Canadian explorer Aztec Minerals reports multiple high-grade silver and gold hits from its drilling in Arizona in 2025, strong progress on the Cervantes porphyry gold-copper project, and is funding an expanded drilling program for 2026 through fresh capital raises.
Aztec Minerals: Focused on Tombstone and Cervantes
Aztec Minerals (TSX-V: AZT; WKN A2DRF0) looks back on a decisive year for the company in 2025. The explorer is focused on two core projects in North America: an 85% joint venture interest in the Tombstone silver-gold project in southeastern Arizona and a 100% interest in the Cervantes gold-copper project in the Mexican state of Sonora.
As President and CEO Simon Dyakowski explains, 2025 was a year in which Aztec Minerals laid the foundation for the future. Technically, the focus was on new drilling successes at Tombstone and the systematic advancement of Cervantes. On the corporate side, Aztec Minerals strengthened its capital base and increased its JV stake in Tombstone to 85%. Against the backdrop of historic highs in gold and silver prices, the company is now preparing for an expanded work program in 2026.
Tombstone Project: Record Grades and Largest Drilling Program in Company History
Aztec’s focus in 2025 was clearly on the Tombstone project in Arizona. The district is considered a historical silver-gold site, which Aztec is re-examining with modern exploration techniques.
At the beginning of the year, the company reported the highest silver grades to date drilled by Aztec at Tombstone. In drill hole TR24-16 in the southern extension area of the historic Contention pit, an extremely high-grade zone was intersected:
- 1.52 meters with 7,269 g/t silver equivalent (corresponding to 3,669 g/t silver and 44.7 g/t gold), embedded in
- 25.8 meters with 569 g/t silver equivalent with predominantly oxide silver-gold mineralization.
In total, the same borehole delivered 106.4 meters averaging 147.9 g/t silver equivalent (0.90 g/t gold and 76.2 g/t silver), further underpinning the continuity of the shallow-dipping oxide mineralization along the Contention trend.
At the same time, Aztec Minerals systematically tested the Westside target zone west of the Contention pit for the first time. Drill hole TR24-13 intersected 24.4 meters with 106.24 g/t AgEq within a wider section of 85.4 meters with 47.31 g/t AgEq at shallow depth. The results suggest that the Westside structure could also host shallow-dipping silver-gold oxide mineralization similar to the Contention zone.
To secure control over promising structures, Aztec Minerals significantly increased the Tombstone land package in 2025: By staking 31 additional claims, the project area increased by approximately 47% to now 663 hectares.
Aztec Minerals Expands Drilling Program and Hits Highest Gold Grades
Based on the good results, Aztec Minerals launched its most extensive drilling program to date at Tombstone in mid-2025. Originally, 5,000 meters of reverse circulation (RC) and core drilling were planned, but the program was expanded to at least 8,500 meters and is expected to continue until 2026.
In addition to further defining the shallow oxide mineralization, core drilling is being used for the first time to specifically test CRD (Carbonate Replacement Silver-Lead-Zinc Systems) targets below the oxide zones. Among the reported results are several high-grade hits, including:
- TR25-03: 6.08 m with 456.6 g/t AgEq within 50.3 m with 89.7 g/t AgEq,
- TR25-06: 3.04 m with 2,149.5 g/t AgEq within 28.9 m with 250.2 g/t AgEq,
- TR25-05: 4.6 m with 590 g/t AgEq within 47.1 m with 85.5 g/t AgEq (0.55 g/t gold and 36.4 g/t silver).
At the end of the year, Aztec Minerals also reported the company’s highest gold intercepts to date at Tombstone: Drill hole TR25-17 averaged 36.5 meters with an average of 8.14 g/t Au and 49.67 g/t Ag from 9.1 meters depth in a previously untested zone in the northern area of the Contention target! This also includes a section of 4.6 meters with 58.5 g/t gold and 158 g/t silver.
The drilling activity from 2020 to 2025 has thus demonstrated an extensive gold-silver mineralization in the Contention zone and adjacent target areas, which remains open in all directions. For 2026, the plan is to further expand the shallow high-grade zones and prepare the database for an initial resource estimate.
Cervantes Project: Porphyry Gold-Copper System Takes Shape
In addition to Tombstone, Aztec Minerals pursued a systematic surface program in 2025 on the 100% company-owned Cervantes project in Sonora, Mexico. The project hosts a porphyry gold-copper system, the core of which is the California zone.
As part of the mapping and rock sampling, the known extent of the California system was extended by approximately 0.5 kilometers to the east. In addition, Aztec Minerals identified new occurrences of porphyry-associated mineralization in neighboring target areas such as Brasil, Estrella, California East, California North and Purisima East. Individual samples reached:
- up to 15.6 g/t gold,
- up to 177.3 g/t silver, and
- up to 8,062 ppm copper.
Previous drilling programs (2022–2023) had already demonstrated broad gold mineralization near the surface in the California zone, including:
- 137 m with 1.49 g/t gold (including 51.7 m with 3.42 g/t Au, CAL22-005),
- 165 m with 1.00 g/t gold (including 24.4 m with 4.25 g/t Au, CAL22-004),
- 152 m with 0.87 g/t gold (including 33.5 m with 2.05 g/t Au, CAL22-012).
Aztec Minerals’ first drilling program around seven years ago had already outlined an extensive oxide gold cap over a porphyry gold-(copper) system in the California area, with sections of up to 160 meters in length at 0.77 g/t gold. The current field work is intended to create the basis for an expanded step-out drilling program that could test the extent of the shallow oxide zone and other targets in 2026.
Financing, Higher Tombstone Stake and Outlook 2026
To finance the work, Aztec Minerals completed two oversubscribed capital increases in 2025: In May, the company received CAD 3.6 million from a private placement, and in October a further CAD 10 million was added as part of a bought deal. At the same time, Aztec increased its joint venture stake in the Tombstone project from 77.7% to 85%, which further strengthens corporate control in the historic silver-gold district.
For 2026, Aztec Minerals has defined several clear priorities:
- Continuation of the ongoing RC and core drilling program at Tombstone with further results already in the first quarter,
- targeted expansion of the shallow high-grade gold and silver zones around the Contention pit and the Westside target in preparation for a possible first resource estimate,
- further core drilling on potential CRD targets at depth, depending on the progress of the program and the financing structure,
- Continuation of surface exploration at Cervantes in the first half of the year and a potential drilling program to expand the oxide gold mineralization in the California zone and in adjacent target areas.
In addition, management signals that Aztec Minerals will also be looking for new projects with large-volume gold, copper and silver potential in politically stable jurisdictions in the Americas.
