Following the completion of a CAD 3.6 million oversubscribed financing round involving Crescat Capital, Canadian explorer Aztec Minerals Corp. (AZT: TSX-V, OTCQB: AZZTF; FRA: AZ3) is resuming work on its 3,649-hectare Cervantes porphyry gold-copper project in southeastern Sonora. The promising project is located in the heart of the productive Laramide porphyry copper belt, approximately 160 km east of the city of Hermosillo and approximately 265 km southeast of the Cananea porphyry copper-molybdenum mine (Grupo Mexico). Cervantes is also located along an east-west gold belt, 60 km west of the Mulatos epithermal gold mine (Alamos Gold), 35 km northeast of the Osisko San Antonio gold mine, 45 km west of the La India mine (Agnico Eagle), and 40 km northwest of the Santana gold deposit (Minera Alamos).
Aztec had already conducted diamond drilling (2,675 m) and RC drilling (5,267 m) on the 900 m x 600 m “California” target area in 2017-2018 and later in 2021-2022. The RC drilling program was followed by a further core drilling program of 2,588 meters in 11 drill holes, successfully expanding the primary California target area to an area of approximately 1,000 meters long and 300 to 500 meters wide, with proven continuous anomalous mineralization at a depth of over 265 meters. DThis intersected a gold oxide cap consistent with a classic gold-copper porphyry system. Drill results returned up to 1.49 g/t gold over 137 m and 1.00 g/t gold over 165 m. Several 100-meter-thick sections returned over 0.40 g/t gold. To date, seven promising mineralized zones associated with high-grade porphyries and breccias have been identified along a 7.0 km east-northeast corridor with several intersecting northwest-trending structures. The California IP geophysical anomaly is open to the sides and at depth. The IP chargeability is increasing and widening to >500 m depth over an area of 1,100 m x 1,200 m and has been confirmed by exploration drilling.
The company announced that Aztec has now commenced the first phase of its surface exploration program, which includes exploratory sampling of outcrops and geological mapping of several targets on its 100% owned gold-copper porphyry project. The program is focused on three priority gold mineralization target areas: California East, California North, and Brasil. The surface exploration program will be conducted during the regional dry season through June 2025. Field teams will investigate outcrops and subcrops found in adjacent remote areas that are currently only accessible on foot. They will explore new mineralization and alteration zones to further expand the discovery in the California Zone.
Subject to Phase 1 results, permits, market conditions, and available funding, Aztec plans a potential follow-up drill program after the regional rainy season (July to October). Follow-up drilling would target the expansion of the California gold mineralized target and may also include initial drilling in the new Brasil target area.
The main objectives of the two-phase 2025 exploration program are to further define the potential for open pit mining and heap leaching of gold in the porphyry oxide cap in California, testing the down-dip extension of phyllitic alteration in the Qfp intrusion to deeper copper-gold porphyry sulfide mineralization beneath the oxide cap; and testing the extension of mineralization in the California North, East, and Brasil target areas.
Figure 1: Cervantes is located along an east-west trending gold belt, 60 km west of the Mulatos epithermal gold mine (Alamos Gold), 35 km northeast of the Osisko San Antonio gold mine, 45 km west of the La India mine (Agnico Eagle), and 40 km northwest of the Santana gold deposit (Minera Alamos).
Conclusion: The Cervantes gold porphyry project is located in one of Mexico’s best-developed mining regions. Its neighbors within a 60-kilometer radius include some of the industry’s leading companies, such as Agnico Eagle, Alamos Gold, and Osisko Development. Crescat Capital recently came on board as an institutional investor in the latest financing round. The open-pit potential of an oxidized gold cap is important because it could serve as a financial “door opener” for a larger porphyry project for a future operator.
