Unico Silver Announces Second Major Discovery in a Month at Joaquin Project in Argentina

Unico Silver (ASX: USL) continues to expand its Joaquin silver project with its second major discovery this month at the Argentinian operation.

New drilling at Joaquin has identified a mineralised zone southeast of the La Morocha deposit hot on the heels of the company’s promising gold and silver find last week in a step-out program at a southeast target of the company’s nearby La Negra prospect.

The two discoveries have extended mineralisation well beyond the boundaries of a 2013 foreign mineral resource estimate (MRE) into the underexplored Cerro Puntudo property, which contains a historical estimate of 16.7 million tonnes at 136 grams per tonne silver equivalent (AgEq) for 73 million ounces AgEq in the La Negra and La Morocha deposits.

New La Morocha SE Zone

Unico completed three diamond drill holes for 622 metres to test southeast extensions of the La Morocha structure, with standout assays received of 69 metres at 163g/t AgEq (0.9g/t gold, 94g/t silver) from 124m, including 8.5m at 656g/t AgEq (3.9g/t gold, 342g/t silver) from 163.5m.

This new zone — which Unico has named La Morocha SE — displays a strike 350 metres long, with vertical extent of 175m and thickness ranging between 35m and 45m.

The company believes that mineralisation at La Morocaha SE is open to the south and at depth.

La Negra Success

The La Negra discovery earlier this month marked a significant breakthrough in work on the southeast extension of the prospect, with best assay results of 90m at 144 g/t AgEq (1.3g/t gold, 40g/t silver) from 10m.

Mineralisation remains open to the south and at depth, with drilling now confirming at least 2km of strike along the La Negra structure.

Unico’s Phase 1 infill program at La Negra in mid-June, designed to convert the historical MRE, confirmed historical drilling while also identifying new zones of shallow, high-grade silver mineralisation previously under-represented in the geological model.

The Joaquin project is strategically located 60km west of Unico’s 91Moz AgEq Cerro Leon resource and portfolio.

“Plus150” Strategy

The drilling successes provide impetus to Unico’s “Plus150” strategy, under which it has set itself a target of defining more than 150 million ounces of pit-constrained, free-milling silver-equivalent resources across the Joaquin and Cerro Leon projects.

Managing director Todd Williams said the company’s success in intersecting wide zones of oxide gold and silver mineralisation at La Morocha SE comes at a time when it is focusing on the release of a new MRE in early 2026.

He said the latest discovery is further evidence of the potential of the underexplored Cerro Puntudo tenement, which Unico has fully consolidated since acquiring the project from Pan American Silver in August 2024.