(Kitco News) Tocvan Ventures is advancing a pilot mine strategy alongside expanded exploration at its Gran Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico, as the company works toward defining a maiden resource and testing the economics of a potential heap leach operation.
Speaking with Kitco Mining at the 2026 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention, CEO Brodie Sutherland said the company spent several years consolidating ground around a historical discovery first drilled by the Lundin Group in 1996.
“It took us three years to build a relationship with a local private owner,” Sutherland said. “And we negotiated a deal to expand that property to 22 square kilometers.”
The consolidation expanded Gran Pilar into a broader exploration target across more than 22 sq km of prospective ground in northern Mexico. Over the past five years the company has drilled close to 18,000 meters and plans a minimum 20,000 meters more in 2026 as it steps out from the historically tested Main Zone and evaluates additional mineralized corridors across the property.
Exploration is running in parallel with development work on a permitted pilot mining facility at Gran Pilar, part of the company’s strategy to test heap leach production while drilling continues to expand the system. “We can process on the first pass 50,000 tons in a heap leach setup,” Sutherland said.
The permit governing the pilot facility allows Tocvan to continue processing campaigns as the project advances.
“It’s valid for a 10-year span,” Sutherland said. “We can continue to amend that permit to do future passes of processing and material there.”
The pilot program is intended to test metallurgy and operating conditions while drilling continues to define the scale of the mineralized system. Tocvan completed a 1,500-ton bulk sample at Gran Pilar in 2023 with a calculated head grade of 1.9 grams per tonne gold from near-surface material.
Laboratory metallurgical work has returned strong recovery results. “We’re getting over 95% recovery of gold,” Sutherland said.
Gran Pilar sits in Sonora, one of Mexico’s most active mining regions, where oxide deposits amenable to heap leaching have historically supported smaller-scale operations that later expanded production. Sutherland said the company is evaluating a similar pathway that could move the project from exploration toward production while continuing to build a resource base.
“If you can get quickly in the next two to three years in a space where you’ve got a fully permitted mine that could process 40 to 50,000 ounces on an annual basis, that’s a tremendous upside,” he said.
The company is funding exploration and pilot development with proceeds from a $10 million bought-deal financing led by Stifel announced earlier this year. Sutherland said the capital will support drilling, pilot construction and additional technical work as the company evaluates the potential scale of mineralization.
On March 11, Tocvan also announced the appointment of exploration geologist Darin Wagner as a special advisor. Wagner previously co-founded West Timmins Mining, which was acquired for $424 million, and Balmoral Resources, acquired for $140 million.
As drilling continues and pilot work advances, the company expects the next phase of exploration to determine the scale of a potential maiden resource that could feed into future economic studies.
Watch the full video on the Kitco Mining YouTube channel.
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