High-grade silver assays are boosting Kootenay Silver's (TSXV: KTN; US-OTC: KOOYF) confidence in its Columba silver project in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The property is located 25 km south of the city of Nuevo Casas Grandes, with a population of 55,000.
Highlights from four drill holes included 1,070 grams silver per tonne over 1 metre within a broader interval of 3 metres grading 516 grams silver per tonne, starting from a depth of 148 metres in drill hole 19-009. The hole intercepted a previously unknown hanging wall vein, as did drill hole 19-010, which intercepted 200 grams per tonne silver over 3 metres immediately from surface.
Drilling at the F Vein, which was worked historically via two shafts (one to about 90 metres and a second to about 200 metres), also returned significant grades. Drill hole 119-008 returned 408 grams silver over 5 metres, including 707 grams silver over 1 metre, starting from 42 metres downhole.
The company has drilled 16 holes in the first phase of a 25-to-30-hole work program.
The largely unexplored property covers a high-grade silver epithermal system made up of numerous veins that the company has mapped over strike lengths of between 200 metres to 2 kilometres. The project hosts a past-producing silver mine that operated from 1900 until 1910.
In November 2018, Kootenay signed an option agreement to acquire the Columba silver project by making staged payments totalling US$3.3 million over four years.
At press time, Kootenay's shares are trading at 27 ? apiece with a trading range of 10.5 ? to 29 ?. The company has 246 million shares for a $76.5 million market capitalization.