The sound of diesel engines will pierce the ambient silence on-site Sun Silver’s (ASX:SS1) 292Moz resource Maverick Springs silver-gold project next week as maiden drilling kicks off – in what will be a hotly watched exploration campaign for the silver explorer.
The company has locked in a drilling contractor to fire up a Reverse Circulation (RC) drill rig at Maverick starting on 8th of July US time.
The current campaign in motion foresees a 7,500m drilling program targeting both infill and extensional drilling targets in a bid to boost the company’s existing 292Moz resource – as well as, ideally, pushing more resource into higher confidence categories.
Drillers will be targeting a recently defined high grade zone – based on historical data reviews – which indicate silver hits up to 303 grams per tonne (g/t) of silver. That interception was over 54m long from depths of 202m.
A second 54m long intercept from 227m depth clocked in at 278g/t.
The company’s existing 292Moz resource assumes an average silver grade of 72.4g/t of silver-gold equivalent. As for silver on a standalone basis, the resource covers some 176Moz of pure silver.
“We are delighted that Alford Drilling has mobilised to site. With the drill rig now onsite and ready to drill just 7 weeks since IPO, it’s a testament to the hard work completed by the entire SS1 team,” SS1 Executive Director Gerard O’Donovan said.
“The geological team’s thorough assessment of technical data and topography at Maverick Springs has defined specific drilling targets and pad locations.
“Based on these assessments, the drill program is targeting high-grade zones interpreted to trend to the northwest.”
The company reported on Tuesday that earthworks at Maverick are already well advanced with the construction and completion of new drill pads and access pathways underway. Drill pad locations were selected based on a review of historical data, and recent fieldwork.
That recent fieldwork does suggest potentially promising outcomes for the company’s drill run. In early June, the company reported its geotechs had mapped confirmed outcrop targets at Maverick ahead of the maiden campaign.
Those outcrops were found 1.2km away from existing mineral resource estimate (MRE) boundary envelope borders.
“The exploration team has made significant progress, leading to an exciting discovery beyond the current resource boundary at Maverick Springs,” Sun Silver Executive Director Gerard O’Donovan said at the time.
Pathfinder element arsenic was detected with samples reaching up to 216ppm. Not incontrovertible proof of underground mineralisation stretching 1.2km away, but a tantalising enough lead.
Management are confident in the potential of the project – Sun Silver has previously reckoned that Maverick could outshine Australian high-grade silver-gold mines past and present.
A large part of its confidence to this end is based on the geology underlying the acreage. Based in Nevada, USA, Maverick Springs is situated over the Carlin Trend – a historically significant region.
The Carlin Trend has been the focus of miners for over 100 years, with that area responsible for Nevada’s late 20th century gold mining boom. Despite California being perhaps more well-known as America’s gold mining hub, Nevada has actually outpaced the former when it comes to gold production in the last few decades.
Nevada, in fact, currently accounts for around 80% of US gold production. And the vast majority of that output is sourced from Carlin – an 8km x 64km long strip of land.
And true to Sun Silver’s name, Nevada has also been referred to as the “silver state” in the past. In fact, the Nevada state government’s official webpage still adopts that moniker.
A number of counterpart companies are active in the region including Couer Mining’s Rochester silver deposit, and, Kinross Gold Corporation’s Bald Mountain gold mine. Sun Silver has previously claimed its silver grades are superior to those found at some other nearby projects.
Only having listed on the ASX in recent history, Sun Silver has been one of the more successful IPOs through 2024. Year to date, the stock is up +165% on a market cap just under $40M.
Notably, the company jumped +100% on the day it listed.
Ahead of its maiden drill run, the company recently applied for a US$60M grant under the US Department of Energy (DoE) to establish a silver paste manufacturing plant within the United States, all things in order, using ore from Maverick Springs.
Silver paste is a crucial additive needed to manufacture solar panels which ties in with the USA’s current overhead Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) goals laid out in landmark legislation passed by the Biden Administration after months of struggle.
Should Sun Silver receive this grant, recently sent off with the help of a specialist firm, the company stands poised to leverage the United States’ critical mineral domestic supply chain strategy to its benefit.