High-Grade Gold-Silver exploration offering district scale discovery potential Sonora, Mexico

COMMODITY
Gold and Silver
DEPOSIT TYPE
Low Sulphidation Epithermal Au-Ag Rhyolite Flow Dome Complex
LOCATION
Sonora, Mexico – 40 km SW of Agua Prieta
SIZE
​7,739.4 hectares
STATUS
Drilling Commenced - February 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
​133.7 g/t Au and 335 g/t Ag top rock chip and grab samples

Overview

The Cecilia Project is a district scale gold and silver low sulfidation epithermal system centered on multiple mineralized rhyolitic flow-dome complexes. Gold mineralization is concentrated along NW and NE regional structural lineaments with high grades assayed at the intersection of these structures. The project is made up of 3 concessions: Cerro Magallanes, Cecilia 1 and Cecilia 2. One of the workings at the Cerro Magallanes dome returned high grades up to 133.7 g/t Au and 335 g/t Ag. As many as 30 abandoned exploration adits, small underground galleries and surface prospect pits are distributed over the upper slopes of Cerro Magallanes, which are believed to date back to the early decades of the 20th Century. In addition to the rhyolite domes the underlying sedimentary Cabullona group and Paleozoic limestone provide an environment for replacement style mineralization at depth. Carlyle has entered into a 3-year option to acquire 100% of the project from Riverside Resources (TSXV: RRI). Riverside’s current analogues for Cecelia are SSR Mining’s Pitarrilla deposit and Fresnillo’s San Julian deposit, which contain 526 million oz Ag (Measured + Indicated [1]) and over 230 million oz Ag respectively.

The Cecilia Project is located 40 km southwest of the Mexico-U.S.A. border town of Agua Prieta in Sonora, Mexico. The project is directly accessible by well-maintained dirt road from highway 17.
[1] https://www.ssrmining.com/_resources/Pitarrilla_Technical_Report_Dec_14_2012.pdf
Figure 1: Interpretative cross-section of Cerro Magallanes rhyolitic dome

Geology and Mineralization

The Cecilia project is centered on a large middle Tertiary age (Oligocene) rhyolite flow-dome complex that forms the prominent topographic feature of Cerro Magallanes. The dome complex intrudes and unconformably overlies a sequence of marine clastic sedimentary rocks consisting of interbedded siltstone, fine-grained sandstone and thin layers of intraformational, immature pebble conglomerate (middle Cretaceous Cabullona Group), providing a perfect setting for replacement style mineralization at depth. This sedimentary sequence also extends over the Cecilia 1 and 2 concessions, in contact with Paleozoic limestone and Precambrian granite uplifted through horst and graben formation.
​
Gold mineralization is concentrated along NW and NE regional structural lineaments. Riverside Resources identified four targets on the Cerro Magallanes dome and six others outside of the dome. All of them show extensive alteration and sub-continuous high grades. Surface geochemistry indicates that that the areas sampled are above the boiling zone suggesting gold bearing mineralization could be intersected at shallow depth at these targets.
Figure 2: Geological map of Cecilia 1 and Cerro Magallanes

Exploration Targets

  • Cerro Magallanes Dome Concession: San Jose, North Breccia, Central Target and East Target
  • Cecilia 1 Concession: Casa de Piedra, La Mesa, Medias Rojas, Cruz 1, Cruz 2 and Magallanecito
  • Cecilia 2: Further ground exploration needed

Exploration Next Steps

February 2021; Carlyle has targeted to complete a 1,500-meter drill program to test three gold targets at the Cerro Magallanes Dome that have been defined from a combination of sampling old mine workings, recent prospecting, IP and channel sampling.

