Defiance Silver Delineates High-Grade Polymetallic and Precious Metal Systems at Its Lucita Property

Rhea-AI Summary

Defiance Silver Corp. reports high-grade polymetallic and precious metal systems at its Lucita property in Zacatecas, Mexico. The ongoing surface sampling campaign reveals district-scale potential, with significant mineralization in both Lucita North and Lucita South. The company's exploration efforts show promising results, with multiple high-grade samples and drill targets identified.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 15, 2024) - Defiance Silver Corp. (TSXV: DEF) (OTCQX: DNCVF) (FSE: D4E) (WKN: A1JQW5) ("Defiance" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the results from the ongoing mapping and surface sampling campaign at its Lucita property in Zacatecas, Mexico. Work to date includes surface geochemical sampling in both new and historically sampled zones and has led to a revised interpretation of the geology at Lucita. The surface work will be used to support further delineation of drill targets for future exploration. The results presented in this release demonstrate the district-scale potential of Defiance's Zacatecas district land package.

Highlights

Lucita North: Widespread, high-grade, polymetallic Ag-Zn-Pb±Au±Cu mineralization was encountered over a multi-kilometer strike length, suggesting the presence of a large mineral system with multiple mineralizing events.

Lucita South: High-grade Ag-Au dominant mineralization has been encountered in drilling and surface sampling along multiple structures. The mineralization is characteristic of low-sulfidation epithermal vein systems.

Individual surface sampling highlights include:

Lucita North

• Gloria Zone
  • Sample 430012: 331 g/t Ag, 0.15 Au, 6.94% Pb, 14.70% Zn, and 0.35% Cu
  • Sample 430009: 552 g/t Ag, 1.34% Pb
• Aurora Zone
  • Sample 430179: 298 g/t Ag, 3.15% Pb, 0.14% Zn
  • Sample 430027: 795 g/t Ag
• Plomosa Zone
  • Sample 430106: 652 g/t Ag, 0.32 g/t Au, 6.48% Pb, 2.26% Zn, and 0.60% Cu
• Lucero Vein
  • Sample 110785: 460 g/t Ag, 4.76 g/t Au, 6.33% Pb, 31.50 % Zn, and 0.87% Cu

Lucita South

• Paty Vein
  • Sample 4208: 2350 g/t Ag and 0.27 Au
• Lucita Vein
  • Sample 110895: 497 g/t Ag, 1.28 g/t Au
• Palenque Vein
  • Sample 110834: 712 g/t Ag, 0.26 g/t Au

Lucita Property Overview

The Lucita property is the northernmost portion of the Company's Zacatecas district land package (Figure 1). The Lucita property was acquired under an option agreement with Pan American Silver Corp. (Pan American or PanAm) in 2020 and is now 100% owned by Defiance (see News Releases December 2, 2020, and January 10, 2024). Pan American completed several work programs at Lucita, including surface sampling and reconnaissance drilling in 1996, 2011, and 2012. These work programs identified numerous near-surface vein systems with high-grade Ag, Au, Zn, and Pb values.

Defiance's Lucita North (previously called Panuco) and Lucita South projects are located in the Zacatecas mining district within the Central Mexican Silver Belt, a northwest-trending belt of world-class mining districts including Sombrerete, Fresnillo, Zacatecas, and Guanajuato. The mineralized systems at both Lucita and Defiance's San Acacio project have similar characteristics to other ore deposits in the belt, such as Juanicipio (Mag Silver/Fresnillo), Santo Niño (Fresnillo), Cozamin (Capstone), Francisco I. Madero (Peñoles), and San Nicolas (Agnico Eagle/Teck).

Figure 1. Plan map of Defiance Silver Corp.'s Lucita property, including Lucita North and Lucita South, with highlights of various vein systems mapped to date (in red) and historic and recent drilling locations. Coordinates are in UTM WGS84 Zone 13N.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2950/205501_90d73138e438eb75_001full.jpg

Surface Work

The Company has been actively exploring at the Lucita property since 2021. Recent work has been focused on property-wide systematic data collection using industry best practices. Surface work to date includes geological mapping at various detailed scales, surface geochemical rock sampling, and spectral mineral alteration mapping. As of this release approximately sixty percent of the first-pass surface geological work at the Lucita property has been completed.

Surface work commenced at Lucita South and led to a first-pass drill program along the Palenque structure (see News Release April 13^th, 2022 and August 9^th, 2022). Recent surface work has focused on the Lucita North project. Surface geochemical results (Table 1) and the abundance of mapped veins demonstrate the potential for undiscovered and untested to poorly-tested, high-grade Ag-Au vein systems and Ag-Zn-Pb±Au±Cu polymetallic mineralized systems at Lucita South and Lucita North, respectively.

