The Investigator Resources Ltd (ASX: IVR) share price is surging today after the company confirmed regional silver potential in Paris (South Australia).
Investigator shares are up 9% at the time of writing, trading at 9.6 cents per share, further boosting their high 688% yearly return.
Investigator Resources is a mineral exploration company focusing on copper, gold, silver and nickel exploration. Its operations include Paris silver, Peterlumbo, Maslins IOCG and Eyre Peninsula projects.
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Investigator's Paris of the South
Today's update focuses on Investigator's 100% owned Peterlumbo tenement, which hosts the Paris Silver Project in South Australia. This is home to several drilling targets that were subject to a major drilling operation throughout 2020 and has recently returned assays.
The strongest silver intersections were at the company's Argos, Ares and Paris Dyke targets. The miner found the highest grade at Argos, which returned three metres at 10g/t of silver from 56 metres deep and two metres at 13g/t of silver from 69 metres deep.
Additional results included 25 metres at 0.33% lead and 0.3% zinc from 53 metres deep.
These are the latest in a line of silver mining results that have sent the Investigator share price climbing.
According to the miner, its Paris project is more than just a pretty name. It's the "highest grade undeveloped silver project in Australia".
A "shallow, high-grade silver deposit amenable to open-pit mining", Paris hosts an Australasian 2012 resource estimate of 9.3 metres at 139g/t silver and 0.6% lead for 42 million ounces of contained silver and 55 kilotonnes of contained lead.
The company says an updated resource estimate is due to be finalised within weeks. Metallurgical test work currently targets opportunities to "maximise recoveries", with a pre-feasibility study due in June this year.
What did management say?
Investigator managing director Andrew McIlwain said the results demanded further study:
With more recent work naturally focussed on the growth and advancement of the Paris Silver Project's resource, little work had been undertaken following up known regional opportunities. When capital was raised in August 2020, a commitment was made to pursue the thesis that similar mineralisation could feasibly exist within close proximity to Paris.
We are encouraged by the results, particularly at Ares and Argos, where we are looking for a Paris repeat along trend from Paris. Identification of silver mineralisation in this wide spaced reconnaissance drill program supports our optimism that the region may hosts other further silver deposits and we will embark on further drilling at Argos, Ares and Helen, as well as at Paris Dyke – which delivered encouraging results close to the existing Paris silver resource – in the next few months.
Investigator share price snapshot
The Investigator share price has made impressive yearly returns, led by constant high-grade silver results from its Paris mine. Trading at one cent in June last year, the gains have been consistent, with few significant drops in between.
Still, the Investigator share price has a long way to climb to reach its decade high of 33 cents, set all the way back in 2012.
