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During the 25^th week of the year (June 20^th to June 26^th, 2022), at least 24 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico. To note, four companies posted exploration advances on their properties, there were no relevant news in the mining section, four companies reported on the opening or closing f financing rounds for a total of US$6.4 M and C$5 M, five companies posted on work at its advanced properties. One company announced a LOI on a property, another is on a legal fight for its mining concessions and one more is suing the Mexican government on the cancellation of a project.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Congress released the reform on nationalization of lithium extraction. ON EXPLORATION, in Sonora, Silver Spruce collared the first hole at Diamante; Tocvan Ventures recommenced drilling at Pilar. In Zacatecas, Minera Alamos updated on regional exploration at Melchor Ocampo. In Veracruz, Azucar Minerals commenced a second hole on a new target at El Cobre. ON MINING, no relevant news. ON FINANCING, Sonoro Gold increased its financing round to $2.4 M; Fabled Silver it to raise up to $1 M; Heliostar Metals is carrying a financing round to raise $3 M; Reyna Silver closed its non-brokered placement raising C$5 M.  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Alamos Gold poured first bullion from La Yaqui Grande, in the Mulatos district, Sonora. Minera Alamos obtained surface access to Cerro de Oro in Zacatecas. Vizsla Resources reported drill results from Panuco, in Sinaloa. Guanajuato Silver reported high-grade tailings drilling results at El Cubo, in Guanajuato. GR Silver released drill results from Plomosas, in Sinaloa. Orex Minerals resumed drilling at Sandra, in Durango, within a JV with Pan American Silver. Oroco Resources released drilling results from the north part of the Santo Tomás project in Sinaloa. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, no relevant news.  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

• The Economy Secretariat (Secretaría de Economía) is the government entity that is to run the Lithium State company. The reform sealed by Congress nationalized the extraction of the metal, and mandates the government has 90 days to create the organization.

ON EXPLORATION

• Colibri Resources Corp. announced that its partner in the Diamante project in Sonora, Silver Spruce Resources Inc. has collared the first holes of a 2,000 m reverse circulation drilling program, starting on the Pillado zone and to continue at La Prieta.
• Tocvan Ventures Corp. recommenced drilling at its Pilar project in Sonora. Drilling will focus on priority exploration targets as well as parallel trends and extensions.
• Azucar Minerals Ltd. has commenced a second hole at the lithocap target at El Cobre, Veracruz. “the first hole passed through typical clay dominant lithocap alteration into phyllic alteration which transitioned to propylitic and at depth intense biotitic potassic alteration and is interpreted to have intersected a peripheral part of a porphyry system beneath the lithocap”. The target has been shown as likely to contain a medium to large sized porphyry systems based on mineral vectoring studies with chlorite and epidote.
• Minera Alamos Inc. updated on regional exploration activities in the Melchor Ocampo area of Zacatecas. The company owns 6,405 ha of mining concessions in the area around its Cerro de Oro project, in development. A new mineralized trend has been identified 4.5 km southwest of the Cerro de Oro area, with 22 out of 40 samples running over 0.5 gpt Au “in a sedimentary sequence of interbedded siltstone, sandstones and limestones that have been intruded by granitic dikes and sills”. An internal historic report by Echo Bay calculated 2.8 M tonnes @ 0.75 gpt Au, and also pointed to the possibility of large tonnage Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization.

ON MINING

• No Relevant News.

ON FINANCING

• Sonoro Gold Corp. is increasing its previously announced non-brokered private placement to raise gross proceeds of up to $2.4 M. (Cerro Caliche, Sonora).
• Fabled Silver Gold Corp. announced a non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1 M (Santa Maria, Chihuahua).
• Heliostar Metals Ltd. is carrying a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $3 M (Cumaro, Oso Negro and La Lola, in Sonora).
• Reyna Silver Corp. closed its previously announced “best efforts” private placement, for gross proceeds of C$5 M. The offering was upsized from its originally aimed C$3 M (Guigui, Chihuahua).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