Selected Surface Rock Geochemical Sampling Results

Project	Vein System	Ag ppm	Au ppm	Pb %	Zn %	Cu %	Sample Type	Channel Width	QAQC	Sample ID
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	552	0.09	1.34	0.06	0.02	Previously Mined Material		a	430009
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	416	0.11	1.07	0.16	0.03	Previously Mined Material		b	111089
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	372	0.07	1.36	3.26	0.02	Previously Mined Material		b	111080
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	331	0.15	6.94	14.70	0.35	Previously Mined Material		a	430012
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	324	0.05	0.60	1.33	0.03	Previously Mined Material		b	111091
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	322	0.59	0.46	0.21	0.01	Previously Mined Material		b	111061
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	942	0.08	0.43	0.11	0.03	Previously Mined Material		b	110967
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	795	0.12	0.44	0.16	0.01	In Situ		a	430027
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	509	0.24	0.61	0.21	0.03	Previously Mined Material		b	111019
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	342	0.16	0.38	0.19	0.02	In Situ	0.35 m	b	110956
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	321	0.45	0.34	0.36	0.03	Previously Mined Material		b	111014
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	298	0.06	3.15	0.14	0.06	Previously Mined Material		a	430179
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	652	0.32	6.48	2.26	0.60	Previously Mined Material		a	430106
Lucita North	Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa	332	0.32	3.79	0.79	0.16	Previously Mined Material		b	110617
Lucita North	Lucero	460	4.76	6.33	31.50	0.87	Previously Mined Material		b	110785
Lucita North	Lucero	396	0.21	0.27	0.13	0.01	In Situ		a	430262
Lucita North	Lucero	366	0.32	0.16	0.19	0.01	Previously Mined Material		b	110778
Lucita North	Pilitas	430	0.21	0.01	0.04	0.01	In Situ		a	430116
Lucita North	Pilitas	397	0.10	0.01	0.01	0.00	Previously Mined Material		b	111206
Lucita North	Tules	346	0.63	0.21	0.05	0.02	In Situ		a	430090
Lucita North	Chucho Blanco	306	0.12	0.36	0.73	0.03	Previously Mined Material		b	111042
Lucita South	Paty	2350	0.27	0.04	0.08	0.01	Previously Mined Material		a	4208
Lucita South	Lucita	728	0.84	0.01	0.01	0.03	In Situ	0.45 m	b	110890
Lucita South	Lucita	497	1.28	0.01	0.03	0.02	Previously Mined Material		b	110895
Lucita South	Lucita	461	0.05	0.21	0.20	0.01	Previously Mined Material		b	110931
Lucita South	Lucita	458	0.11	0.17	0.10	0.02	In Situ	0.40 m	b	110932
Lucita South	Lucita	405	0.04	0.01	0.00	0.01	Previously Mined Material		b	110939
Lucita South	Lucita	361	0.27	0.07	0.18	0.00	Previously Mined Material		a	4164
Lucita South	Palenque	712	0.26	0.01	0.01	0.02	In Situ	0.35 m	b	110834
Lucita South	Palenque	324	0.32	0.06	0.38	0.01	Previously Mined Material		b	110673
Lucita South	Palenque	312	0.12	0.06	0.10	0.01	Previously Mined Material		a	4152

 

Table 1. Selected surface rock geochemical sampling results from Defiance's Lucita property. Bolded names in the vein system column indicate the sampled zone.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC)

• Defiance Silver sampling (2021-2024)- surface rock sampling QAQC procedures discussed at the end of this news release.
  • In Situ: outcrop composite chip samples perpendicular to the strike of the exposed structure
  • Previously Mined Material: selective grab samples from dumps of previously mined material
    
    
• Historic Pan American sampling (2011-2012)- surface rock sampling QAQC procedures discussed at the end of this news release.
  • In Situ: outcrop channel samples
  • Previously Mined Material: selective grab samples from dumps of previously mined material

Lucita North

The mineralized systems at Lucita North show a strongly polymetallic signature, both at surface and in shallow, historic drill holes. Multiple mapped structures have returned high-grade Ag and highly anomalous to high-grade Pb, Zn, Au ± Cu along the majority of their exposed strike length (e.g., Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa, Lucero, Pilitas, and Chucho Blanco; Table 1 and Figure 2). Various highlighted surface results from in situ and previously mined material are presented in Table 1. Vein system widths at surface in Lucita North range from 0.1 - 19 meters.

In particular, the Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa system is a high-priority target for the Company. This system contains 3 distinct zones from northwest to southeast: Gloria, Aurora, and Plomosa. This system has one of the best polymetallic surface geochemical anomalies in the district and is prospective for both intermediate-sulfidation epithermal vein and potential carbonate-replacement-style mineralization at depth.

