Gold & Silver Explorer Starts Drilling at Ariz. Flagship Project

Arizona Gold & Silver Inc. (AZS:TSX; AZASF:OTC) announced it is beginning to drill at its flagship Philadelphia gold and silver project in northwestern Arizona, working toward a possible resource estimate by the end of the year.

Rigs were set to break ground this week for a total of 2,440 meters in 26 holes, the company said.

"This round of drilling will test the entire 400-meter strike length of the Resaca patented claim, a segment of the vein system that has never been drilled before . . . despite the presence of old high-grade mine workings at the north end of the claim," said Vice President of Exploration Greg Hahn.

Hahn, who is also a geologist, said there is reported high-grade gold in a historical vein intercept on the adjacent Rising Fawn claim.

"The overall objective of this drilling program is to complete drill testing of the shallow portion of the vein system and help establish priorities for drilling down dip," he said.

Chris Temple, writer, and editor of The National Investor, said Arizona Gold & Silver has outperformed its peers in the last couple of years.

Arizona Gold & Silver's drilling at Philadelphia to date has been 81%-plus successful in intersecting the gold-bearing system in most of the target area, Hahn has pointed out.

Chris Temple, writer, and editor of The National Investor, said Arizona Gold & Silver has outperformed its peers in the last couple of years. He attributed this to Philadelphia's unique geology and the low number of shares the company has issued to date. He also likes that insiders have a stake.

"There are all kinds of small exploration companies out there. Some have got more promise than others," Temple said. "I think this is one that has got the potential to deliver something that you don't see every day."

The Catalyst: 'Something Exciting' Happening at Project

Arizona Gold said the drilling would start on the north end of the Resaca claim south of the R1 shaft, the southernmost access to the workings of the historical mine, and progress southward.

Samples from 1930 along the shaft returned 21.34 meters at an average grade of 8.33 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au), the company said.

Company channel sampling at surface has traced the footwall vein from the shaft and returned a 3-meter interval grading 11.6 g/t gold and 658 g/t silver (Ag).

"Sampling has established that excellent mineralization continues along the entire length of the ridge that forms the center line of the Resaca claim," the company said in a release.

Meridian Minerals drilled a hole near the Resaca claim boundary that intersected 32.1 meters at 1 g/t Au, including a footwall vein assay of 1.5 meters at 22.8 g/t Au, the company.

The Arizona Department of Transportation also drilled a vertical hole to test in the vicinity of the project to test for hazards for a new road alignment and intersected "good stockwork quartz in both rhyolite and granite, including green quartz. The results were not assayed.

Jeff Clark of thegoldadisor.com and the paid newsletter Paydirt said he is convinced something exciting is happening at the project and noted Hahn's expertise.

"He's an accomplished geologist who's had a lot of success in his life. He knows what he's doing," said the author of "PAYDIRT: Mining for Profits with Gold & Silver Stocks."

The Philadelphia project has yet to be drilled out, and Clark said he believes there are "a lot of gaps from prior drilling that could potentially return some exciting things."

"It is becoming more apparent that there is something more here than what had been found," he said.

Clark believes "2024 could be a transformational year" for the company, noting that the stock is currently very low-priced.

District Has Produced 2.5M Ounces Au

Arizona Gold & Silver's Philadelphia mine was in production from 1900 until just before the start of World War II, Hahn said. Records indicate the break-even cost then was about 0.25 ounce. Once the operators could no longer find 0.25-ounce material in the area they were mining, they shuttered the project.

Arizona is a state more associated with copper production than with gold and silver production. But the project is in the Oatman mining district, which has produced more than 2.5 million ounces of gold to date.

"We don't think it's anywhere close to seeing what the true potential of the district is," said Hahn, adding it remains underexplored for precious metals. "It's an exciting district."

Two currently producing gold projects in the Oatman are Northern Vertex's Moss open-pit, heap-leach operation and Aura Resources' Gold Road underground mine and agitation leach operation.

Technical Analyst Clive Maund wrote in October 2023 that Arizona Gold & Silver was at a good entry point for investors. At the time, it was trading at about CA$0.34 per share. It is now trading a little higher. 

"The price appears to be in the late stages of completing a double bottom with a very positive price:volume pattern," Maund wrote. "It's still at a very good price."

Ownership and Share Structure

As for ownership of Arizona Gold & Silver, management and insiders own approximately 27.52% of the company. According to the company, 9% of the company is held by institutions and 41% is with family and friend investors. 

Arizona Gold & Silver has 77.09 million shares outstanding and 58.44 million free float traded shares.

The company's market cap is CA$27.57 million, and its 52-week trading range is CA$0.27−0.59 per share.

Important Disclosures:

1. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Arizona Gold & Silver Inc.
2. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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