Andean Silver Hits Multiple High-Grade Silver-Gold Veins at Cerro Bayo
Andean Silver’s (ASX: ASL) aggressive exploration campaign at Cerro Bayo has led to a new discovery at the Chilean silver-gold project.
Since successfully acquiring Cerro Bayo in early 2024, Andean has continued to accelerate the pipeline of high-grade drill-ready discoveries close to existing infrastructure, underpinning the exciting resource growth trajectory of the project.
Notably, the latest discovery was made in area representing an untested extension west of the Taitao open pit at Cerro Bayo.
Highlight Channel samples
Channel samples from outcropping high-grade silver and gold veins included 1.3 metres at 2,661 grams per tonne silver equivalent (422g/t silver & 27g/t gold) or 32.1g/t gold equivalent.
Highlight silver and gold rock chips at Cerro Bayo have so far included 8,965g/t silver equivalent (7,344g/t Ag & 19.5g/t Au) or 108g/t AuEq, and 8,452g/t silver equivalent (1,359g/t Ag & 85.5g/t Au) or 101.8g/t AuEq.
The new discoveries are close to historic mines with significant resources, and Andean believes the new interpretation of the area highlights the strong potential for more.
Aggressive Exploration Campaign
Chief executive officer Tim Laneyrie said Andean is continuing to execute an aggressive exploration and resource growth campaign throughout the 330-square-kilometre Cerro Bayo mine district.
Since completing the acquisition, the company has increased the mineral resource at Cerro Bayo by more than 340% and discovered multiple new vein systems.
“The discovery of these stacked veins shows yet again how much low-hanging fruit we have at Cerro Bayo,” Mr Laneyrie said.
“We already had a huge number of opportunities for resource growth through new targets and extensions of existing veins and now we have this extremely prospective area 1km from the plant.”
Looking to Add New Rigs
Andean is considering adding to the three rigs currently operating in the field, as results from its geophysics program and mapping undergo further interpretation over the coming months.
At the same time, Andean has recently commenced internal studies, including mine planning and infrastructure reviews, which it intends to complete later this year.
“The plant is on warm idle and awaiting a restart—the Andean team aims to continue building on this growth over the coming year while advancing to the next stage of the project,” Mr Laneyrie said.
Brownfields and Greenfields Targets
Andean is also planning to drill brownfields targets to grow the existing resource at the Laguna Verde and Cerro Bayo District areas over the coming 12-month period.
The company also intends to review results and develop a comprehensive drill campaign over greenfield projects from target generation and geophysical campaigns.
The project currently hosts indicated and inferred mineral resources of 9.8 million tonnes at 353g/t silver equivalent for 111 million silver equivalent ounces.