Andean Silver (ASX:ASL) identified a highly prospective new area at its Cerro Bayo project in Chile with the potential to host a major silver-gold system, according to a Tuesday filing with the Australian bourse.

Surface sampling at the Juanita prospect returned assays of up to 62,663 grams per tonne grade of silver equivalent, or 755 g/t gold equivalent, per the filing.

The results follow limited historic scout drilling and channel sampling programs conducted until 2004 that "failed to comprehensively test the high-grade breccia zone," the company said.

Based on the new results, Andean will perform geological mapping and sawn channel sampling along the two-kilometer-long Juanita trend to further define the extent of mineralization ahead of drill testing.