Aya Gold & Silver, a Toronto- and Nasdaq-listed mining company trading under the symbol AYA, has announced significant exploration results from its Zgounder operation in Morocco, demonstrating the expansion of high-grade silver mineralization beyond the current open pit and through the central portion of the property. The company published assay data from 97 drill holes as part of its resource growth initiative near the active mine. Within the open-pit zone, hole ZG-RC-24-155 returned 13 metres averaging 783 grams of silver per tonne starting at surface.
A separate hole, ZG-RC-24-354, yielded 11 metres at 501 grams of silver from a depth of 2 metres. Additional notable intercepts included hole T28-26-1404, which delivered 12 metres at 762 grams of silver from 7 metres depth, and hole T28-26-1443, which returned 14 metres at 468 grams of silver from 14 metres downhole. Aya has completed over half of a 30,000-metre drill program targeting both near-mine and regional areas.
The exploration campaign utilizes underground diamond drilling, surface drilling, reverse-circulation holes, and percussion drilling techniques. The company is advancing an exploration drift at the 1,825-metre level, with drilling west of the Zgounder fault scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter. Eric Winmill, mining analyst at Scotiabank, characterized the campaign as a key forward exploration catalyst that will probe areas beyond the currently emphasized mineralized footprint while near-pit results may guide future resource conversion and mine-planning efforts.
Zgounder is located approximately 215 kilometres south of Marrakech. The operation is expected to yield between 5.2 million and 5.8 million ounces of silver in 2026, compared with 4.8 million ounces in the previous year. The mine includes a 2,700 tonne-per-day processing plant that reached commercial production in December 2024, with average cash costs of 21.50 dollars per ounce.
A December 2025 resource estimate shows Zgounder containing 18.9 million measured and indicated tonnes at 165 grams of silver per tonne, representing 100.2 million ounces of contained metal, plus 410,000 inferred tonnes at 340 grams of silver per tonne, containing 4.5 million ounces of contained metal. CEO Benoit La Salle stated that the results further confirm the strength and continuity of silver mineralization around the open pit and throughout the central zone, with work on the exploration drift at the 1,825-metre level advancing well and positioning the company for drilling west of the fault in the fourth quarter. Aya is also advancing its larger Boumadine polymetallic project, situated approximately 240 kilometres east of Zgounder.
The gold-silver-zinc-lead project is scheduled to commence production in 2030 with an after-tax net present value of 3.5 billion dollars, according to company guidance. A revised preliminary economic assessment assigns the project a 93 percent internal rate of return and a 0.7-year payback at 3,500 dollars per ounce of gold and 50 dollars per ounce of silver. On Friday morning trading in Toronto, Aya shares declined 1.3 percent to C$39.81, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately C$5.7 billion, or 4.1 billion dollars.
Over the past year, the stock has ranged between C$11.95 and C$41.98. Source: Mining.com, as reported by IndexBox
Source: indexbox.io