Drilling by AbraSilver Resource (TSX: ABRA) at its Diablillos project in northwest Argentina returned 31 metres grading 10 grams gold per tonne and 16 grams silver, its best-ever yellow metal intercept, the company said. Shares rose.That result from 88 metres depth, in step-out hole DDH 25-024 at the Oculto deposit, included 6 metres at 41.9 grams gold and 22 grams silver and was just outside the eastern edge of the conceptual Oculto open pit, AbraSilver said Tuesday. The project is located in the high-altitude Puna region of Salta province.“The spectacular intercepts from hole DDH 25-024 clearly demonstrate the strong potential to expand high-grade mineralization well beyond the existing Oculto deposit,” CEO John Miniotis said in a release.“With three drill rigs now active across the broader Diablillos land package, we are entering another exciting new phase of exploration growth, aimed at unlocking substantial value for our shareholders, while in parallel with our ongoing definitive feasibility study.”Assay, study tailwindsThe latest results follow a productive five months for AbraSilver when it released similarly high-grade assays and boosted Diablillos’ net present value by half in an updated pre-feasibility study. Tuesday’s results, from more than 21,190 metres of drilling, are to be included in a resource update for Diablillos, expected to be released in July.AbraSilver shares gained 6.7% to C$3.32 apiece on Tuesday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$509.43 million. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of C$2.04 to C$3.64.DDH 25-024 also cut 13 metres at 307 grams silver and 8 metres grading 446 grams silver in an upper silver-enriched zone.Another noteworthy assay came from hole DDH-25-021 which cut 5 metres at 92.5 grams silver from 26 metres depth.More Oculto drillingThe mineralization at Oculto East appears to be structurally controlled and hosted in the same breccia which dominates the main Oculto deposit, AbraSilver said. The high-grade gold zone starts at a down-hole depth of 324 metres, but in topographic terms it is about 200 metres down vertically from surface). The company plans more drilling to test the extent of the shallower, high-grade silver and gold zones.Follow-up drilling at Oculto East will start soon to define the high-grade extension and assess its contribution to future development scenarios.Diablillos hosts proven and probable reserves of about 42.3 million tonnes grading 91 grams silver and 0.81 grams gold for 123.5 million contained oz. silver and 1.1 million oz. contained gold, according to a March 2024 resource.
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