Aya Gold & Silver Provides Annual Exploration Update

MONTREAL, Jan. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aya Gold & Silver Inc. (TSX: AYA; OTCQX: AYASF) ("Aya” or the "Corporation”) provides an annual exploration update on its 2024 drill exploration program at the Zgounder Silver Mine and the Boumadine Project in the Kingdom of Morocco.

Highlights¹

• Zgounder Mine Exploration:
  • Significant mineralization at depth toward the granite contact, extension of the open pit and West near the fault.
    • Hole DZG-SF-24-172 intercepted 2,165 g/t grams per tonne ("g/t”) silver ("Ag”) over 21.0 meters ("m”), including 4,600 g/t Ag over 3.5m
    • Hole ZG-RC-24-277 intercepted 2,425 g/t Ag over 17.0m including 6,311 g/t Ag over 5.0m
    • Hole ZG-RC-24-228 intercepted 1,356 g/t Ag over 20.0m, including 1,799 g/t Ag over 14.0m
    • Hole ZG-SF-24-200 intercepted 1,151g/t Ag over 21.0m, including 3,290 g/t Ag over 6.0m
    • Hole ZG-RC-24-028 intercepted 986 g/t Ag over 24.0m, including 4,418 g/t Ag over 4.0m
  • Completed 46,188m of drilling at Zgounder near mine and regionally.
• Boumadine Exploration:
  • Extension of Boumadine Main trend to 5.4 kilometer ("km”) with intersections including:
    • Hole BOU-DD23-223 intercepted 763 g/t silver equivalent ("AgEq”) over 38.3m (1.53 g/t gold ("Au”), 311 g/t Ag, 4.4% zinc ("Zn”), 1.8% lead ("Pb”) and 0.04% copper ("Cu”)
    • Hole BOU-DD23-230 intercepted 991 g/t AgEq over 17.6m (2.64 g/t Au, 247 g/t Ag, 7.7% Zn, 1.2% Pb and 0.3% Cu
  • Extension of Tizi Zone to 2.0km with intersection such as:
    • Hole BOU-DD24-310 intercepted 445 g/t AgEq over 13.7m (4.9 g/t Au, 42 g/t Ag, 0.4% Zn, 0.4% Pb and 0.06% Cu
    • Hole BOU-DD24-306 intercepted 1,021 g/t AgEq over 3.0m (11.5 g/t Au, 89 g/t Ag, 0.8% Zn, 0.2% Pb and 0.2% Cu
  • Announcement of Mineral Resources Estimate ("MRE”) with Inferred Mineral Resource of 23.6 million tonnes ("Mt”) containing an estimated 64.7 million ounces ("Moz”) of Ag, 1.98 Moz of Au, 546 thousand tonnes ("kt”) of Zn and 198 kt of Pb.
  • 15 exploration permits added, expanding the Boumadine exploration footprint to 252.5 square kilometres ("km²”).
  • Completion of 219 drillholes totalling 107,683m within the Boumadine main trend and other targets.
  • Completion of an extensive helicopter-borne MobileMT electromagnetic and magnetic survey that covers an area of 1,266 km².

¹ All intersections are in core lengths. The holes were drilled at different angles; the actual thickness is not known at this time. Ag equivalent is based on a silver price of US$21/oz with a process recovery of 89%, a gold price of US$1,900/oz with a process recovery of 85%, a zinc price of US$1.20/lb with a process recovery of 72%, a lead price of US$1.00/lb with a process recovery of 85%, and a copper price of US$4.00/lb with a process recovery of 75% resulting in the following ratios: 1g/t Au: 76.9 g/t Ag; 1% Cu: 97.63 g/t Ag; 1% Pb: 27.7 g/t Ag; and 1% Zn: 28.1 g/t Ag.

"Exploration success at both Zgounder and Boumadine during 2024 has been instrumental in driving the growth of our assets, with exceptional intercepts highlighting the potential to significantly increase high-grade ounces in the near term,” commented Benoit La Salle, President & CEO. "Our completion of over 150,000 meters of drilling, combined with the use of high-resolution spectral imagery and geophysics technology, have been crucial in achieving exploration success and uncovering new opportunities. By expanding our footprint with the addition of over 150 km² of ground in Morocco, we are committed to creating value for all shareholders through the drill bit and will continue this growth momentum into 2025.”

Summary of Exploration Results

Zgounder Exploration

The Zgounder Mine is a volcanic Ag mineralization sediment hosted deposit, underground and open pit mine in the central Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco. Best intercepts for 2024 are shown in Table 1.

• For the period of January to December 2024, a total of 35,469m were completed. (Figure 1)
• Infill drilling, underground and surface, on the high-grade mineralization at the main orebody confirmed the mineralization and extended underground production zones. Results include: DZG-SF-24-172 with 21.0m at 2,165 g/t Ag including 3.5m at 4,600 g/t Ag, DZG-SF-24-065 with 6.5m at 2,870 g/t Ag including 2.0m at 7,229 g/t Ag and ZG-23-54 with 7.0m at 1,846 g/t Ag including 5.0m at 2,095 g/t Ag. (Figure 2)
• Silver mineralization at depth, near the granite contact was confirmed and extended 800m along strike, with results including: ZG-SF-23-084 with 13.5m at 1,089 g/t Ag including 7.5m at 1,700 g/t Ag and 4.5m at 4,469 g/t Ag, ZG-SF-24-200 with 21.0m at 1,151 g/t Ag including 6.0m at 3,290 g/t Ag and ZG-SF-24-123 with 2.5m at 5,696 g/t Ag.
• The open pit area is a key contributor to production, reverse circulation ("RC”) drilling on the area, at east of the deposit confirmed the continuity of the mineralization at south and at north. Results include: ZG-RC-24-028 with 24.0m at 986 g/t Ag including 4.0m at 4,418 g/t Ag, ZG-RC-24-228 with 20.0m at 1,356 g/t Ag including 14.0m at 1,799 g/t Ag, ZG-RC-24-277 with 17.0m at 2,425 g/t Ag including 5.0m at 6,311 g/t Ag and ZG-RC-24-082 with 16.0m at 1,155 g/t Ag including 5.0m at 2,335 g/t Ag.

Table 1 - Best Intercepts at Zgounder in 2024 (core lengths)