CMC Metals acquires the Gavilanes silver-gold polymetallic project

CMC Metals Ltd. focuses on On opportunities for high-grade polymetallic deposits in Mexico, Yukon, British Columbia and Newfoundland.

The project has a drilling permit from SEMARNAT to complete drilling up to 4,650 metres.

CMC Metals Ltd. announced That Sailfish Royalty Corp. has entered into an agreement granting an option to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Swordfish Silver Corp. Swordfish, through Sailfish de México SA de CV, owns the mineral rights to Gavilanes silver. Exploration property located in the municipality of San Dimas, State of Durango, Mexico.

The terms of this agreement were previously announced in a press release dated December 21, 2023, with the majority of the financial commitments at the end of the agreement being multi-year. The deal is also subject to stock exchange approval.

The Gavilanes silver-gold polymetallic project (13,594.5 ha) has a current NI 43-101 inferred resource of 18,174,000 silver equivalent ounces (Ag-Eq) at an average grade of 320.3 g/t Ag-Eq. Equivalent within 1,765,000 tons (Mine Development Partners/Respec Resource Gesociens Inc., 2021).

Metal prices assumed in the resource estimate were US$19.00 per ounce for silver, US$1,600 per ounce for gold, US$3.50 per pound for copper, and US$1.00 for lead and zinc.

Gavilanes are low to medium sulphate refractory deposits located in the Sierra Madre Occidental Province in southwest Durango. Limited excavation work has been completed at the site over an area of ​​0.2 square kilometers of veins. Gavilanis has undergone periodic drilling episodes for a total of 61 diamond drill holes (13,011.25 metres).

Most of the drilling (47 holes) was completed by Santa Cruz Silver Mining. The drilling is focused on the Soledad de Guadalupe structure for a distance of only 500 metres. The San Nicolas Mineral Structures, which extend 2.6 km, were tested over just 250 meters with drilling intersecting a major gold system that was later confirmed by mapping and surface sampling.

Highlights of some past intersections of historic drilling efforts include:

• SCSN-01: 8 meters 155 g/t silver
• SSN-04: 17.8 meters of silver weighing 465 g/t
• SSN-05: 2.4 meters of gold weighing 6.75 grams/ton
• SCGP-02: 4.25 meters of 233 g/t silver and 0.33 g/t gold
• SCGP-11: 4.8 meters of silver weighing 616 grams/ton
• SCGP-12: 4 meters of 243 g/t silver
• SCGP-15: 3.4 meters of 298 g/t silver
• SCGP-22: 3.3 meters of silver weighing 2,540 g/t
• SCGP-26: 8.6 meters of silver weighing 409 g/t
• Shin-12: 6.3 meters of 2016 grams/ton of silver and 0.16 grams/ton of gold

(Note: Results do not include other metals present such as lead, zinc, copper and/or gold, which may result in grades higher than the silver equivalent)

Initial drilling will focus on future expansions of the San Nicolas, Dicupredura, Vita del Pueblo and Guadalupe-Soledad veins. The veins found so far average about 3.0 meters and typically contain varying amounts of silver, gold, copper, lead and zinc.

Recent mapping efforts by the Sailfish have identified more than 20 veins covering an area of ​​more than 15 square kilometers, some of which are estimated to be more than 2.0 kilometers long. Preliminary sampling of most of the veins indicated that they were mineralized (see Map 2). Highlights of surface sampling include:

• Sample 43038, Pueblo Vita: 1 meter with a rating of 1.867 grams/ton of silver
• Sample 43235, discovery vein: 2 meters, weighing 24.4 grams/ton of gold and 44.5 grams/ton of silver
• Sample 45352, Vita San Nicolas: 1.5 meters grading 6.07 grams/ton gold and 201 grams/ton silver
• Sample 45331, San Nicolas Fen: 1.0 meters grading 30 g/t gold, 190 g/t silver.

The most important points that emerge from these results are:

• They demonstrate the potential for very large areas of excavation of major vein structures outside of areas subject to historical excavation;
• The potential for gold mineralization is high, especially in the southeastern extensions of the veins, which are exposures of the deeper parts of the veins. And the,
• These sample results do not include results from other samples in newly identified veins and/or areas immediately outside the Central Javellanes;

Kevin Brewer, president and CEO of CMC Metals, noted that Gavilanes is a transformative transaction. It is an important asset with tremendous exploration potential that provides the opportunity for significant growth for the company in 2024 and beyond.

“Getting a project permitted with a strong resource base, extensive mineralized veins in three mineralized zones covering an area of ​​more than 20 square kilometres, and the potential to demonstrate near-term resource expansion through previous and proposed drilling, is an absolutely amazing achievement for CMC. “We will start drilling at Gavilanes in April 2024,” he said.