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Mercado Minerals (CSE: MERC) reported the first assay results from its inaugural diamond drill program at the Copalito Project in Sinaloa, Mexico on Wednesday, with the opening trio of holes confirming continuity along the 5 Señores vein.
The headline hole, COP-26-001, cut a robust quartz-carbonate vein with banded, colloform and crustiform epithermal textures starting at just 43.60 metres downhole. Within that intercept, a 1.20-metre core length returned 848 grams per tonne silver and 4.83 g/t gold.
Highlight intercepts from the first batch include:
- COP-26-001: 6.50 metres of 256 g/t silver, 1.45 g/t gold, 0.32% lead and 1.06% zinc from 43.60 metres depth
- Including 3.45 metres of 445 g/t silver, 2.26 g/t gold, 0.11% lead and 0.24% zinc
- Including 1.20 metres of 848 g/t silver, 4.83 g/t gold, 0.20% lead and 0.47% zinc
- COP-26-003: 7.25 metres of 89 g/t silver, 0.46 g/t gold, 0.12% lead and 0.49% zinc from 28.55 metres depth
- Including 4.25 metres of 149 g/t silver, 0.73 g/t gold, 0.19% lead and 0.77% zinc
- Including 1.90 metres of 234 g/t silver, 0.51 g/t gold, 0.14% lead and 0.51% zinc
The final hole in the release, COP-26-002, intersected a wider but lower-grade zone of vein and faulted vein breccia, returning 16.70 metres of 30 g/t silver and 0.18 g/t gold from 63.20 metres. A 1.50-metre slice within that interval graded 180 g/t silver, 0.81 g/t gold and 3.46% zinc. The three holes targeted gaps between historic drilling on the 5 Señores vein, where the company had flagged potential flexures in strike and dip that could host thicker, higher-grade shoots.
Chief Executive Officer Daniel Rodriguez said the early returns prove continuity of the structure and expand its potential, “With these first three results we are proving the continuation of 5 Señores and growing the potential of that structure. We are happy with what we are seeing and looking forward to interpreting and analysing the next batch of results. We have moved onto testing El Agua Vein and then El Pilar with a similar approach to what we did at 5 Señores.”
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The results land roughly a week after Mercado said its 3,000-metre program had passed the halfway mark, with 12 holes and 1,479 metres completed and the rig moving from 5 Señores onto the El Agua vein. El Pilar is next in the queue, alongside an expanded soil sampling effort across the 2,870-hectare property on the western edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Mercado Minerals last traded at $0.185 on the CSE.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Mercado Minerals is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. Canacom Group is currently long the equity of Mercado Minerals. The author has been compensated to cover Mercado Minerals on The Deep Dive, with The Deep Dive having full editorial control. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. We may buy or sell securities in the company at any time. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.
