Zacatecas Silver Announces Major Acquisition of Mexican Exploration Portfolio
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Zacatecas Silver Corp. has taken a significant step in expanding its Mexican mining operations through a binding agreement with Heliostar Metals Ltd. The company will acquire a 100 percent interest in four exploration properties located in Sonora and Oaxaca, Mexico, collectively known as the Exploration Portfolio.
Strategic Expansion in Premier Mining Jurisdictions
This acquisition establishes a new district-scale exploration platform for Zacatecas Silver in some of Mexico's most productive mining regions. The transaction adds four high-impact discovery opportunities to the company's pipeline, providing both near-term drill targeting potential and longer-term strategic value within active and consolidating mining districts.
The acquired portfolio includes:
- Oso Negro: A compelling, undrilled high-grade discovery opportunity featuring high-grade gold and silver across multiple multi-metre vein systems with strong depth potential
- Cumaro: Strategically positioned along strike from Coeur Mining's active El Picacho development, hosting extensions of proven low-sulphidation epithermal vein systems
- La Lola: District-scale exposure covering 1,183 hectares anchored by a 5 km vein system up to 40 metres wide
- Ejutla: A substantial 10,603-hectare land position near the San Jose Mine, formerly owned by Fortuna Mines, hosting multiple high-level epithermal veins
Oso Negro: A High-Priority Exploration Opportunity
The Oso Negro property represents one of the most promising assets in the acquisition. Located within a historic mining district characterized by high-grade precious metal mineralization, this undrilled exploration opportunity has demonstrated robust mineralizing systems through previous sampling programs.
Heliostar's previous channel sampling at Oso Negro returned impressive results, including 5.15 g/t Au and 953 g/t Ag over 1.2m, 2.55 g/t Au and 346 g/t Ag over 1.8m, and a grab sample of 13.3 g/t Au and 534 g/t Ag over 0.6m. These results demonstrate relatively consistent grades along the strike of various veins.
The project hosts at least four principal veins with average widths of approximately 3 metres, along with several subsidiary veins including El Sahuaro, El Prospecto, Santa Rosa, Del Monte, Tere and El Manchuri. These veins can be traced along strike over several hundred metres, indicating substantial exploration potential.
Mineralization Characteristics and Exploration Potential
The exposed mineralization at Oso Negro displays an intermediate sulphidation epithermal style that has been extensively oxidized at surface. Historical small-scale artisanal workings and shallow shafts have been noted along the major veins, suggesting previous mining activity in the area.
Beyond the strong silver and gold values, the presence of visible sphalerite and galena in rock-chip samples indicates multi-metal potential typical of this deposit style. Intermediate sulphidation epithermal deposits represent an important source of gold, silver and base-metal sulphides in Mexico, with depth extensions typically ranging between 500 to 1000 metres, creating exceptional exploration targets.
This acquisition significantly enhances Zacatecas Silver's position in Mexico's mining sector, providing the company with multiple high-quality exploration opportunities across two of the country's most mineral-rich states. The transaction represents a strategic move to capitalize on Mexico's established mining infrastructure and favorable geology while expanding the company's asset base and discovery pipeline.