Cerro Magallanes Dome Targets

Cerro Magallanes Dome encompasses four sub-targets: San Jose, North Breccia, Central Target and East Target (Figure 3). Riverside’s extensive work program since 2017 have shown a vertical variation with significant concentration of Ag at the base of the dome along the eastern slope to gold-only enriched at the top of Cerro Magallanes. Three specific elevation: 1,700m, 1,900m and 2,100m comprise most of the high-grade, which suggest multiple mineralizing events within specific structural settings, along dome margin and stratigraphy. This style of mineralization is very similar to the Pitarilla mine in Durango, where large volumes of mineralized rock can be found in addition to high-grade structural bounding margins. This hypothetic target at Cerro Magallanes would be at 300 to 500 meters depth from the top of the dome, evident by the presence the Cabullona sediments outcropping at 1,650 m elevation on the eastern slope.
Figure 3: Geological map of Cerro Magallanes with historical and Riverside's rock sampling
  • The San Jose target is located at the top of the dome along the primary structural zone bisecting the peak of Cerro Magallanes. There are over half a dozen of old workings here, some of them accessing multiple parallel fault zones carrying gold mineralization of 47 m @ 1.12 g/t Au, 8 m @ 0.91 g/t Au (Cambior, 1995). At surface, Riverside’s assays returned 3.0 and 7.9 g/t Au for a 1.5 m long channel and up to 9 g/t Au rock chip sample. These veins show classic epithermal multigenerational opening and filling textures typical of feeder zones like those at the San Julian Mine in Chihuahua also of the same mid-Tertiary age.

  • North Breccia target has an outline of 250 m by 100 m and is marked by multiple zones of hydrothermal brecciation in porphyritic, flow banded and flow breccia rhyolitic rocks with strong hematite-stained silica alteration. Locally, crystallization of quartz and fluorite in open-space as well as veinlets is visible, however the area shows primarily extensive fractures along NW-SE trend with strong hematite and clay-rich gouge material. Since 2017, Riverside Resources collected over 75 rock-chip samples in this area. Twenty-six of these samples returned gold assays ranging from 0.41 to 7.46 g/t Au. CRM and Cambior both drill-tested this area and intersected a 30 m interval of 1.41 g/t starting 4.0 meters downhole (138-95-08). The same portion of mineralization was intersected in hole 139-95-19 and produced an 8-m-long interval that averaged 0.65 g/t Au.

  • Central target is located along the same northwestern trend as the North Breccia and returned one sample of 133 g/t Au and 335 g/t Ag in mine dump. There are numerous small underground workings reportedly dating back to the 1940s that extend as a linear feature from the peak of Cerro Magallanes down the slope. Riverside Resources collected 30 samples across the target, which returned between 0.5 and 133.7 g/t Au with values worth noting such as 58 g/t Au and 19 g/t Au with reported respective silver values of 288 g/t Ag and 335 g/t Ag. The Central target was tested by 5 drill holes in 1995. Hole 139-95-17 intersected 42.0 m averaging 0.49 g/t Au with a maximum assay of 3.26 g/t Au. Hole 138-95-9 & -10 intersected 36 m at 0.2 g/t Au and 60 m at 0.2 g/t gold.

Cecilia 1 Targets

Cecilia 1 concession encompasses a wide range of rocks, from Precambrian granite, to Paleozoic limestone and Cretaceous Cabullona sedimentary group. This succession was strongly affected by major NE and NW structural corridors that created a horst and graben terrain and northwest trending rhyolitic dikes. The six targets, Casa de Piedra, La Mesa, Medias Rojas, Cruz 1, Cruz 2 and Magallanecito are located along the NE and NW regional structures.  Soil sampling geochemistry suggests near-boiling zone targets with anomalous gold exceeding 1 g/t (Precipitate Minerals, 2016, unpublished).

