Advance Metals finds deeper scale at Gavilanes as funding question emerges

Gavilanes delivers its strongest silver assay

Advance Metals Limited (ASX:AVM) has produced its most eye-catching Gavilanes result yet, reporting 4.6 metres at 945g/t silver, 1.4% zinc and 1.0% lead from 66.7 metres. The interval included 1 metre at 4,120g/t silver, 5.7% zinc and 4.1% lead, the highest individual silver assay returned by the company’s drilling program at the 100%-owned project in Durango, Mexico.

The result from hole GV-26-008 also carried a second high-grade base-metal interval: 12 metres at 21g/t silver, 3.8% zinc and 3.7% lead from 98.5 metres. Advance said the hole extended high-grade silver mineralisation below earlier drilling, with the system remaining open at depth and to the southwest. The result builds on the 4,120g/t silver drilling result reported in September, which also identified high-grade zinc-lead mineralisation.

Silver corridor expands alongside deeper polymetallic zones

During the September quarter, Advance reported results from holes GV-26-002 through GV-26-008. Hole GV-26-004, drilled about 55 metres south of earlier holes, returned 13.2 metres at 311g/t silver, including 6 metres at 612g/t. That extended the high-grade corridor to more than 750 metres of strike, following the earlier 55m southern silver extension.

The shallower silver mineralisation sits within a more complex system. GV-26-002 intersected 54.6 metres at 0.6% copper, 22g/t silver and 0.3g/t gold, while GV-26-003 returned 37.5 metres at 83g/t silver, 0.8g/t gold, 0.6% copper, 0.6% zinc and 0.3% lead. Advance also reported gold-dominant intersections in holes GV-26-005, GV-26-006 and GV-26-007 south of the main silver zone. These included 2.4 metres at 4.0g/t gold, 21g/t silver, 1.2% zinc and 2.2% lead in GV-26-007.

Metallurgy and maiden resource work move forward

Advance has started metallurgical testwork on silver-dominant and polymetallic samples to assess potential recoveries of silver, gold, copper, zinc and lead. The work is intended to inform the company’s geological and resource assessment, but the drilling results do not yet establish a mineral resource or demonstrate economic viability.

“Plan view of the Gavilanes Project showing previous drill holes with downhole silver grade along with Advance’s key drilling targets.”

Drilling was continuing at quarter-end, with assays pending from GV-26-009. The company plans to test western and deeper extensions, investigate up to 500 metres of strike at the Descubridora structure and begin drilling at additional targets including San Nicolas. A maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate remains targeted for the fourth quarter of calendar 2026.

Cash position puts capital raising in focus

The technical progress is running ahead of the balance sheet. Advance spent A$2.176 million on exploration and evaluation during the quarter and ended September with A$2.106 million in cash. On the ASX cash-flow calculation, that represented an estimated 0.97 quarters of funding, with no unused finance facilities reported.

The company said its drilling program has been completed and expects exploration and evaluation expenditure to be materially lower in the December quarter. It also said it is in discussions with interested parties regarding a capital raising and expects to continue operations on the basis of lower expenditure and a successful raise. No size, structure or terms for that potential raising were disclosed.

At the Happy Valley prospect in Victoria, final drilling results included 1.8 metres at 15.2g/t gold, including 0.2 metres at 131.5g/t, while an updated 3D model identified three principal gold-bearing quartz veins extending at least 500 metres below surface. That adds a second technical workstream, but the immediate valuation test remains whether Gavilanes can convert impressive intersections into a coherent resource with acceptable recoveries before the company’s cash position becomes the more pressing constraint.