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Kootenay reiterated in Wednesday’s release that its plan is still to complete a maiden NI 43-101 resource calculation for La Negra. Its next step will be to interpret, compile and collate Phase II results into a 3D geologic model; that will then be used to design the next phase of drilling.
Kootenay Silver (TSXV:KTN) enjoyed a share price boost of nearly 10 percent on Wednesday after announcing results from the last three holes of the Phase II drill program completed at its La Negra diatreme silver discovery.
La Negra is located at Kootenay’s Mexico-based Promontorio project, and while the company has been conducting work there for some time, it wasn’t until last October that it confirmed it as “a substantial new silver discovery.” The launch of Phase I drilling followed shortly thereafter, and when that was completed in December, Kootenay revealed plans to “move the project quickly to a maiden NI 43-101 resource calculation.”
Phase II drill program
Phase II drilling began in January in support of that plan. As James McDonald, the company’s president and CEO, explained at the time, the program’s overall objective was to “determin[e] the overall size and extent of La Negra’s contained silver” by “systematically building on the multiple high-grade silver results and widespread silver mineralization returned from previous surface sampling and Phase I drilling.”
Based on McDonald’s comments in Wednesday’s release, the Phase II program was successful. “[T]he program has been a major step forward for the La Negra Silver discovery,” he said, adding, “[t]he continuity of silver grades and consistency of silver mineralization to depth set the stage for the advancement of La Negra. Moreover, results reinforce La Negra’s potential for a low-cost, open pittable silver resource.”
Sixteen holes covering 3,040 meters were completed as part of the program, with results being released in three stages. The first batch of six holes intercepted “significant widths and grades of silver mineralization,” while the company said the second batch of seven holes extended the silver mineralization at La Negra by a further 150 meters in depth. As mentioned, the third and final batch was comprised of three holes — according to Kootenay, high-grade intercepts were encountered in two of the three holes, with the extent of the mineralized breccia being expanded to the northeast and to depth.
What’s particularly important about the third set of results is that hole LN-40-15 intercepted 798 g/t silver over 5 meters within successively wider intervals of 353 g/t silver 13 meters, 252 g/t silver over 24 meters and 124 g/t silver over 56 meters at a vertical depth of around 300 meters from the top of the mineralized hill.
Next steps
Kootenay confirmed in Wednesday’s release that its plan is still to complete a maiden NI 43-101 resource calculation for La Negra. Its next step will be to interpret, compile and collate Phase II results into a 3D geologic model; that will then be used to design the next phase of drilling. A more exact timeline for the next program will be announced after compilation takes place.
Investors can also expect Kootenay to release the results of follow-up ground exploration work on two “high priority mineralized trends called Vania and the La Negra Silver Trend” in the near future.
As mentioned, Wednesday’s news boosted Kootenay’s share price — it was up 9.3 percent, or $0.04, at $0.47, at close of day.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Related reading:
Drill Tracker Weekly: Kootenay Silver Extends La Negra Silver Breccia to Depth
Kootenay Silver Reports High-grade Silver Results from La Negra Drilling
Kootenay Silver CEO Jim McDonald Talks New Silver Discovery in Mexico
The Core Shack Dozen: Kootenay Silver Discovers Near-surface Silver Deposit at La Negra