  • The Casa de Piedra and La Mesa targets, both show the same style of mineralization primarily along NE trending faults extending for at least 2 km across the project area. Alteration and veining are visible within the Cabullona group rocks and increases in the limestone unit noted as jasperoid along structures and near rhyolitic dikes (see Figure 5 below). Some of the best results are located at La Mesa target with 2.81 g/t Au along a 2 m channel sample; and 0.907 g/t Au and 0.497 g/t Au at Casa de Piedra1. This area is believed to host a deeper target closer to the boundary of the limestone and the quartzite.
Figure 4: Casa de Piedra geological map showing Riverside's Terraspec analysis, rock samples and structural targets
  • Medias Rojas is located along a NE trending structural corridor along which a more or less continuous vein/breccia/stockwork zone can be traced for at least 250 m. The corridor is about 20 m wide and comprises 3 to 5 parallel quartz veins with hematization of rare pyrite, sphalerite and galena. Riverside’s best samples returned 12.5 g/t Au in sandstone and 8.5 g/t Au in rhyolitic dike material. Nineteen of the rock chip samples returned over 0.3 g/t Au. The extent of the mineralization along strike has not been established, but recent work suggests that the vein system extends to the northwest onto the Cecilia 2 concession.
Examples of breccia and veining within the Medias Rojas structural corridor.
  • Cruz I and II are located to the north of the Cecilia 1 concession along and near a major northwest trending corridor that extends for at least 4 km. Geochemistry from soil sampling shows anomalous Te, Au, Pb, Zn and Cu, suggesting that Cruz I and II could be located within the base-metal horizon of an epithermal system. In the field, mineralization is associated with veins and stockwork and alteration zones up to 100 m wide with pervasive, widespread sericitic and silica alteration; sulphides are rare but noted in this area. At Cruz I, ten samples were collected with four samples returning 0.1 to 0.5 g/t Au.

  • Magallanecito is an additional rhyolitic dome similar to Cerro Magallanes. Results from sampling highlights a high correlation between gold and silver making this target a priority for additional groundwork.

2021 Drill Program

  • Drilling preparation, which includes hand-built drill pads for person-portable drilling at the San Jose target, widening and improvement of drill trails/roads, and preparation of the drill camp for the upcoming drill program;
  • Drone Aeromagnetic survey underway now with results in the coming weeks;
  • Detailed structural mapping at the main dome targets of Cerro Magallanes and mapping of gold veins and silicification zones;
  • Conduct an Induced Polarisation survey, which can help to define the depth of potential conductors interpreted to be sulfide zones in the dome system and also tighten targeting of possible ore shoots;
  • Results from the next batch of channel samples along the primary targets including at San Jose which will refine the mineralization along strike.
Image:  Progressing towards drilling. Drill pad preparation at the Cecilia Project
In Spring 2021 Riverside and partner, Carlyle Commodities Corp. completed the Phase I Drill campaign. The program consisted of a total of seven (7) drill holes and in April 2021 data for five (5) drill holes was reported.
Anomalous gold mineralization was intersected in all five drill holes, with the best intercept being 24.2 m of 1.51 g/t Austarting from only 2.30 m downhole at the North Breccia Target (CED21-005). A further 8.9 m of 0.64 g/t Au intercept was cut near end-of-hole starting from only 40.35 m. Assays remain pending for another slightly deeper drill-hole at the North Breccia Target (See 3D Figure below). This first phase drill campaign included mostly shallow drill-holes, which successfully demonstrate a well-developed hydrothermal system near surface, with significant room to extend mineralization both laterally and to greater depths with subsequent drilling. Riverside and Carlyle look forward to additional assay results in the coming weeks (Holes 006 & 007) and follow up drill plans will be determined once all results have been received and interpreted.
Table 1: First assays received from the North Breccia drilling, including two intercepts. Summary of additional results are listed further below in Table 2.
Hole_ID
From (m)
To (m)
Interval (m)
Grade (g/t Au)
CED21-005
2.30
26.50
​24.2
1.51
CED21-005
40.35
49.25
​8.90
0.64
​including
43.95
47.25
3.30
​1.32
Notes: Cut-off grade used for calculating intervals is 0.2 g/t Au. All reported intercepts are downhole lengths (estimated true width will be determined with hole CED21-006, for which logging indicate a zone of interest of about 4m.
Figure 5: 3D section of the drilling at North Breccia target from Riverside and Carlyle exploration program. Hole 005 has intersected the fault system and shows extent of mineralization with relation to the fault system. Mineralization corresponds to a combination of breccia, fault and strong silicification.
The first drill program from Riverside and Carlyle was focused on targeting the hydrothermal system identified at two principal elevations: 2,200 m and 1,900 m, respectively corresponding to the San Jose Target and the North Breccia Target. By doing so, Riverside’s team was able to test the continuity of the mineralized structures at shallow depth.
Figure 6: Simplified map of the Cerro Magallanes eastern slope with the first phase drill program.

