GOLD-SILVER: Hochschild to invest US$8M for initial stake in Riverside project

[caption id="attachment_1003739931" align="alignnone" width="550"] Riverside Resources geologists at the Los Cuarentas gold-silver project in Mexico. Credit: Riverside Resources[/caption] VANCOUVER – Riverside Resources has optioned its Los Cuarentas project, in Sonora, Mexico, to Hochschild Mining in a deal that will see the major spend U$8 million over five years to earn an initial 51% interest. The prospect generator has defined several targets at the gold-silver project, which is located 17 km northwest of SilverCrest Metals' Las Chispas project and 15 km northeast of Premier Gold Mines' Mercedes mine. Riverside believes the past-producing project, which supported near-surface underground mining in the 1950s, has potential to host a near-surface, high-grade gold vein system. The company received drill permits for the project, which has not seen any known drilling to date, in April. Once Hochschild has earned a 51% interest in Los Cuarentas, it can earn another 24% (for 75%) by spending US$3 million and completing a feasibility study. It can then buy the remainder of the project for US$20 million. Riverside would retain a 1% net smelter royalty. Under the earn-in agreement, Riverside will remain operator for at least the first two years. Hochschild can extend that for another year. Through a sampling and target mapping program completed earlier this year, Riverside has identified three well-defined targets for drilling at Los Cuarentas: Santa Rosalia, Santa Rosalia Sur and El Sombrero. It has also identified three new prospective targets: El Sombrerito, El Sombrero Norte and Santa Rosalia Norte. Rock-chip samples from the 8-sq.-km project returned assay highlights including 18 g/t gold, 12.3 g/t gold, 7.3 g/t gold and 3 g/t gold. The low-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver project hosts multiple gold-bearing quartz veins located within a larger structural corridor. Riverside says the sampling results indicate continuity along the principal mineralized zones. According to the junior, Los Cuarentas has similar characteristics to other nearby gold-silver deposits, including strong argillic and phyllic alteration surrounding low-sulphidation epithermal vein systems that host the gold and silver mineralization. For more information, visit rivres.com.