Metalsource extends Silver Hill below old workings

Metalsource Mining (CSE: MSM; US-OTC: MSMMF) pushed Silver Hill mineralization about 315 metres below surface in North Carolina, as it works towards a first modern resource estimate at the past-producing U.S. silver camp.

Hole SH26-11 cut 10.64 metres grading 3.3 grams gold and 27 grams silver per tonne, plus 3.3% lead, 7.9% zinc and 0.2% copper, starting from 138.41 metres downhole. Within that, 1.52 metres from 142.98 metres ran 19.1 grams gold, 92 grams silver, 11.7% lead, 25.1% zinc and 0.5% copper. Hole SH26-15, the deepest result reported, returned 10.18 metres grading 2.1 grams gold and 16.4 grams silver per tonne, plus 1.5% lead, 2.9% zinc and 0.4% copper, from 218.66 metres. That interval included 2.71 metres from 226.13 metres grading 4.5 grams gold and 41 grams silver, plus 5.3% lead, 10.3% zinc and 0.2% copper.

“What is particularly encouraging about hole 11 is not simply the high-grade interval, but the strength of the broader mineralized package,” CEO Joe Cullen said in a Wednesday press release. “Multiple stacked high-grade zones, combined with substantial lead-zinc content throughout the interval, provide further evidence of continuity within the system and reinforce our confidence in the potential to continue expanding mineralization along strike and at depth.

Silver Hill, abiout 170 km by road from state capital Raleigh, covers 5 sq. km of private land in Davidson County and dates to 1839, when it became the first significant silver discovery in the U.S. The wider Carolina belt already hosts a good benchmark. OceanaGold (TSX, NYSE: OGC) is spending growth capital on the Palomino underground project and ongoing resource drilling at its Haile gold mine in South Carolina, the largest gold mine in the eastern U.S., which has produced more than 1.4 million oz. since 2017 and has reserve mine life through 2036.

Metalsource’ Toronto-listed shares held steady on Wednesday afternoon at $1.65 apiece, after growing nearly elevenfold over the past 12 months. The company has a market capitalization of $119.5 million (US$85.8 million).

Larger envelope

Deep step-out holes like these matter more than isolated high-grade hits at this stage – they help Metalsource show the old workings sit inside a larger mineralized body with room to grow.

Elsewhere, SH26-10 returned 4.6 metres grading 0.7 gram gold pr tonne and 23.9 grams silver, plus 2.7% lead, 6.1% zinc and 0.1% copper, from 111.98 metres downhole. SH26-16 cut 8.56 metres grading 0.6 gram gold and 7.7 grams silver, plus 0.8% lead and 2.1% zinc, from 224.45 metres.

Near surface, SH25-04 intersected 1.55 metres grading 0.2 gram gold and 40.4 grams silver, plus 1.5% lead and 2.6% zinc, from 58.55 metres, pointing to continuity north of the inclined shaft as well as at depth.

The results remain early stage. Metalsource reported core lengths rather than true widths, and its collar table lists 11 completed holes, 10 holes awaiting assays and one abandoned hole.

The company has also recently finished an induced polarization survey to help trace extensions beyond the old mine area and to guide more drill work.