Comet Resources has hit the ground running in northern Mexico with a drill rig already pushing out diamond core from the company’s Santa Teresa gold project. The company has designed more than 2,000 metres of diamond drilling to test the historical mining area, with exploration targeting an array of quartz veins and stockworks which host high-grade gold mineralisation across the prospect.
Historical drilling at Santa Teresa has delivered a swag of drill intercepts grading more than an ounce per tonne gold, with one deep drill hole unearthing an interval of 1m at an astounding 958.4 grams per tonne gold from 239m below surface – a feat the company will look to emulate in its next development phase.
The company says the first drilling campaign at the prospect for more than a decade has been plotted with input from local expert geological consultant, Minera Cascabel. It will also test for extensions of the Santa Teresa gold system both along strike and at depth.
Canadian-based Premier Gold Mines was the last group to explore the mine environs back in 2008.
Comet’s exploration will also delve into a number of new targets adjacent to the mine area that have been identified in the course of the company’s regional mapping program.
Comet Resources Managing Director, Matthew O’Kane said:“It’s exciting to commence our initial drilling program at Santa Teresa, with gold once again around US$1,900/oz. From the detailed review of the historical drilling, information gained by our geologists from mapping of outcrop at surface of numerous veins and historical artisanal workings, we have generated multiple targets to test. The diamond drilling will also give us further information and understanding of the structure and geometry of the veins.”
The company’s Santa Teresa gold project is in northern Mexico, immediately south of the town of El Alamo. It comprises four granted mineral claims that cover more than 500 hectares, with the centrepiece of the project being the high-grade Santa Teresa gold deposit.
Gold production in the El Alamo district dates back to the late 19th century, with the region producing gold from a network of alluvial and artisanal workings, in addition to the underground mine at Santa Teresa. Gold production in the region was curtailed by the Mexican Revolution in 1912, with once fertile goldfields lying forgotten for close to a century until North American explorers ventured back in the 2000s.
Modern exploration commenced across the terrane in the late-2000s, with previous Santa Teresa owner, Premier Gold Mines, delivering a batch of high-grade drill intercepts including 2m at 32.4 g/t gold from only 19m and 3.9m at 39 g/t gold from 121m down-hole.
Interestingly, the gold project then lay dormant again until late last year when Comet acquired the property and quickly shifted exploration into high gear. The company’s assessment of the deposit produced a JORC resource estimate, based on the historical dataset, that weighed in at a healthy 369,000 tonnes grading at an impressive 7.47 g/t gold.
However, the modelling of the JORC resource and subsequent structural studies also identified an array of deeper targets for drill testing.
The current diamond campaign is aimed at defining extensions of the gold-rich system and boosting the size of the resource as Comet eyes a range of potential development scenarios for the shuttered operation.
Comet now appears to have its eye on the prize at Santa Teresa and with a rig on the ground drilling and the company also casting an eye over its recently acquired copper-gold ground in Australia’s Northern Territory, it looks to have its hands full as it charges into the second half of 2021.
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By Matt Birney
