Unico Silver returns highest silver intercept to date in Phase 3 drilling at Cerro Leon project

Unico Silver (ASX: USL) has announced the highest silver intercept to date following a Phase 3 exploration campaign at its Cerro León silver-gold development in Argentina.

Drilling of 47 holes for a total 4,203 metres comprised 10 diamond holes for 1,438m and 37 reverse circulation holes for 2,765m.

The work focused on infill drilling within shallow oxide mineralisation to improve confidence for a mineral resource estimate later this year, plus extension drilling to expand the limits of oxide and sulphide mineralisation at depth and along strike.

Highest silver assay

Drilling at seven prospects reportedly returned “outstanding” intercepts in both oxide and sulphide zones.

At the Marta Norte oxide target, Unico returned its highest silver assay to date of 36 metres grading 474 grams per tonne silver equivalent (AgEq) (0.4g/t gold and 436g/t silver) from 1m including 13m at 1,096g/t AgEq (0.8g/t gold and 1,024g/t silver) from 16m.

The best oxide assay from Karina was 39m at 255g/t AgEq (0.55g/t gold and 208g/t silver) from 16m including 7m at 1,011g/t AgEq (0.93g/t gold and 903g/t silver) from 38m, while sulphide assays featured 26m at 321g/t AgEq (0.27g/t gold and 255g/t silver) from 81m, including 3m at 2,002g/t AgEq (1g/t gold and 1,839g/t silver) from 91m.

The Tranquilo target returned a best sulphide result of 12m at 449g/t AgEq (0.37g/t gold and 364g/t silver) from 55m and the highlight at Savary was 11m at 372g/t AgEq (1.8g/t gold and 91g/t silver) from 77m.

Growth strategy

Managing director Todd Williams said the results validated the company’s growth strategy at Cerro Leon and its roadmap to transition from explorer to developer.

“Phase 3 drilling has delivered the best oxide silver intercept to date at Marta Norte and continues to outline a robust, near-surface resource base that supports our Plus 150 growth target,” he said.

“At the same time, we are unlocking deeper sulphide potential at Karina, Savary and Kasia, which will extend the pipeline of high-grade mineralisation that underpins our Beyond 300 strategy.”

Project location

Located 130 kilometres north-west of San Julián, Cerro Leon is centred on the same geological trend as Cerro Vanguardia.

Historical and current reserves at Cerro Vanguardia exceed 9 million ounces of gold and 140Moz of silver.

The project is host to the second-largest vein field in the province, with mapped veins totalling 115km of cumulative strike.