Aztec Minerals Corp. has expanded its drilling program at the Tombstone Property in southeastern Arizona from 7,500 meters to a minimum of 8,500 meters, with operations now expected to continue into the first quarter of 2026. The company has completed 34 reverse circulation drill holes totaling 5,960 meters and 495 meters of core drilling to date, with 21 RC holes currently awaiting geochemical analysis at the Bureau Veritas laboratory. The expanded program comprises 7,000 meters of RC drilling and a minimum of 1,500 meters of core drilling. Aztec has been advised that sample backlogs and turnaround times for geochemical analysis at the Bureau Veritas laboratory are expected to improve with recent staff additions and equipment repairs, with additional analytical results anticipated within the next 30 days. The company uses quality assurance-quality control as a standard part of its sampling-assaying-assessments, with samples regularly shipped to the Bureau Veritas Minerals laboratory in Hermosillo, Mexico for analysis.
Core drilling has resumed and has advanced 282 meters to 465 meters total depth in drillhole TC25-03, targeting TR24-13. This drilling is expected to continue testing the previously identified AMT target under the Bisbee formation in the thick Paleozoic carbonate formations below by re-entering core drill holes. Aztec has previously identified several large, strong, conductive bodies underneath the historic gold-silver district through NSAMT (natural-source audio-frequency magneto-telluric surveys) anomalies, as documented in the Zonge International report prepared for Aztec Minerals. The main target of current drilling is to continue testing shallow, bulk tonnage, potentially heap leachable, mesothermal gold-silver oxide mineralization adjacent and below the previously mined Contention pit by step-out drilling.
Future drilling is expected to focus on follow-up of the current program's results, with possible targeting including strike and dip extensions of the shallow oxide mineralization and deeper exploration into the sulfide zone. Historically, there was significant production to 300 meters depth, as noted in Michael N. Greeley's historical review of the district. The Tombstone project covers much of the historic Tombstone silver district, which produced an estimated 32 million ounces of silver and 250,000 ounces of gold from 1878 to 1939. The district geology consists of shallow-level, oxidized gold-silver and base metal deposits related to carbonate replacement deposit and skarn mineralization hosted in folded and thrusted sediments.
Between 50 and 300 meters in depth, the Bisbee Formation is underlain by approximately two kilometers of Paleozoic carbonate formations that host the 110 million tonne Hermosa-Taylor zinc-lead-silver deposit of South32 located 60 kilometers southwest of Tombstone, as referenced in the M3 Engineering and Technology Corp. pre-feasibility study. Aztec holds an 85% interest in the Tombstone Property Joint Venture and believes the historic silver mines could be related to a much larger mesothermal system with carbonate replacement deposit mineralization below the old mines. Since 2017, the company has completed geological mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical surveying to identify prospective areas for gold-silver mineralization around and below the Contention open pit and carbonate replacement deposit zinc-lead-copper-silver-gold mineralization below the entire district.
