results continue to validate Aztec’s geological exploration model.  As a result, the Tombstone Property JV Management Committee approved an expansion of the drill program from an initially planned 12-hole, 2,000-meter program, to 3,000 meters over 18-20 drill holes.

Hole TR24-01 - 0.59 gpt Au 12.48 gpt Ag (0.75 gpt AuEq) over 103.6m, including 15.3m grading 2.84 gpt Au 21.4 gpt Ag (3.11 gpt AuEq), and 3.05m grading 10.63 gpt Au 35.10 gpt Ag (11.06 gpt AuEq). The hole was oriented azimuth 105, -60, and was designed to test for westerly and down dip extensions of mineralization under the west pit wall and to depth.  The interval is composed of siliciously and argillically altered, lower Bisbee group fine-grained sandstones/quartzites, siltstones/hornfels cut by quartz-feldspar porphyry dikes, hydrothermal breccias and faults/fissures with quartz veining.  Moderate to strong iron oxides, manganese oxides, orange to red color, and 1 to 10% oxidized pyrite sites. The drill hole had to be abandoned due to caving.

Hole TR24-02 - 0.19 gpt Au 8.34 gpt Ag (0.3 gpt AuEq) over 149.4m, ending in low grade mineralization and including 7.6m grading 1.65 gpt Au 12.16 gpt Ag (1.8 gpt AuEq). The hole was oriented azimuth 105, -60, and was designed to test for westerly and down dip extensions of mineralization under the west pit wall and to depth. The interval is composed of siliciously and argillically altered, lower Bisbee group fine-grained sandstones/quartzites, siltstones/hornfels cut by quartz-feldspar porphyry dikes, hydrothermal breccias and faults/fissures with quartz veining.  Moderate to strong iron oxides, manganese oxides, orange to red color, and 1 to 5% oxidized pyrite sites.  

The primary objectives of the drilling program are to: Expand the known mineralization horizontally to the west and down dip beyond the holes drilled by Aztec in 2020-23 at the Contention Pit with step outs to enlarge the shallow, broad, bulk tonnage gold-silver mineralization discovered there; and also to explore with first pass drilling new targets identified in the Westside area.

The initial seven RC holes were drilled as part of a “fan grid pattern” being drilled in the Contention area since 2020.  The RC drill holes are to test for extensions on the western and eastern borders and also underneath of the north-trending main Contention target zone which hosts the historic underground and open pit Contention mine.  The drill program continues to identify pervasively oxidized and hematite-rich, silicified hydrothermal breccias composed of quartz feldspar porphyry dike and Bisbee Group clastic sedimentary fragments, typical of the material mined historically at the Contention Mine.

Additional mineralization types continue to be outlined by the current drilling, including manganese replacements in limestone beds and skarns, quartz veinlets, sulfide relicts as disseminations, silicification of altered hornfels, quartz feldspar porphyries and hydrothermal breccias.  To date, TR24-07 is the deepest hole drilled, has an inclination of -60 degrees and was drilled to a depth of 256.1 m (221.7 m vertical) remaining in mineralized and oxidized rocks the majority of its length.

The initial drilling results show that the Contention area mineralization is still open to the west and to depth and the mineralized volume is expanding.