Mercado Minerals Ltd. has completed its inaugural 25-hole diamond drill program at the Copalito Project in Sinaloa, Mexico, confirming and expanding mineralization across the flagship asset's principal vein structures.

The maiden campaign advanced the silver-focused project from six principal veins spanning eight kilometres of cumulative strike length to eight principal veins with 11 kilometres of cumulative strike length.

Drilling at the El Agua structure returned the program’s highest-grade interval in hole COP-26-012, which intersected 3.50 metres grading 30 g/t silver, 1.94 g/t gold, 9.47% lead and 14.61% zinc, equating to 686 g/t silver equivalent from 124.75 metres. That intercept included a 1.20-metre section grading 1,120 g/t silver equivalent.

At the El Pilar vein, step-out drilling defined mineralization over a strike length of 1,250 metres, remaining open in all directions. Hole COP-26-019 returned 3.40 metres grading 403 g/t silver equivalent from 118 metres, including an 0.80-metre interval of 675 g/t silver equivalent. Drilling at the 5 Señores vein expanded its mineralized strike length to approximately 800 metres and vertical depth to about 125 metres, highlighted by hole COP-26-001, which intersected 6.50 metres grading 372 g/t silver equivalent, including a 1.20-metre section yielding 1,146 g/t silver equivalent.

Concurrently, a surface exploration program identified extensions to four known veins and discovered two new structures, including the Renata vein. Historical grab samples at Renata were reinterpreted as a continuous vein measuring 1,150 metres in strike length with an average width of 1.90 metres, featuring surface sampling results up to 226 g/t silver equivalent.

Mercado plans to initiate a Phase Two program focusing on drill expansion at El Agua and El Pilar, testing vein extensions, and conducting initial drill testing of the Renata vein. Regional activity within the Sierra Madre Occidental district includes Luca Mining's recent drilling at the Tahuehueto mine.

Daniel Rodriguez, CEO & Director, commented, “The goal of this program was to define productive segments of the known mineralized veins in drilling, to expand the extent of the known veins and the discovery of new veins at Copalito. I believe we achieved that and we are extremely pleased with the results. With this new dataset in hand, we are now prioritizing follow-up drilling and exploration aimed at expanding the higher-grade areas of drilled veins and the new areas of interest we have defined across the Project.”

Read the full announcement: Mercado Minerals Provides Summary of Copalito Drill Program, Highlights New Renata Vein and Phase II Exploration Plans