• Alamos Gold Inc. announced initial gold production from the La Yaqui Grande mine in Sonora. Construction was completed ahead of schedule this month. A total of 991 Oz was poured, with production expected to reach 3,000 Oz Au in June. This large-scale construction project will extend the life of the Mulatos Complex for at least five years. “La Yaqui Grande was completed ahead of schedule generating more than 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and will continue to sustain 450 direct jobs”.
• Minera Alamos Inc. presented executed surface rights agreements for its Cerro de Oro project in Zacatecas. These permits, which cover 816 ha in the Melchor Ocampo Municipality and 160 ha in the Ejido San Pedro de Ocampo, with allow the company to pursue the permit application for the project. Additional activities for 2022 include metallurgical test work, in-fill and local resource expansion drilling, ongoing regional exploration, equipment procurement, mine contractor discussions and project financing discussions.
• Vizsla Resources Corp. reported results from 24 drill holes targeting the Tajitos-Copala resource area at its Panuco project in Sinaloa. The results are from the Copala structure, extending it to 600 meters along strike and 400 m downdip. Highlighted true width results comprise 20.45 m @ 780 gpt Ag, 4.23 gpt Au; 14.50 m @ 667 gpt Ag, 3.89 gpt Au; 9.35 m @ 1,010 gpt Ag, 5.44 gpt Au (including 1.30 m @ 3,548 gpt Ag, 17.78 gpt Au); 4.40 m @ 802 gpt Ag, 6.89 gpt Au; 3.40 m @ 1,642 gpt Ag, 6.67 gpt Au. “The Copala Vein is a shallow dipping structure …. on the hangingwall side of the Tajitos structure. Copala is marked by high precious metals grades …. hosted within a broader envelope of vein-breccia up to 82 metres thick…”.
• Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd. reported the discovery of high-grade material in an historical tailings area of El Cubo Mine Complex in Guanajuato. The Mastranto tailings facility has material from El Cubo Santa Cecilia area, mined between 1986 and 2003, covering an area of 4.35 ha. with approximately 1.5 m of tailings material. Some of the highlighted hole length results comprise 1.3 m @ 4.14 gpt Au, 328 gpt Ag; 1.6 m @ 3.07 gpt Au, 169 gpt Ag; 0.8 m @ 3.42 gpt Au, 446 gpt Ag; 1.1 m @ 3.18 gpt Au, 405 gpt Ag; 1.2 m @ 3.17 gpt Au, 427 gpt Ag; 1.0 m @ 3.54 gpt Au, 405 gpt Ag; 1.2 m @ 3.65 gpt Au, 435 gpt Ag; 1.0 m @ 3.42 gpt Au, 437 gpt Ag; 1.2 m @ 3.03 gpt Au, 419 gpt Ag; 1.1 m @ 3.46 gpt Au, 40 gpt Ag; 1.1 m @ 3.32 gpt Au, 316 gpt Ag; 1.0 m @ 4.02 gpt Au, 220 gpt Ag. “the Company plans to extract the gold and silver content from Mastrantos IV using a gravity extraction circuit”.
• GR Silver Mining Ltd. released results from drilling at the San Juan and Plomosas mine areas of its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. Highlighted true width results comprise 4.3 m @ 4.52 gpt Au, 56 gpt Ag (including 1.1 m @ 10.17 gpt Au, 340 gpt Ag); 0.5 m @ 30.09 gpt Au, 76 gpt Ag; 0.9 m @ 0.38 gpt Au, 459 gpt Ag. Channel sampling at Las Teresas returned 3.4 m @ 1.21 gpt Au, 67 gpt Ag (including 0.4 m @ 9.44 gpt Au, 394 gpt Ag).
• Orex Minerals Inc. resumed diamond drilling on the Sandra project in Durango. This is a joint venture between Pan American Silver Corp. (60%) and Orex (40%) that aims to drill 2,500 to 3,000 meters in this new Phase-I program. “The Project covers almost 70 square kilometres of contiguous mineral concessions and includes multiple mineralized epithermal quartz veins, disseminated horizons and breccia structures”. The Sandra project has an inferred resource of 9.8 M tonnes @ 106 gpt hosting 33.3 M Oz Ag in the Boleras deposit.
• Oroco Resources Corp. released results from the Brasiles area of the Santo Tomas project in Sinaloa. Core length highlighted results comprise 166 m @ 0.36 % Cu (including 59.0 m @ 0.46% Cu and 17.4 m @ 0.44% Cu); 33.5 m @ 0.14% Cu in one hole; 24.0 m @ 0.33% Cu; 14.0 m @ 0.17% Cu; 16.0 m @ 0.14% Cu in a second hole; 213.5 m @ 0.28% Cu (including 37.5 m @ 0.50% Cu) in a third hole. “Brasiles West Zone has strong geological similarities to the North Zone, if somewhat attenuated. Like the North Zone, monzonite dikes cutting the Cretaceous limestone (marble) are accompanied by skarn development and minor base metal mineralization”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

• QNB Metals Inc. announced the execution of a binding letter of intent (LOI) with Analog Gold Inc. on the proposed acquisition of the Tres Oro property in Sinaloa. “The LOI provides for a business combination of QNB Metals and Analog, which would be implemented by way of a "Reverse Takeover" of QNB Metals by Analog”. The deal envisages consolidation of QNB Metals shares on a 2 to 1 basis, completion of a financing round, the payment of $38.3 M through the issuance of shares. The Tres Oros property is an active pilot mine exploiting a polymetallic structure open on strike and at depth, with access to a 600 tpd flotation plant.
• Defiance Silver Corp. has “become aware that certain mineral concessions concerning its Tepal Project have been illegally and fraudulently transferred to a third-party individual without the Company’s knowledge or consent. These concessions are the property of Defiance and have consistently been kept in good standing by the Company, with all obligations and filings under applicable laws being systematically completed”. Defiance is pursuing all legal avenues to restore its rightful claim to the concessions (Tepal. Michoacan).
• Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. has gathered US$15 M to pursue legal actions against environmental authorities in Mexico, under the arbitration provided by NAFTA. The complaint asks for US$2 billion in damages on the cancellation of the offshore phosphate mining project.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• No Relevant News.

On the image below: Locally foliated intrusive rock, with minor quartz and specularite veining in the Sonora Desert. Picture by Jorge Cirett.