Aya logs high-grade, shallow silver in Morocco

New drilling by Aya Gold & Silver (TSX, NASDAQ: AYA) has extended high-grade silver mineralization around the existing open pit and in the central part of its Zgounder mine in Morocco.

Hole ZG-RC-24-155 in the mine’s open-pit area cut 13 metres of 783 grams silver per tonne from surface, Aya said in a statement. Another hole, ZG-RC-24-354, intersected 11 metres of 501 grams silver from 2 metres depth. The holes are among 97 whose results Aya released.

The latest drilling comes as Aya works to expand resources around the operating mine while developing its larger Boumadine polymetallic project, which sits about 240 km east of Zgounder. Aya is more than halfway through a 30,000-metre drilling program at Zgounder, with crews working on both near-mine and regional targets.

“We see this campaign as the more important forward exploration catalyst,” Scotiabank mining analyst Eric Winmill said in a note. “It will test an area outside the currently emphasized mineralized footprint, while the latest near-pit results could inform future resource conversion and mine-planning work.”

Exploration drift

Located about 215 km south of Marrakech, Zgounder is on course to produce between 5.2 million and 5.8 million oz. silver this year, up from 4.8 million oz. last year. It hosts a 2,700 tonne-per-day processing plant that achieved commercial production in December 2024. Average cash costs stand at $21.50 per ounce.

Boumadine, which is slated to begin producing in 2030, has an after-tax net present value of $3.5 billion, Aya said last week. An updated preliminary economic assessment gives the gold-silver-zinc-lead project a 93% internal rate of return and 0.7-year payback at $3,500 per oz. gold and $50 per oz. silver.

Aya’s ongoing drill campaign at Zgounder comprises underground diamond drilling, surface drilling, reverse-circulation holes and percussion drilling. The company is also developing an exploration drift at the 1,825-metre level, with drilling west of the Zgounder fault scheduled to start in the fourth quarter.

Other drilling highlights include hole T28-26-1404, which cut 12 metres grading 762 grams silver from 7 metres depth, and hole T28-26-1443, which cut 14 metres of 468 grams silver from 14 metres downhole.

Strength and continuity

The latest drill results “continue to reinforce the strength and continuity of silver mineralization both around the open pit and across the central zone,” CEO Benoit La Salle said in the company’s statement. 

“At the same time, development of the exploration drift at the 1,825-metre level is progressing well, setting the stage for drilling west of the fault to begin in the fourth quarter and providing an important new opportunity to expand the mineralized footprint.”

Zgounder holds 18.9 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 165 grams silver for contained metal of 100.2 million oz., as well as 410,000 inferred tonnes grading 340 grams silver for contained metal of 4.5 million oz. silver, according to a December 2025 resource.

Aya shares fell 1.3% to C$39.81 in Toronto trading Friday morning, valuing the company at about C$5.7 billion ($4.1 billion). The stock has traded between C$11.95 and C$41.98 in the past year.