Diablo Resources has expanded the exploration footprint at its Star Range Project in Utah, extending a silver-antimony trend beyond three kilometers and identifying a separate copper anomaly as the company prepares to begin maiden drilling.
Location Map. Image Credit: Diablo Resources
The latest soil sampling extended the South Star silver-antimony anomaly by about 1,400 meters to the northeast. When combined with earlier results, the prospective trend now covers more than 3,000 meters.
The expanded footprint gives Diablo a larger area in which to undertake infill sampling, geological mapping and structural interpretation before defining potential drill targets.
Historical workings across South Star contain silica-carbonate veins and breccia zones, while earlier rock-chip sampling returned grades of up to 534 grams per ton silver and 0.19 percent antimony.
The company has also established a new target at East Star, where first-pass sampling outlined a coherent copper-in-soil anomaly measuring about 400 meters by 200 meters.
The anomaly is associated with historical workings and a northwest-trending structural corridor that remains open to the south. Previous rock-chip sampling from the area returned several grades above 3 percent copper, including a peak result of 7.39 percent copper.
Silver anomalism was also identified at East Star, supporting Diablo’s interpretation that Star Range hosts a zoned system containing multiple metals rather than a single isolated mineralized occurrence.
The latest program comprised 73 soil samples collected on an approximate 200-meter by 100-meter grid. Sampling was designed to test extensions of known mineralized trends and provide initial coverage over outcropping skarn-style mineralization at East Star.
The results broaden Diablo’s exploration pipeline beyond North Star, where site preparations are underway for the company’s first diamond drilling campaign at the project.
The data remains early-stage soil geochemistry rather than drilling evidence and is being used to identify broad geological trends and refine areas for more detailed investigation. No drilling formed part of the latest sampling program.
Diablo Chief Executive Lyle Thorne said:
“The latest results continue to expand the exploration pipeline at Star Range. South Star now hosts an Ag-Sb anomaly extending for more than 3,000 meters, while East Star has defined a coherent copper-in-soil anomaly associated with historical workings and previously reported rock results up to 7.39% Cu.
With maiden drilling at North Star commencing in the coming weeks and the Horn Silver acquisition progressing towards completion, Diablo is entering a significant period of drilling and exploration activity across its Utah portfolio.”
Diablo recently completed a $3.5 million placement to support a drilling-led exploration phase across its Utah projects.
The company is also progressing the acquisition of an 80 percent interest in the nearby Horn Silver Project following shareholder approval. Horn Silver is expected to add further near-mine and regional silver, antimony and copper targets to Diablo’s portfolio.
The next stage of work at Star Range will include additional extension and infill soil sampling at South Star and East Star, together with geological mapping and rock-chip sampling to refine the anomalies and improve drill planning.
Diablo will also complete site preparation and mobilization at North Star, where maiden diamond drilling is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks. The company plans to integrate the new geochemical results with its existing geological and geophysical datasets while progressing the Horn Silver acquisition and target-ranking work across the broader Utah portfolio.