Riverside Resources Inc. [TSXV: RRI; OTCQB: RVSDF; FSE: 5YY0] and Questcorp Mining Inc. [CSE: QQQ; OTCQB: QQCMF; FSE: D910] reported that drilling at the Union Project in Sonora, Mexico, is progressing on track and on budget, with three of the five main targets now having some initial drilling and work continuing toward completion of the current program.
“We are pleased to see the Union Project drill program advancing on schedule and on budget, with key targets now being tested,” commented John-Mark Staude, President and CEO of Riverside Resources. “The geological information we’re gathering, the mineralization indicators, particularly the structural and stratigraphic details, is already refining our exploration model and setting us up for the next stages as the program moves ahead. We look forward to drilling the high-potential Famosa target and to receiving the assay results from the work completed so far as the Riverside team operates working with the drill company.”
The first hole at the Union Mine target was drilled southeast beneath historic workings, cutting through the Clemente and Caborca formations, both key host units for past mining at Union.
The hole ended in the Caborca Formation, encountering the distinctive microconglomeratic carbonate unit that historically hosted mineralization at the bottom of the Union Mine. Samples from this hole have been delivered to Bureau Veritas in Hermosillo, Sonora, for gold fire assay, with pulps to be sent to Vancouver, Canada, for ICP-MS analysis with 4-acid digestion to determine silver, base metal, and multi-element values. This consistent analytical approach has been applied since the outset of the Union program to ensure comparability across results.
Drilling then moved to the northern part of the project, testing two target areas: the El Cobre Mine area and the North Union Mine area. Here, holes were oriented perpendicular to stratigraphy and toward interpreted feeder zones along pre-mineral fault structures, primarily within the Clemente Formation.
Drilling in these areas has intersected more quartzite than initially modeled, with extensive hematitic oxides, an encouraging sign for potential gold mineralization, possibly linked to sulfides that have been oxidized through supergene weathering. Historic mining in the district targeted oxides only, leaving sulfide zones untested. Riverside plans to evaluate this potential beneath past workings across four target areas: Union Mine, El Cobre, North Union, and Famosa.
The program has now moved south to the Famosa target, where two initial holes are planned to test beneath and along strike from historic workings toward a steeply west-dipping, north-south-trending fault structure, as well as into host rocks on either side of this major structural feature.
Famosa produced gold historically, with reported grades exceeding ½ oz/ton gold in archived records referenced in the NI 43-101 report. The company is encouraged by the target’s potential and is eager to advance drilling here.
Once this initial campaign is completed, follow-up work will integrate assay results, ongoing surface programs, additional induced polarization (IP) surveys, and refined geological interpretations based on stratigraphy and structure observed in drilling. The greater-than-expected quartzite content in the Clemente Formation supports the evolving model of fracture- and quartz-pyrite veinlet-hosted gold mineralization, which will help sharpen targeting at the Union Project. Core from all drilling has been logged, saw-cut, and half-core samples sent for assay, with remaining halves retained for reference and cataloging.
The company looks forward to completing the Famosa drilling, receiving the pending assay results, and providing further updates as this program progresses.
Riverside has a solid balance sheet with no debt and less than 75M shares outstanding with a strong portfolio of gold-silver and copper assets and royalties in North America. Riverside has properties available for option.
