Riverside Resources: Los Quarentas Drill Update

  • by Esme Whitehouse

    • Featured Image: Erika Sweeney, Senior Geologist for Riverside Resources, on site in Sonora (Photo: Riverside Resources, 2020)

    Riverside Resources (TSXV:RRI, OTCQB:RVSDF, F:R99) just announced the commencement of their 2,000m, 10-hole drill program at their partner-funded Los Cuarentas project in northern Mexico. The partnership with Hochschild Mining PLC (LSE:HOC) was announced earlier this year[1] and constitutes Hochschild funding 5 years of exploration at Los Cuarentas amounting to US$8m at the end of which Hochschild will have the option to enter a 51:49 JV agreement.

    Los Cuarentas Gold-Silver Project is located in northern Mexico in Sonora, where they have a number of other projects including Cecilia, Tajitos, and Ariel. (Figure 1). The 807 ha area is host to a high-grade, low-sulphidation Au-Ag epithermal system which was mined underground during the 1950s. Historic production figures estimate that >100,000oz of gold were produced at Los Cuarentas from the near-surface operations, and the geology is found to be analogous to the nearby projects of Premier Gold Mines, Silvercrest Metals, and First Majestic Mining.

    Figure 1. Map of the location of Riverside’s projects in Sonora, Mexico.
    Figure 1. Map of the location of Riverside’s projects in Sonora, Mexico.

    Drill targets were investigated using channel and soil sampling, carried out under the partnership, from which structural trends have been elucidated (Figure 2). A 550m long high-grade gold-in-soil anomaly was identified from these surveys, which were designed to extend vein projections and so provide an understanding of the extent of the high-grade system. Highlights from the sampling program include 32.8 g/t over 0.8m and 21.7 g/t over 1.6m (More in Table 1 below).

    Figure 2. Structural trends and targets tested by RRI-Hoch channel and soil sampling. The shown targets are only a portion of the whole property.
    Figure 2. Structural trends and targets tested by RRI-Hoch channel and soil sampling. The shown targets are only a portion of the whole property.

    The gold-silver system shows strong phyllic and argillic alteration which is variably overprinted by sulphide oxidation, and gold is hosted in quartz veins. While Riverside are indeed beginning to drill, observed vein textures and silica polymorphs thus far imply that high level sections of the epithermal system remain underexplored suggesting this drill program is only the start of unravelling the economic potential of their area.

    Table 1. Highlights of Sept 2020 channel sampling[2]
    Table 1. Highlights of Sept 2020 channel sampling[2]
    Riverside list Los Cuarentas as one of their 2020/21 catalysts and value drivers for the company[3]. While still early days for the project, results so far are certainly encouraging and I for one look forward to seeing things progress.

    Esme

     

    All information in the above article is taken from Riverside Resource’s website and materials within, unless otherwise indicated.

    Further Information

    Riverside Resources: https://www.rivres.com/

    Los Cuarentas: https://bit.ly/3kzK9GI

    [1] - https://bit.ly/31IVZqx (Partnership NR)

    [2] - https://bit.ly/37G1PwE (Sampling NR)

    Hochschild Mining: http://www.hochschildmining.com/en/home

    [3] - October 2020 Corporate Presentation https://bit.ly/3dX3Zcr

    Check out what else Riverside get up to here: https://spotlightmining.com/showcase/riverside-resources/