Tombstone, Arizona – aztec Minerals Corp. announced encouraging results from its ongoing exploration at the historic Tombstone Property, revealing meaningful gold and silver mineralization as of December 31, 2025. The company has completed 40 reverse circulation (RC) holes and one core hole as part of its 2025 drilling program, with assays from seven new RC holes now available.
Expanding Arizona’s Gold-Silver Potential
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Aztec Minerals is actively exploring the potential for a larger, interconnected mineral system beneath the famed Tombstone silver mines.
- Aztec completed 40 RC holes and one core hole at the Tombstone Property by year-end 2025.
- Drilling continues to identify hematite-rich mineralization consistent with the historic Contention mine.
- The program is focused on expanding known mineralization and testing new targets in the Westside area.
- Aztec believes the historic Tombstone silver mines may be linked to a much larger mesothermal system.
the latest findings build on previous work, with final multi-acid analysis confirming results from initial fire melt analysis of samples taken from the previously undrilled Head Center area in the northern Target Contention. This area is proving to be a key focus for Aztec’s exploration efforts.
What kind of mineralization is Aztec Minerals finding at Tombstone? The drilling program has consistently identified hematite-rich,oxidized silicified hydrothermal breccias – a geological signature typical of the material historically mined at the Contention mine. These breccias contain fragments of quartz-feldspar porphyry and Bisbee Group sediments.
Drilling focus: Contention and Beyond
Since 2020, the majority of RC holes have been drilled in a “fan pattern” around the Contention area, targeting extensions of mineralization to the west, east, south, and beneath the main north-trending target zone. One hole specifically tested the projected intersection of a dike and slot vein beneath mineralized outcrops and historic wells.
Core drilling also made significant progress in December 2025, with one hole (TC25-03) completed to a depth of 694 meters at the northern end of the property.This core drilling is aimed at testing the first deep carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) targets.
Westside Exploration and Future Plans
The 40 RC holes completed to date (totaling 6,887 meters) have tested both the Contention Main and Southern Extension areas, as well as six first-pass targets in the Westside area. Results from the first 20 holes have already been announced, and initial analysis continues to support Aztec’s geological model for gold-silver oxide mineralization.
The primary objectives of the 2025 program were to expand mineralization horizontally and at depth, test deep CRD targets with core drilling, and explore new targets identified in the Westside area. All samples are subject to a rigorous quality assurance/quality control (QAQC) program,including certified blanks,standards,and duplicates,and the QAQC has been evaluated and performed well.
Looking ahead, Aztec plans to follow up on the current program’s results. The company believes the historic Tombstone silver mines could be part of a much larger mesothermal system with CRD mineralization located beneath the old mines.As 2017, Aztec has conducted geological mapping, geochemical sampling, and geophysical investigations to pinpoint the most promising areas for gold-silver and zinc-lead-copper-silver-gold mineralization throughout the district.
