Aya discovers new gold-copper zone at Morocco site

[Redator]

Canadian miner Aya Gold & Silver (TSX: AYA) cut a highlight result of 9 metres grading 80 grams silver per tonne at its Boumadine project in Morocco and said it discovered a new high-grade gold-copper zone at surface.

Highlight hole BOU-DD25-547, in the Tizi zone, also yielded 42 grams gold, 3.6% zinc, 1.8% lead and 0.04% copper from 117 metres depth, Aya said Monday in a statement. Another hole, BOU-MP25-028, intercepted 3.27 grams gold per tonne, 19 grams silver, 0.3% zinc, 0.1% lead and 0.1% copper over 4.3 metres from 392 metres downhole, the company said.

The latest drill results extend the project’s Imariren mineralized trend by 1 km, Aya said. Both the Imariren and Tizi zones remain open in all directions.

“Boumadine continues to showcase significant potential as a large-scale, high-grade deposit, with mineralization remaining open in all directions, reinforcing the opportunity for further resource expansion,” Scotia Capital mining analyst Ovais Habib said Monday in a note. “This growth underscores our view of the project’s strategic importance and its capacity to evolve into a cornerstone asset.”

Resource update

Monday’s results come about four months after Aya boosted the indicated resource at Boumadine by 160% and the inferred resource by 24% over a 2024 report.

Indicated resources now stand at 5.2 million tonnes grading 91 grams silver per tonne, 2.78 grams gold, 2.8% zinc and 0.85% lead, the company said Feb. 24.

The new high-grade gold-copper zone is located west of the Boumadine main trend. Called Asirem, it extends the mineralized footprint by more than 9 km. Grab samples from the zone returned 3.34 grams gold and 4% copper, Aya said.

Exploration and development

Aya has now completed 79,732 metres of drilling at Boumadine this year as part of its scheduled drill program, which is expected to cover up to 140,000 metres. The miner has set aside C$25 million to C$30 million for exploration and development in 2025.

The company is aiming to release a preliminary economic assessment of the project next year.

Aya shares rose about 1% to C$12.25 in midday trading in Toronto Monday, giving the company a market capitalization of about C$1.8 billion. The stock has ranged between C$8.52 and C$19.56 in the past year.