Production at the Rodeo open-pit gold mine in Durango State, Mexico, commenced in January 2021.

The ongoing drill program is being conducted to outline a possible extension of the life of the mine. Currently, the estimated mine life is around 2.5 years.

To date, the exploration program has drilled ten holes at several target areas near the open pit. Initial assay results included highlights from the following three holes:

• RDO_021_009, which revealed 7.02 g/t gold and 21.5 g/t silver over 3.7 metres, including 21.09 g/t gold and 50.4 g/t silver over 0.9 metres;
• RDO_021_003, which revealed 2.64 g/t gold and 10.5 g/t silver over 13.75 metres, including 9.17 g/t gold and 18.5 g/t silver over 1.6 metres; and
• RDO_021_010, which revealed 2.69 g/t gold and 26.0 g/t silver over 3.8 metres, including 3.31 g/t gold and 32.2 g/t silver over 2.35 metres.

Warren Rehn, president and CEO of Golden Minerals, commented on these positive initial results.

“We are pleased with the first results of the near-pit exploration drilling program,” he remarked, “as these intercepts indicate that we should be able to expand the currently modelled high-grade zone to the north.”

“The intercept in hole 10,” he added, “is a newly discovered zone that is open up and down dip and to the northwest. These encouraging results demonstrate that the current pit can likely be expanded with additional drilling which could lead to an increase in the life of mine.”

As the exploration program continues, it will include additional near-pit targets in addition to other surface targets within a few hundred metres of the planned open pit. The goal of the program continues to be to find additional high-grade mineralization to extend the life of the mine.

Golden Minerals is a Delaware corporation based in Golden, Colorado.

Golden Minerals Company (AUMN) is up 2.44 per cent, trading at $0.84 per share as of 3:39 pm ET.