And so it begins: Aztec Minerals (TSXV AZT / WKN A2DRF0) is once again drilling on the Tombstone gold and silver project in Arizona. With the new drilling program, planned for a total of 5,000 meters, the company aims to build on last year’s successes. In 2024, Aztec drilled, among other things, 7,269 g/t silver equivalent (!) over 1.52 meters as part of a 25.8-meter wide mineralized zone with 569 g/t silver equivalent! Overall, multiple zones of silver and gold mineralization were encountered on Tombstone last year, which they now want to investigate further.
For this purpose, Aztec Minerals has planned a 5,000-meter program consisting of both reverse circulation drilling and diamond core drilling. With the reverse circulation (RC) drilling, the company is targeting near-surface zones considered promising for high-grade gold and silver mineralization. According to Aztec, these are connected to the aforementioned extremely high-grade findings from last year.
In addition, the company is also investigating the project’s sulfide potential for the first time with three core drillings, based on mineralization in the style of a Carbonate Replacement Deposit (CRD). These targets result from the improved understanding that the Aztec Minerals team has gained about the potential CRD mineralization below the near-surface, high-grade mineralization discovered.
Depth Potential Explored for the First Time
The company had previously discovered several large, highly conductive mineralized bodies below the historic gold and silver district. This was done by examining anomalies identified using NSAMT (natural-source audio-frequency magneto-telluric) surveys. Now, Aztec has combined the latest drilling data and data from 3D modeling of available exploration data with the NSAMT data, generating multiple, particularly promising and drill-ready CRD targets on the property!
Details of Aztec Minerals’ 2025 Drilling Program
The drilling program is designed to expand the known mineralization horizontally and down-dip beyond the drilling conducted between 2020 and 2024 in the Contention Pit and Westside areas. Extension drilling aims to expand the near-surface, thick gold-silver mineralization with large tonnages discovered there and explore the identified deep CRD targets on the property.
The target areas are within the patented claims of the Tombstone property, which gives the joint venture – Aztec Minerals holds 78.7% of Tombstone – the opportunity to advance exploration quickly and expect a short permitting period for ongoing and future drilling. The company is targeting several zones and types of high-grade gold and silver mineralization with the drilling:
- Step-out drilling near the Contention pit is intended to expand the known broad gold-silver mineralization with large tonnages horizontally and down-dip beyond the holes drilled in 2020-24.
- Initial shallow drilling on the property targets the continuity of numerous high-grade mineralized structures associated with known historical underground production. The following types of mineralization and geological conditions have been recognized in these targets:
- Potentially high-grade mineralization along anticlines, with targets refined through the first-time integration of all exploration data into a modern geological 3D model
- Potentially high-grade mineralization along fractures and faults aligned along existing high-grade historical mine workings
- Potentially high-grade mineralization at the edges or through intrusive structures and adits mapped in the Contention Pit and Westside areas
Conclusion: Aztec Minerals is getting serious. 5,000 meters of drilling are intended to show that the already proven, partly extremely high-grade gold and silver mineralization can be significantly expanded. The targets certainly seem very promising. If last year’s high grades can be replicated, it should at least make the market take notice in the current environment of strong gold and silver prices.
