Sonoro Gold Expands Cerro Caliche With New Concessions

Canada-based precious and base metals company Sonoro Gold announced the acquisition of the Diana mineral concession in Sonora. The transaction expands the footprint of the company’s flagship Cerro Caliche project by 51ha, bringing the total number of contiguous concessions to 26.

Through its Mexican subsidiary, Minera Mar de Plata, Sonoro Gold acquired the 51ha concession, which is located adjacent to the central-eastern boundary of the company’s Cerro Caliche gold project. Under the terms of the agreement, the subsidiary paid a one-time consideration of US$600,000 to four residents of Sonora. The transaction did not involve the issuance of securities or the granting of any royalty interests.

The company identified the Diana concession as a potential extension of northwest-trending mineralized corridors situated north of the Rincon–Bellotoso zone, near the historic El Batamote mine. Management stated that the acquisition follows the previous extension of the Cerro Caliche project to the north, which now largely surrounds the Diana property. The integration of this land package is intended to support an upcoming 50,000m drilling campaign aimed at defining the resource size at Cerro Caliche.

Historical exploration data for the area includes rock sampling and diamond drilling conducted in 2012 by Paget Southern Resources. Sonoro Gold’s subsidiary previously acquired this geological data, which consists of soil samples, drill logs, and assay certificates, from Millrock Resources in 2018. The newly announced drilling program will incorporate expansion drilling at the Diana concession to investigate the structural continuity of existing mineralized corridors.

With this acquisition, the Cerro Caliche project now comprises 26 contiguous mining concessions covering a total of 3,975.97ha. The project is currently in the final permitting stage for a proposed open-pit, heap leach mining operation. The property is characterized by low-sulphidation epithermal vein structures, with more than 25 northwest-trending gold mineralized zones identified near the surface.

How Big Has Cerro Caliche Grown? 

The acquisition of the Diana concession brings the Cerro Caliche project to a total of 26 contiguous mining concessions, covering 3,975.97ha. This represents a significant expansion from the original 1,400ha footprint. Earlier in 2026, Sonoro Gold executed a US$4 million agreement to acquire 10 concessions, which tripled its land position and added 2,574ha to the project, as reported by MBN. This strategy was designed to eliminate third-party ownership "islands" and secure the continuation of mineralized corridors to the north and south.

To fund this transition toward production, the company recently secured CA$11 million (US$7.9 million) in private placement financing. These funds are allocated for a 50,000m drilling program intended to upgrade the current resource estimate, which stands at 644,000oz AuEq in the Measured and Indicated categories. “This financing will not only strengthen our balance sheet but will also fund the potential expansion of the Cerro Caliche epithermal vein structure into the recently acquired north and south extensions. Our primary objective remains advancing Cerro Caliche into production, and we are excited to start growing the project’s known mineralized system with a targeted drilling campaign,” said Kenneth MacLeod, President and CEO, Sonoro Gold. 

Cerro Caliche’s Updated PEA

Cerro Caliche is among the 83 active projects the government of Sonora monitors, and is one of the main gold projects in the country, along with Torex Gold’s Media Luna expansion, Endeavour Silver’s Terronera mine, and GoGold Silver and Gold’s Los Ricos, as noted in the CAMIMEX Annual Report 2025.

The consolidation of the land package has directly impacted the project's economic projections. An updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) released in March 2026 values the proposed operation at an after-tax NPV(8%) of US$224 million with an IRR of 50%, based on base-case metal prices of US$3,500/oz gold and US$48/oz silver.

The study outlines a 10-year open-pit heap-leach operation. The mine plan contemplates an initial one-year production rate of 12,000t/d, eventually rising to 16,000t/d for the remainder of the mine life. Total AuEq recovery is estimated at 459,000oz over the 10 years. The project is currently in the final permitting stage for this proposed operation. “With less than 30% of the known mineralized zones at the original Cerro Caliche concession drilled and assayed to date and the recent near-tripling of the concession size to the north and south, the potential for future expansion of the proposed mine, both in capacity and LOM, are considered to be favourable,” MacLeod noted.