San Jose Target

A total of 3 holes were drilled into the San Jose Target (CED21-001, 002, 003) and 1 hole (CED21-004) to test the La Cueva Target identified as the northeastern structural junction with the east-west Agua Prieta structural corridor including the North Breccia Target and the Central Target as shown in Figure 6.

The San Jose Target was originally identified from a historical working that included extensive tunnels up to 80 m deep and stopes, for which the extent is not known. Previous sampling taken from the stope wall during 2020, returned high grades up to 48 g/t Au in a sawcut channel sample over 0.75 m. Results from drilling show a wide interval of lower grade enveloping high-grade pods at shallow depths. The drilling at San Jose finds extensive and intensive silicification which appears to be the upper zones of low sulfidation epithermal fluids which could be the upper distal outflows from potentially gold rich veins below. This type of alteration is found in other epithermal centers in Sonora, Mexico and the results so far are favourable for this target.
​
Drill core shows the mineralized zone identified in the drill holes is primarily concentrated within fault zones and is associated with moderate to intense silicification. The fault system extends to depth and so far, appears to become a lot wider which is also reflected in the grade thicknesses. The San Jose target was never drilled prior to this program. Drilling so far suggests the structures are widening at depth and warrant additional drilling.
Table 2: Summary table of drill intercepts from the San Jose and La Cueva Targets.
Hole_ID
From (m)
To (m)
Interval (m)
Grade (g/t Au)
CED21-001
19.50
21.00
​1.50
​0.21
CED21-001
38.15
39.00
​1.30
​0.69
CED21-002
31.15
32.20
​1.05
0.49
CED21-002
91.25
97.20
​5.95
0.20
​CED21-003
42.85
45.95
​3.10
​0.52
CED21-003
50.10
54.50
​4.40
0.23
including
54.00
54.50
​0.50
0.91
CED21-003
89.55
99.00
​9.45
​0.23
​CED21-003
114.15
116.30
​2.15
​0.26
CED21-003
118.75
120.75
2.00
​0.39
​CED21-003
122.00
123.00
​1.00
0.55
CED21-003
154.00
157.45
​3.45
0.35
​CED21-004
11.40
15.70
​4.30
0.29
CED21-004
45.45
51.70
​6.10
0.43
​including
47.40
48.35
​0.95
​1.09
CED21-004
82.20
85.20
​3.00
​0.87
CED21-004
116.20
117.05
​0.85
1.08

Phase 1 Sampling Program

The Phase 1 exploration program completed in November 2020 has delivered additional data, which includes:
  • First results from the initial batch of 21 rock channel samples collected from Cerro Magallanes that returned: 43.2 g/t Au, 5.6 g/t Au and 2.5 g/t Au (see Table 3 below);
  • Channel sampling results collected at San Jose Target yielding 48.3 g/t Au over 0.75 m (see Table 4 below);
  • Results from soil sampling at the Casa de Piedra target within the sedimentary Cabullona group;
  • Results from Aster processing highlighting altered corridors across the district scale property;
  • Topographic DEM produced from drone survey
Table 3: Top Four (4) of 21 Gold Assay Results from Current Channel Sampling Program with Riverside
Sample #
Au (ppm)
Target
RRI-6038
43.2
San Jose
RRI-6034
5.6
San Jose
RRI-6046
2.5
North Breccia
RRI-6047
1.08
North Breccia

