Resources Top 5: Mithril drilling hits high grade gold and silver in Mexico

Mithril shares gained strongly on gold and silver hits, with yet more drilling to come at its Copalquin project in Mexico.

Mithril has much to cheer after drilling intersected high-grade gold and silver at its Copalquin District project in Mexico. Pic: Getty Images

• Mithril carrying out drilling to increase gold, silver resources at El Refugio

• Patriot has identified caesium potential coincident with lithium resources at its CV13 pegmatite

• Aurum said last week that drilling at its Boundiali project returned a result of 12m at 22.02g/t gold from 145m

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Monday, March 3, 2025.

Mithril Silver and Gold (ASX:MTH)

Resource update drilling at MTH’s Copalquin District project in Mexico is being advanced after drilling intersected multiple high-grade veins and delivered impressive results such as 4.95m at 20.5g/t gold and 1833g/t silver from 107m.

Other standout intersections included 0.56m at 22.8g/t gold and 1,425g/t silver from 130.49m and 3.77m at 1.42g/t gold and 100.8g/t silver from 136.78m.

Considerable strike and depth potential exists in the area where an estimated 100 historical underground gold-silver mines and workings make up one of the many precious metal districts in Mexico’s prolific Sierra Madre gold-silver trend.

The company is now expecting the upcoming drilling to increase the current ~529,000oz gold equivalent resource at the El Refugio deposit.

“Drilling in the Target 1 area will continue until the end of March 2025, the anticipated cut-off date for the resource update drilling,” he said.

“The second drill is scheduled to be on site and commence drilling early April, at the Target 2 area.

“Progress is on track to complete 35,000 metres of drilling this year, aiming to considerably expand the resource footprint and define the 10 km wide, extensive epithermal silver-gold system in our 70km2 district.”

Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT)

A review of the company’s drill core assay dataset has identified multiple distinct areas of considerable caesium enrichment (>1%) that is coincident with its Vega high-grade lithium zone (CV13).

The primary zone of enrichment can be traced in drill holes over a very large area of about 600m by 400m and remains open in several directions.

Pollucite, the principal and preferred ore mineral for caesium, has been identified at the CV13 pegmatite and is interpreted to be the principal source of the caesium enrichment at the project.

Caesium is a rare and valuable commodity with a range of significant industrial applications such as in atomic clocks, fuel cells, nuclear medicine and batteries. It is listed as a critical mineral by Canada, Japan and the US.

And it's generating some serious buzz right now, with Toronto-listed Power Metals up over 400% in the past year after making a discovery of the under the radar commodity in Ontario.

PMT's discovery is significant for the company as it has the potential to be a meaningful by-product to future lithium operations at CV13, which is just 5km from the main CV5 spodumene pegmatite.

This is particularly true as there are only a handful of operators globally currently producing caesium products.

“The identification of multiple zones of extensive cesium (caesium) mineralization in drill hole at Shaakichiuwaanaan is very significant,” vice president of exploration Darren Smith said.

“Cesium pegmatite occurrences over 1% Cs2O are very rare and represent only the most fractioned and evolved portion of a pegmatite body.

“Although the focus for the company is lithium pegmatite and advancing CV5 to production, there is a clear opportunity to potentially delineate a pollucite (cesium) zone of significant scale.”

Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE)

(up on no news)

While AUE had no news out today, it had announced late last month that drilling at its Boundiali project in Côte d'Ivoire had returned further shallow, high-grade gold intersections at the BDT3 prospect.

The first of four exploration holes at the prospect returned a thick, high-grade intersection of 12m at 22.02g/t gold from 145m including 2m at 35.59g/t gold.

Assays are still pending for part of this hole and the remaining three diamond holes from its ongoing program.

The company has eight self-owned diamond rigs carrying out a 100,000m drill program at Boundiali this year.

Two resource updates are planned in CY2025 to grow the maiden 1.59Moz resource.

AUE, which recently completed a takeover of Mako Gold, has also started a pre-feasibility study for completion by the end of this year.

Talisman Mining (ASX:TLM) and AuMega Metals (ASX:AAM)

(Up on no news)

Both TLM and AAM started drill programs at their respective projects last week.

TLM is carrying out a four-hole mud rotary and diamond program totalling 2400m at its Mabel Creek IOCG project in central South Australia to test several large, near-coincident gravity and magnetic targets along an interpreted east-west oriented fault.

Mabel Creek comprises three exploration licences covering ~1040km2 about 30km west of Coober Pedy in the Gawler Craton.

It is within the interpreted boundaries of the state’s IOCG corridor within the Proterozoic-age Gawler Craton which hosts the world class Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Prominent Hill deposits.

A detailed gravity survey by the company in 2024 identified near-coincident magnetic and gravity features adjacent to district-scale faults and intrusions prospective for IOCG style targets.

The first pass drill program will test four priority targets.

Meanwhile, AAM has started diamond drilling with two rigs at the Nitty Gritty target within its Bunker Hill project along the Cape Ray/Valentine Shear in south central Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

The company had previously uncovered high-grade copper and silver outcropping samples at Nitty Gritty.

AAM will also mobilise a reverse circulation rig to test basal till/bottom-of-hole in key areas.

Once drilling at this prospect is completed, the rigs will move on to drill at the Bunker Hill West prospect which has historical high-grade gold in outcrops and where the company’s recent geophysical survey highlighted significant structural complexity.

Assays from diamond and RC drilling will start arriving in mid-to-late March and will flow regularly through Q2 2025.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Mithril Silver and Gold is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.