Nora Silver-Gold Project

Our re-evaluation of Nora's priority targets continues with initial surface sample results having confirmed high grade up to 29.61 g/t gold, 2,215 g/t silver and 3.34% copper in the Candy vein structure," Michael Romanik, president of Silver Dollar. 

Silver Dollar acquired a 100% interest in the Nora Ag-Au property (the "Property") from Canasil Resources, subject to a 2% net smelter returns royalty (See news release of February 8, 2024).

Located in the Eastern Sierra Madre sub-province in the transition to the high plateau of Mexico, the Property lies centrally within the "Silver Trend" that runs from the northwest to the southeast through Durango State. Significant deposits in the region include Endeavour Silver's Guanaceví mine and Fresnillo's San Julián mine on-trend to the northwest, with Endeavour Silver's Pitarrilla project approximately 50 kilometres (km) to the east. Pitarrilla is one of the largest undeveloped silver deposits in the world and was discovered by Perry Durning and Frank (Bud) Hillemeyer, Silver Dollar's technical advisors.

Figure 1: Location of the Nora property and other mines and deposits in the region.

The Property is located approximately 200 km north-northwest of the city of Durango, with excellent year-round access via Federal highway, paved road, and local dirt roads. Local infrastructure is available in the towns of Tepehuanes and Santa Maria del Oro and the city of Santiago Papasquiaro, all within 50km of the Property.

The geological setting is a Tertiary-aged volcanic flow-dome complex. Gold-silver mineralization is hosted within two structurally controlled epithermal veins. Mineralization is typical of that found at many mines in the region, with gold and silver associated with galena, sulfosalt minerals, and lesser pyrite, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite.   

Photo 1: Looking west into the Nora property with the Candy mine dump visible centre frame (click image to enlarge).

Two principal veins are outcropping on the Nora property: 

Photo 2: Nora property looking north at the main outcrop of the Candy vein structure.

In connection with the acquisition of the Nora property, Canasil waived certain obligations of Silver Dollar under the Nora Option Agreement on the basis that Silver Dollar encountered certain unresolved discrepancies in verifying the 2020 and 2021 drill results Canasil reported on the Nora property.

While analyzing and relogging drill core as part of its drill target development, Silver Dollar re-assayed select core intervals from Canasil's previous drilling. A total of 161 core samples, plus 16 standards and blanks, were submitted to ActLabs in Zacatecas. This included 157 duplicates of the original core samples from drill holes NRC-20-01, NRC-20-04, NRC-20-06, NRC-21-09, NRC-21-10, NRC-21-11, and NRC-21-12. The ActLabs check assay values received for lead, zinc, and copper closely mirror the original assay values Canasil received from ALS Global in Vancouver; however, the gold and silver values are significantly lower as follows:

For gold: of the 157 samples duplicated, Canasil reported 42 samples >1 g/t Au (1.23 - 43.7 g/t) including 18 samples >5 g/t (5.3 - 43.7 g/t), whereas Silver Dollar's re-assaying yielded only 3 samples >1 g/t Au (1.04, 1.75, and 2.30 g/t).

For silver: of the 157 samples duplicated, Canasil reported 44 samples >200 g/t Ag (133 -1,924 g/t) including 19 samples >500 g/t Ag (504 - 1,925 g/t), whereas Silver Dollar's re-assaying yielded only 3 samples >100 g/t Ag (129, 158, and 448 g/t).

The QPs from both companies discussed the situation and recommended a further analytical program be carried out to provide some insight into what may have caused the assay discrepancies. However, Canasil did not have the financial resources to contribute to the recommended program and alternatively offered to waive certain of Silver Dollar's consideration obligations under the Nora Option Agreement and transfer 100% ownership of the Nora property to Silver Dollar for the consideration that has been provided to date (as detailed below), subject to a 2% net smelter returns royalty (the "Royalty") with Silver Dollar having the right to buy back 1% of the Royalty for $1,000,000. As of February 8, 2024, Silver Dollar has incurred a total of approximately $134,779 in exploration expenditures on the Nora property, as full consideration for the acquisition thereof. Silver Dollar is not required to provide any further consideration to Canasil to complete the acquisition and the transfer of the Nora concessions to Silver Dollar has been initiated.

Silver Dollar previously reported selected highlights from Canasil's 2020 and 2021 drilling programs on the Nora property, which included the discrepancies noted above, in its news releases of May 24, 2023, June 20, 2023, and August 1, 2023, on its website, in its material change report dated April 20, 2023, and its Management's Discussion and Analysis of May 31, 2023. In addition to containing discrepancies, the Company has determined that the disclosure did not conform to National Instrument 43-101 standards and should not be relied upon. Accordingly, the Company retracts the non-compliant prior disclosure of results from Canasil's 2020 and 2021 drilling programs in respect of the Nora property from its disclosure record.

Although the assay discrepancies from the Candy vein drill core are puzzling, the Nora property has other priority exploration targets that we intend to follow up on while we take a closer look at the Candy vein structure," said Michael Romanik, president of Silver Dollar.

Figure 2: Nora property plan view with surface sample locations.

As previously reported (See news release of April 16, 2024), fieldwork began in February as an initial step in the Company's re-evaluation of the Property. The focus of the work has been geological mapping and sampling of priority anomalies (Figure 2). A total of 89 rock chip and channel samples and 33 soil samples have been collected to date, including 41 samples from the primary Candy vein target.

Analytical results for all samples have been received and highlights include:

Twenty-one samples grading over (>) 100 grams per tonne (g/t) silver (Ag), ten samples >200 g/t Ag, four samples >500 g/t Ag and two samples >1,000 g/t or one kilogram per tonne Ag.

Sample R-053 (Photo 3) returned 29.61 g/t gold (Au) over 0.35 metres (m), confirming the presence of high-grade gold in the Candy vein structure.

Samples RM-1009 (Photo 4) returned 2,215 g/t Ag over 0.8 m and RM-1013 returned 1,212 g/t Ag over 1 m, confirming the presence of high-grade silver in the Candy vein structure.

Five samples returned grades >1% copper (Cu) with two >3% Cu, confirming the presence of high-grade copper in the Candy vein structure.

Elevated levels of zinc (7 samples >1% Zn) and lead (20 samples >1% Pb) are also encouraging as they seem to be the best pathfinders for geochemistry.

 Photo 3: Candy Vein Sample R-053.                             Photo 4: Candy Vein Sample RM-1009.

Refer to the table below for additional highlights of the sample results. Note that grams per tonne is equivalent to parts per million (ppm), and 10,000 ppm is equivalent to one percent (1%).

Note: The sample results and photographs above are selective by nature and may not be representative of the true grade or style of mineralization across the Property.

We are very encouraged by the initial results from our re-evaluation of the Nora Project," said Michael Romanik, president of Silver Dollar. "Follow-up geological mapping is underway and will include a detailed examination of the Candy Vein outcrops and known faults in the surrounding area to gain a better understanding of structural controls and define potential drill targets."

The technical information on this webpage has been approved by Mike Kilbourne, P.Geo., an independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The QP and the Company have not completed sufficient work to verify the information on the Nora Property, particularly regarding historical exploration, neighbouring companies, and government geological work.

 Photo 5: Sampling the main Candy vein structure.