Sun Silver kicks off historical drill core assessment as US grant application underway

Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) has announced its geotechnical team is busy undertaking an assessment of historical samples from the company’s Maverick Springs acreage.

The company is currently re-logging reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drill core samples pulled from storage. Those samples reflect part of a total ~200 holes’ worth of material from 60,000m of drilling at the project completed to date.

Handheld pXRF scanners will be used to run across the samples – notably, the company will also be looking for copper mineralisation in previous samples as that commodity continues its bull run.

Works will be carried out at a specialised facility the company has organised in Elko, Nevada. Other information on the radar for better understanding is chemical composition of the samples, geological technicalities, and the qualities of oxidation in minerals.

Samples from the northmost prospect of interest on-site will be prioritised first.

“These past drill results from Maverick Springs represent a hugely valuable opportunity for Sun Silver… leveraging this stored data … will enable us to undertake real-time silver, gold, copper and other pathfinder element testing,” Sun Silver ED Gerard O’Donovan said.

“[This provides] Sun Silver with a wealth of new information to enhance our drilling strategy focused on Resource expansion and classification upgrades.”

Ultimately, the company is looking for suitable holes for drilling in pending 2024 exploration drilling campaigns, with a view towards upgrading the company’s existing JORC resource estimates.

That drilling program will be Sun Silver’s maiden run on-site.

Earlier this week, it confirmed it had commissioned a specialist firm to assist the company’s application for grant funding from the US government part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), introduced by Biden.

Those grants relate to the company’s operations where silver paste – a downstream product – is a crucial component for America’s capability to domestically produce solar panels.

SS1 closed on Thursday at 56cps.