Exploration at Cerro Magallanes Target

Phase 1 exploration has defined and confirmed extensive high-grade mineralization on surface at the San Jose and North Breccia targets as highlighted in Figure 7 below. Recent sampling returned 43.2 g/t Au and 5.6 g/t Au from part of a more extensive structural corridor for which historical work has defined over 300 m in strike length and 20 m in width. Sampling in 2017 by Riverside from a mine dump area returned samples of 133.7 g/t Au and 58 g/t Au. Current interpretation suggests a potential intersection at depth of the San Jose and North Breccia structures identifying possible bonanza style mineralization
Table 4: Sample results from the November 10th channel sample batch at San Jose target
Sample #
Au (ppm)
Target
Channel Thickness
Rock Type
RRI-32975
48.3
San Jose
0.75-m channel
Underground silicified fluidial rhyolite
RRI-32997
0.86
San Jose
1.70-m channel
Silicified breccia
RRI-32976
0.78
San Jose
0.85-m channel
Underground silicified breccia
RRI-32978
0.66
San Jose
1.60-m channel
Silicified breccia
RRI-32974
0.66
San Jose
0.80-m channel
Underground silicified breccia
RRI-32998
0.56
San Jose
1.25-m channel
Silicified fluidal rhyolite
The latest channel samples yielded up to 48.3 g/t Au over 0.75 m at the San Jose Target (see Table 4 above). The 36-sample batch with over 43% of the gold assays higher than 0.2 g/t Au. All samples were collected using a hand saw to ensure continuity and thickness of reported grade-intervals. This most recent batch of samples is from brecciated and silicified rhyolite from underground workings as well as at surface, which collectively form part of the La Cueva structural corridor parallel to the main San Jose fault.

By incorporating surface data and geophysics survey (Magnetic and Induce Polarization), Riverside’s geologists were able to provide a better understanding of the structure for targeting of the mineralization. Hosts and feeder zones of the mineralization throughout the rhyolitic dome is controlled by both northwest and northeast structural corridors. Mapping and sampling have delineated a 600-m long high-grade zone open along trend, called the Agua Prieta structural zone (see Figure 7B below). The trend is notable by its reddish-oxide stained rocks outcropping prominently along the eastern slope of the dome. Intersections between feeders and dome margins, as indicated by the magnetic survey correlate with the Central and North Breccia targets.
Figure 7: ​Maps of the Cerro Magallanes dome including interpretation of the dome margin and simplified structures. Proposed drill holes are subject to adjustments. Figure 7A - 1DV magnetic survey results with the drill plan and Riverside’s rock and channel sampling; Figure 7B - Target interpretation and mineralized feeder system.
Figure 8: Simplified Geological Map Including Recent RRI Channel Sampling
Mineralization at the San Jose target consists of grey quartz, opalescent silica, fluorite and silicification within structural breccia and upper dome shears. The primary structure is oriented northwest along which conjugated structures form sets of northeast and easterly oriented faults. It is interpreted that the primary fluid path for mineralizing fluids follows a northwestern lineament, which allows ore shoot deposition of gold and silver mineralization at fault intersections as well as along dome margins.
​
The North Breccia, Central and East targets are associated with increases in precious and base metals, showing boiling textures and dissolution of clasts. These indicators make us believe that historical drill holes and recent surface work could define a shallow horizon (upper levels) within an epithermal system.

Exploration at a District Scale

New data from soil sampling and Aster processing show a corridor of alteration following northwest and northeastern oriented structures as shown in the figure below. In addition, widespread gold-bearing quartz veins with gold values up to 12.5 g/t Au confirm the presence of fluid migration throughout the property and especially along northeastern structures. The divergence in orientation of the northwestern Cerro Magallanes primary fluid migration path and the northeastern trend outside of the dome could be explained by difference in rheology for which the rhyolite dikes act as an aquiclude in the sedimentary units. This interpretation has helped guide target definition (see Figure 9 below).
Figure 9: District Scale Targeting Refined Using Aster Processing, Soil Sampling and Historical Rock Sampling

Property Option Terms

In July 2020, Carlyle signed an option to purchase agreement with Riverside Resources Inc. (TSXV: RRI) to acquire 100% interest in the Cecilia project by making the following cash payments and share issuances, whereby Carlyle has executed all initial closing deliverables of cash and securities, as well the Company has advanced its year one commitment of $750,000, which is expected to be spent by the end of Q1 2021.
Vesting Date
No. of Special Warrants Vested/Converted
12 months from Closing
500,000
18 months from Closing
500,000
24 months from Closing
500,000
30 months from Closing
500,000
36 months from Closing
1,000,000
Total:
3,000,000

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