First Majestic drills high-grade gold near active underground mine area at Jerritt Canyon

First Majestic Silver (TSX: FR; NYSE: AG) has announced positive drill results from its ongoing exploration program at the Jerritt Canyon gold mine in Elko County, Nevada.

The 2022 drilling campaign at Jerritt Canyon consists of short-term focused underground core drilling testing extensions of known ore controls near active mining, mid-term focused drilling to validate/test the presence of mineralized volumes near historic workings, and long-term focused drilling aiming to make new gold discoveries in the district.

The latest results come from the area along the connection drift between the Smith and SSX underground mines. Follow-up drilling at the Smith mine returned multiple high-grade gold intersections in two drill holes, one of which had assays of 19.97 grams gold per tonne over 20.9 metres (including 5.12 grams gold over 7.6 metres and 4.25 grams gold over 13.3 metres).

The Jerritt Canyon mine in northern Nevada. (Image courtesy of Jerrit Canyon Gold.)

“This gold intercept looks to have identified another high-grade underground mineralized pod near current mining activities, with similar gold grades to the recently discovered Zone 10 area,” said Keith Neumeyer, First Majestic’s president and CEO. “Additional follow up exploration holes are planned over the next few months to further define the dimensions and overall size of this exciting new area, which is located only 80 metres away from underground access.” 

According to First Majestic, the two Smith holes appear to extend the potential of the previously intersected gold mineral zone to approximately 200 metres. The new gold intercepts are located approximately 80 to 200 metres northwest of the connection drift.

Another drill hole was completed at the SSX mine below and to the southwest of gold intersections from two previous holes. The new hole cut four gold intersections located approximately 170 to 300 metres from existing mine development and from the connection drift, respectively.

The SSX underground operation first began in 1997 and continued up until 2008, with gold production coming from the Steer, Murray, MCE, Smith, West Generator and Saval deposits. In 2009, a new mine plan was prepared for the Smith and SSX deposits, and gold production resumed a year later.

Prior to underground mining, the Jerritt Canyon mine operated as an open pit from early 1981 until late 1999, with mining carried out in multiple areas. The annual production from these areas ranged from approximately 40,000 to 1.4 million ounces.

First Majestic acquired the Jerritt Canyon mine from Sprott Mining on April 30, 2021. 

Shares of First Majestic surged 7.1% by 11:20 ET Tuesday following the new exploration results.

The company has a market capitalization of $3.2 billion.