Arizona Silver has grade and history on its side, as drilling enters its second phase

Channel samples at the ends of old drifts at the Ramsey silver mine go a long way to explaining why Arizona Silver Exploration Inc (CVE:AZS) is taking such a keen interest in this old operation.

Across fifteen different sites in different parts of the old mine, the company data sampled grades as high as 5,187 grams per tonne silver across a five foot width. Other attractive sample grades include 4,473 grams per tonne across 7 feet and 1,156 grams per tonne also across 7 feet.

These samples were taken over several different levels, but it’s more than interesting to note that the average grade across all fifteen came out at 924 grams across an average width of 6.9 feet.

That’s enough to make any economic geologist look twice or three times, and it’s certainly been enough to keep busy even the most experienced and successful of mining veteran as Greg Hahn.

Stark has a list of companies he has supported most notable are Exeter Resources and Extorre, while Hahn was a central figure at Constellation Copper, St Mary Minerals, Metalline Mining and Marathon PGM Corp.

These two have long known about the opportunity at Ramsey and are now beginning to build the value.

“Greg and I and eighteen individuals took on this property to do privately, but the falling price of silver slowed us up,” says Stark.

“So we then found a tight shell, and raised C$875,000 and we went out to prove that the Ramsey mine was not finished.”

Initial investigations delivered mixed results.

“It’s a very narrow vein,” says Stark, “Around it we could see mineralisation, but we didn’t know the grade. So we poked five holes into it.”

The first 5 holes returned material that Stark describes encouraging

It was at this time we found the Northern Anomaly purely speculative geological theory involving faulting that didn’t in fact play out. The north anomaly is not, as it turns out, the location of the other side of the fault that the original old timers stopped mining at.

But  because of this drilling we found evidence of the western anomaly that is still deeper induced polarisation anomaly to the west.

“The Ramsay mine stopped at 300 plus feet,” says Stark. “And the IP line in the west starts at just below 300 feet. That’s what I call my lottery ticket.”

But to come back to the main area, there’s a 750 metres by 250 metre zone that the company is building a resource around that’s been the subject of drilling since March. The most recent intercept, reported in July, showed 62.5 grams per tonne. A second round of drilling is now getting underway.

So what should investors expect from this latest work?

Stark quotes famed mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen: asked where he would look for mineral wealth in this day and age. McEwan is said to have said I would only look at an old mine location that has been shut down.

Certainly, Arizona is as well-established as jurisdictions get, the infrastructure available to support a re-start at Ramsay is second to none, and the upside is significant.

Arizona Silver will move exploration drills in the direction of the Creosote vein where we sampled 877 gram material in the south-east, where Stark hopes the grades will start to pick up significantly. There’s even potential for the mineralisation to continue across the valley beyond the creosote vein into the East Hill.

If that’s the case, then a whole new world will open up to Arizona Silver. It may be on the strength of that upside that third parties are already giving the company the once over.

But the real selling point is clear enough.

“The old timers left five ounce material,” says Stark. “All around it breccia rock hosts 5-to-6-to-10 ounce material. But you wait till you see the vein.”

Story by ProactiveInvestors