Centenario Gold Corp. (TSXV: CTG) has announced the start of the first phase work program at its Los Reyes Project, a copper-gold exploration asset near Chihuahua, Mexico. The initial work includes detailed mapping and sampling of old underground mine workings along a 1-km north-south trending contact zone. These workings date back to the early 1900s and have never been systematically sampled, according to the company.
The second phase will involve a 1,500-meter diamond drilling program aimed at testing depth extensions exceeding 100 meters of a high-grade Cu-Zn-Ag skarn zone previously mined by ASARCO. The company has submitted an environmental study and expects permits by late April 2026, with drilling to commence immediately thereafter.
The Los Reyes property covers a historically significant mining area centered along the western contact of a 2-km diameter granodiorite intrusive body. Mining activities date back to the early 1700s, and in the late 1800s, ASARCO extracted approximately 200,000 tons of high-grade Cu-Zn-Ag material from the Jibosa workings. The most recent exploration was conducted by Valterra Resource Corporation in 2019, which reported surface sampling results from waste dumps and outcrops. The average copper grade was 3.1%, with 22 of 28 samples exceeding 1% Cu. Anomalous samples also contained values up to 0.57 g/t Au, 25.3 g/t Ag, 0.47% Mo, and 1.7% Zn.
Derrick Strickland, an independent Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure. The company cautions that the qualified person has not verified information on adjacent properties, and mineralization on similar properties is not necessarily indicative of the project's potential.
Centenario Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on acquiring and developing high-potential projects in the Americas, emphasizing gold, copper, and silver. The company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and continues to evaluate new opportunities in Mexico and Canada. Further information is available on the company's website at www.centenariogold.com.
This news matters because the Los Reyes Project has the potential to host a significant copper-gold skarn deposit, and the systematic exploration and drilling could confirm the extent and grade of mineralization, potentially leading to a new mining operation in a historically productive region. The results will be closely watched by the mining industry as they may indicate the viability of similar skarn deposits in Mexico.
