According to Mining.com, Aya Gold & Silver Inc. has reported the strongest mineralization yet encountered at its Boumadine polymetallic project in Morocco, following the discovery of a new high-grade parallel structure.
Drill hole BOU-MP25-087 intersected 15 meters grading 3.31 g/t gold, 1,900 g/t silver, 4.8% zinc, 1.8% lead, and 0.03% copper from a depth of 138 meters, including 8.7 meters grading 5.37 g/t gold, 3,208 g/t silver, 6.3% zinc, 2.8% lead, and 0.05% copper.
Scotia Capital mining analyst Ovais Habib noted that both infill and step-out drilling results “indicate resource expansion potential.”
Three weeks prior, Aya had announced that a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) showed the project could recoup its investment in under three years at current gold prices.
Expanding Exploration and New Discoveries
Aya stated that BOU-MP25-087 was drilled south of the main Boumadine trend, outside the planned open-pit area defined in the ongoing pre-feasibility study (PFS).
The company’s 2025 drilling program has already completed 133,000 meters at the Tizi and Imariren zones and other targets, confirming continuous mineralization over 5.4 kilometers, which remains open in all directions.
Additional significant intercepts include:
BOU-RC25-026: 6 meters grading 37.03 g/t gold, 334 g/t silver, 2.8% zinc, 1% lead, 0.2% copper from 50 meters.
BOU-RC25-043: 9 meters grading 2.69 g/t gold, 45 g/t silver from 152 meters.
BOU-DD25-623: 47 meters grading 0.94 g/t gold, 399 g/t silver, 1.4% zinc, 1.2% lead, 0.03% copper from 183 meters, marking the new high-grade parallel structure discovery in the southern zone.
Aya plans follow-up drilling to further define this new structure, potentially increasing total resource tonnage.
Strong Growth and Economic Potential
CEO Benoit La Salle stated, “Boumadine continues to demonstrate strong expansion potential. These high-grade results all point to larger resource growth and expanded pit design.”
Aya holds an 85% interest in the Boumadine project, which is designed for six open pits and three underground mines, with an 11.1-year mine life and 8,000 tonnes per day processing capacity.
A November 4 study estimated a post-tax NPV of US$3 billion, IRR of 77%, and a payback period of only 1.2 years at a US$4,000/oz gold price scenario.
Resource Overview
The project hosts multiple sulfide lenses trending northwest and dipping northeast. The massive sulfide zones consist primarily of pyrite with sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite.
Located in Errachidia Province, about 220 km east of Ouarzazate, the Boumadine property covers 339 km², with an additional 600 km² under exploration license application.
In February, Aya announced a 160% increase in indicated resources and a 24% increase in inferred resources:
Indicated: 5.2 Mt @ 91 g/t Ag, 2.78 g/t Au, 2.8% Zn, 0.85% Pb.
Inferred: 29.2 Mt @ 82 g/t Ag, 2.63 g/t Au, 2.11% Zn, 0.82% Pb.
Total contained metals include 76.8 million ounces of silver, 2.4 million ounces of gold, 615,000 tonnes of zinc, and 237,000 tonnes of lead.
[出处 – 上海有色网] 摩洛哥布马丁多金属矿钻探见富矿 https://news.smm.cn/news/103646300