Figure 2. Plan map of Lucita North showing new and historic surface silver geochemical results and anomalous lead, zinc, and gold zones. Historic Pan American drill hole collars and traces are shown. Coordinates are in UTM WGS84 Zone 13N.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2950/205501_90d73138e438eb75_002full.jpg

Lucita South

Mapping and sampling at Lucita South have highlighted east-west vein systems with a dominantly silver and gold signature at surface. Several mapped structures have returned high-grade samples (e.g., Paty, Palenque, and Lucita; Table 1 and Figure 3), including a sample from the Paty vein grading 2350 g/t Ag. Additionally, substantial historic workings and multiple mineralized surface samples were encountered along the Palenque structure. Widths of these structures at surface in Lucita South range from 0.1 - 4 meters.

These encouraging surface results led to the Company's first-pass diamond drill program at Palenque (see News Release April 13^th, 2022 and August 9^th, 2022). Drilling along the Palenque structure confirms the continuation of silver and gold grades at depth and identified blind mineralization in low-angle faults and within specific stratigraphic units.

Well-mineralized samples from both surface and drill core, as well as the potential for very high grades as demonstrated in the Palenque, Paty, and Lucita veins, present significant exploration upside in the Lucita South project.

Figure 3. Plan map of Lucita South showing new and historic surface silver geochemical results and anomalous gold zones. Defiance drill hole collars and traces are shown, with several previously reported drill result highlights from the 2021-2022 program. Coordinates are in UTM WGS84 Zone 13N.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2950/205501_90d73138e438eb75_003full.jpg

Chris Wright, Chairman & CEO, noted:

"These surface results indicate that there is a robust polymetallic system present at Lucita North. When coupled with our excellent first-pass drilling results on the Palenque structure in Lucita South, the exploration prospectivity of the Lucita property remains high. We believe that the property contains several of the top targets in the Zacatecas district."

Previous Drilling summary

Lucita South

In 2021 and 2022 the Company completed a first-pass, 3801.8m diamond drill program on the undrilled Palenque vein system (Figure 3). The widely spaced drill holes returned very encouraging results over a multi-kilometer strike length. Highlights include:

• DDLU-21-05: 3.48m of 513.57 g/t Ag from 152.52 to 156.00m, including 0.25m of 3260.00 g/t Ag (See News Release April 13^th, 2022)
• DDLU-22-10: blind discovery of a wide 49.87m zone with 58.79 g/t Ag from 370.23m to 420.1m including 3.05m of 264.29 g/t Ag and 2.25m of 235.29 g/t Ag (See News Release August 9^th, 2022)

Lucita North

Pan American previously conducted two diamond drill programs in 1996 and 2011-2012 for a total of 5103.35m (Figure 2). These programs shallowly tested several vein systems, including Plomosa near the historic Plomosa silver mine and Lucero. Drilling encountered positive results (see News Release December 2^nd 2020). Ongoing relogging and sampling of the historic drill core continue to reveal high-level alteration zones and high-grade intercepts that warrant follow-up both down dip and along strike.

Discussion of Results

The most prominent structures at Defiance's Lucita property are northwest-southeast and east-west trending mineralized veins, breccias, and alteration zones. These structural orientations are characteristic of the most important mineralizing events of the world-class ore deposits in the Central Mexican Silver Belt. Intersections of these two mineralizing events often localize z

FAQ

What are the highlights of the surface work at Defiance's Lucita property?

The surface work at Lucita property in Zacatecas, Mexico, has revealed widespread, high-grade, polymetallic Ag-Zn-Pb±Au±Cu mineralization at Lucita North and high-grade Ag-Au dominant mineralization at Lucita South.

What are some individual surface sampling highlights at Lucita North?

Some individual surface sampling highlights at Lucita North include Sample 430012 with 331 g/t Ag, 0.15 Au, 6.94% Pb, 14.70% Zn, and 0.35% Cu, and Sample 430009 with 552 g/t Ag, 1.34% Pb.

What is the significance of the Lucita property in Defiance's exploration efforts?

The Lucita property is the northernmost portion of the Company's Zacatecas district land package and shows potential for undiscovered high-grade Ag-Au vein systems and Ag-Zn-Pb±Au±Cu polymetallic mineralized systems.

What are some key findings from the surface work at Lucita South?

Mapping and sampling at Lucita South have highlighted east-west vein systems with dominantly silver and gold mineralization, including high-grade samples from the Paty, Palenque, and Lucita veins.

What drilling programs have been conducted at Lucita South and Lucita North?

In 2021 and 2022, the Company completed a first-pass diamond drill program at the Palenque vein system in Lucita South. Pan American conducted drilling programs in 1996 and 2011-2012 at Lucita North.