Vancouver — A letter-of-intent agreement sets the stage for
The road-accessible property covers 17,500 hectares in the historic Almoloya silver-lead-zinc mining district, situated 40 km east of the mining town of Parral. The land package is prospective for carbonate-replacement deposits (CRD) similar to those mined in the district, including the operating Santa Barbara and Naica mines.
Sierra Almoloya covers numerous showings and the past-producing Cigarrero mine, which began operations in the 1850s. Historic production from high-grade oxide chimneys and mantos is reported to total 1.25 million tonnes grading 600 grams per tonne silver, 40% lead, 25% zinc, 1% copper, and variable gold. Mining stopped in the 1920s as the shallow oxide resources were depleted.
The property saw little activity in subsequent decades, owing to its fractured ownership and the lack of interest in deeper sulphide resources, until Western Silver picked up the project in 2002. That same year, a unit of
The first round of modern-day exploration revealed three areas considered prospective for CRD-style, silver-lead-zinc mineralization. A drilling campaign was recommended, but Anglo returned the project a year later without testing any targets.
Queenston took an interest in the project after making a property visit in May. The company views the presence of widespread alteration and mineral occurrences in limestone and marble as indicating a big hydrothermal system prospective for sulphide and oxide deposits. A large chargeability and resistivity anomaly underlies a mineralized portion of the property and is considered a priority drill target.
Queenston can earn 60% of the project by spending US$1.5 million over four years, including US$200,000 in the first. The company can boost its interest to 75% by funding a feasibility study and making a production decision. The company will launch a first-phase drill program shortly.
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