Aztec Minerals (WKN A2DRF0 / TSXV AZT) is advancing the development of the Tombstone project in southeastern Arizona with determination and reports a series of thick gold-silver intercepts from the ongoing 2025/2026 drill program in the Contention and Westside target areas. Particularly noteworthy are 107.9 meters grading 0.62 g/t gold and 24.8 g/t silver in the Westside area, as well as 112.5 meters grading 0.48 g/t gold and 12.64 g/t silver in the Contention area!
The new results not only confirm the known near-surface oxide mineralization, but also expand the extent of the system both laterally and at depth.
Aztec Minerals Expands Westside and Contention
The 14 RC drill holes from the reverse circulation portion of the program now presented demonstrate that both core zones of the Tombstone project continue to grow. In the Westside target area, the mineralized zone has been extended to a width of 0.4 kilometers. At the same time, the Contention gold-silver zone now extends from the northern project boundary area over more than one kilometer in a north-south direction along strike.
Furthermore, all 14 reported RC drill holes intersected gold and silver mineralization. According to the company, the drill holes now connect previously known sub-areas and extend the Contention and Westside target zones to the west and at depth.
Among the strongest new results is drill hole TR26-14 in the Westside area. Multiple zones of oxidized mineralization were intersected in the Bisbee sediments, including 10.6 meters grading 0.195 g/t gold and 13.0 g/t silver from surface, and most notably 107.9 meters averaging 0.618 g/t gold and 24.8 g/t silver from 39.5 meters depth. Additional intercepts included 48.6 meters grading 0.091 g/t gold and 8.11 g/t silver from 176.3 meters, and 9.1 meters grading 0.121 g/t gold and 10.17 g/t silver from 234.1 meters. This demonstrates that the entire width of the Westside anticline has potential for oxidized precious metal mineralization.
Wide Intercepts Support the Model at the Tombstone Project
Aztec Minerals also reports wide and continuous intercepts in the Contention area. Drill hole TR26-07, drilled in the central part of the Contention mineralization, intersected three mineralized zones at 239.3 meters depth. The most significant intercept returned 112.5 meters averaging 0.479 g/t gold and 12.64 g/t silver. The drill hole ended in mineralization, indicating further potential at depth.
Drill holes TR26-05 and TR26-06, positioned at the western boundary of the central Contention area, were designed to test the western continuation and depth extension of the mineralization. Both holes intersected multiple mineralized zones and each ended in mineralization. TR26-05 returned, among others, 50.2 meters grading 0.112 g/t gold and 4.90 g/t silver, while TR26-06 yielded 59.3 meters grading 0.104 g/t gold and 4.96 g/t silver. Additionally, TR26-06 featured a 27.4-meter intercept grading 0.057 g/t gold and 29.22 g/t silver.
Additional significant results came from drill holes TR26-11 and TR26-12. Together, they extended the Contention mineralization 50 to 70 meters to the west and simultaneously to comparable depth ranges. TR26-11 returned 100.3 meters grading 0.173 g/t gold and 11.46 g/t silver, while TR26-12 yielded an additional 48.6 meters grading 0.172 g/t gold and 18.04 g/t silver.
Westside Gains Increasing Importance for Aztec Minerals
In addition to Contention, Westside is increasingly coming into focus. Multiple drill holes demonstrate that mineralization there is not limited to individual narrow structures. TR26-02 intersected four zones of oxidized mineralization, including 19.8 meters grading 0.136 g/t gold and 12.62 g/t silver from surface. TR26-08 intersected 7.6 meters grading 0.576 g/t gold and 8.4 g/t silver. TR26-04, which tested the transition area between the Westside anticline and Contention, returned, among others, 19.8 meters grading 0.220 g/t gold and 13.75 g/t silver.
TR26-01 is also geologically significant. The drill hole intersected two zones of oxidized mineralization at depth and encountered historical workings from the Westside Mine. This confirmed both the location of the historical workings and the presence of low-grade oxidized precious metal mineralization in the surrounding area. The drill hole leaves the mineralization open in all directions.
In the Westside area, Aztec Minerals is not only pursuing conventional expansion targets, but also testing intersections of anticlines, veins, and fissure veins beneath mineralized outcrops and historical shafts. This is important for the overall understanding of the Tombstone project, as it could connect multiple mineralized sub-zones into a larger system.
Drill Program Continues, Deep Targets Remain in Focus
The 2025/2026 drill program at the Tombstone project comprises a total of 17,000 meters. To date, 59 RC drill holes and six core holes have been completed. Additional assay results are still pending, including additional targets in the Westside area as well as step-out drilling west of and below the Main Contention Zone. In parallel, the core drilling portion of the program continues. The seventh core hole of the program, TC26-03, is currently being advanced.
The deeper core holes primarily serve to test larger geological target structures below the known oxide zone. Drill hole TC25-04 was drilled to 831.7 meters depth before it had to be terminated due to drilling problems prior to the planned endpoint at 1,000 meters. Retrograde exoskarns, hornfelsed sediments, and hydrothermal breccia veins with indications of possible porphyry veinlets were encountered. Drill hole TC26-02 reached 861.9 meters depth and also intersected skarn alteration and sulfides.
Aztec Minerals holds 85% of the joint venture company for the Tombstone project, which encompasses a large portion of the historical claims in the famous Tombstone silver district. The project is located approximately 100 kilometers southeast of Tucson. Historically, an estimated 32 million ounces of silver and 250,000 ounces of gold were produced in the district between 1878 and 1939. The current drill results now demonstrate that Aztec Minerals is further expanding the known near-surface oxide mineralization in the Contention and Westside areas—and that the Tombstone project in Arizona is far from being fully delineated geologically.
