Exploring What Could Be Mexico's Next Low-Production-Cost Open Pit Silver & Gold Mine
Dr. Tom Patton — the man who brought the world Penasquito — believes . . .
“… there is a real chance that we could be on the east end of a plus-billion ounce silver district.”
“We have never been disappointed by the Nieves; each successive work program has expanded the resource.”
The Opportunity
In a gold and silver bull market, owning a piece of a world-class silver and gold deposit could make more sense than owning silver and gold bullion. Certainly, the leverage is much greater with Nieves’ large discovered resource — 110,000,000 ounces of silver and 116,000 ounces of gold discovered. It has been assessed and reported pursuant to the NI 43-101 Resource Estimate and a preliminary economic feasibility study. Based on all findings and with only 6% of the approximate 200 kilometers of mineralized veins tested with a drill bit, it currently has an estimated fair value exceeding $100,000,000.
The Penasquito Story
Peñasquito is the second-largest mine in Mexico and the fifth-largest silver mine in the world with estimated reserves of 17,800,000 oz of gold and 1,070,000,000 oz of silver. Prior to starting Blackberry Ventures I, LLC, the BlackBerry team started Western Silver, a mineral exploration company focused on discovering and developing silver properties. It was based in Vancouver from 1997 To 2006. Western Silver identified the Peñasquito property as likely having a large resource of silver. Their company bought Peñasquito in 1997 and successfully explored the 39,000-hectare property. By 2003, they felt Peñasquito would become “one of the world’s largest silver resources.”
Our Team
The management team has worked on the project for the past 17 years. Each team member has played significant roles in major discoveries and each believes that Nieves provides another opportunity for success. Their dedication and hard work have paid off as the project has gained recognition in the industry. The team’s passion for innovation and problem-solving has been the driving force behind their success. Despite facing challenges along the way, they have remained committed to their goal of creating something that will be a unique and exciting opportunity.
Market Outlook
Global Demand is Growing
• Bloomberg reports a 50% silver demand upside by 2023 (January 2019). Currently at 3X the demand in 2008.
• Increased demand from top importers like China and India.
• An increasing number of products needing silver: solar technology, electric cars, batteries — especially for handheld devices —, medical applications, silk
screening circuit panels, and innumerable products sought by global populations entering the middle class.
• “There’s been a sea change in investor sentiment that obviously drives precious metals, and silver takes its cues from there.” — Maria Smirnova, Portfolio Manager with Sprott Asset Management which oversees C$10.3B. (Bloomberg, January 2019.)
Strategy
Pit Optimization
Blackberry’s immediate objective is to optimize the current silver/gold resource suitable for open pit mining described by M3 Engineering in their 2012 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of Nieves and increase the size, grade and classification of the silver and gold resource through infill and step out drilling. This will support the production of 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 ounces of silver annually for a minimum of 10 years.
Such a resource would be highly desirable to best-of-class silver miners seeking their next mineable silver resource. Achieving this objective would assure Blackberry members a positive return on their investment and de-risk the project’s future exploration.
Further Exploration
To achieve our goals, a comprehensive exploration program will be conducted at Nieves. The program will involve a series of surveys, including magnetic, geological, and geochemical surveys, to identify potential drill targets. The data collected from these surveys will be analyzed to determine the location of the intrusive source of mineralization and other magnetic anomalies that may indicate the presence of undiscovered veins.
Once the potential drill targets have been identified, a drilling program will be initiated to test the targets and assess the silver content of the mineralization. The drilling program will involve both core drilling and reverse circulation drilling to provide a comprehensive understanding of the mineralization at Nieves.
Such a resource would be highly desirable to best-of-class silver miners seeking their next mineable silver resource. Achieving this objective would assure Blackberry members a positive return on their investment and de-risk the project’s future exploration.
The Property
Fundamentals
NIEVES is located in the Famed Mexican Silver Belt — the Faja de Plata. The Faja de Plata is the most prolific silver province in the world. Since its discovery in the 16th century, more than 10 billion ounces of silver and 70 million ounces of gold have been produced.
History
The history of the area is rich. The first discovery in the area covered by the Nieves Property was the Santa Rita Vein in 1560 by Spanish explorers (Turner, 1999; Cavey, 1999).
Geology
Silver mineralization on the Nieves property is classified as low-sulphidation epidermal and is the primary target. Epidermal silver veins are dominant in the Altiplano Region of Mexico and include world-class examples such as Pachuca, Zacatecas, Fresnillo, and Guanajuato.
Where We’ve Been
Blackberry has acquired and partially explored 55 sq. miles of mining concessions, including the Nieves Silver Property, investing around $20.5 million. They have completed 15 exploration programs, including drilling and geophysical surveys, discovering 91,064,729 tons of silver ore with 110 million oz. of silver and 116,000 oz. of gold. M3 conducted a Form 43-101 Resource Report and Preliminary Economic Feasibility Study, determining that the silver resource can be mined with an open pit mine, reducing costs. Blackberry funded exploration incrementally, developed a staged financing strategy, and a three-stage exploration program to optimize the pit perimeter, expand, and explore the Nieves Silver Property for mineralization.
Where We’re Going
The goal is to increase the amount of higher-grade silver ore through infill and step-out core holes, upgrade the resource classification, and double the high-grade silver resource contained within the revised pit perimeter. Additionally, they aim to increase the high-grade reported pit resource and total inferred, indicated, and measured silver and gold resources. They plan to monetize the resulting discovered, delineated, and assessed reported silver and gold resources by selling the property or entering a joint venture or exploration option agreement.
