The Great Northern and Viking Projects are centered along the Doucer’s Valley Fault, a significant geological control on, and host to, several gold deposits and untested prospects, including the Rattling Brook and the Thor Deposits, Jacksons Arm, Little Davis Pond, and Viking Trends and the Incinerator and Furnace Trends. Gold mineralization is hosted within a variety of rocks types that include Precambrian or Ordovician granites, or younger volcanic and sedimentary rocks, typically along splays off the Doucer’s Valley Fault. Alteration consists of mesothermal style quartz ± iron carbonate ± sulfide veins and stockworks with 2 to 5% total sulfides consisting of pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite or sphalerite, and locally show trace amounts of visible gold.
Several drill targets and specific opportunities for mineral resource expansion and discovery have been identified by the Company based on recent field programs and a comprehensive review of historic and current exploration data. This work, in conjunction with that of previous operators on the Property, has identified the importance of fault control on gold mineralization. These major target areas for near-term drill testing are:
Apsy Feeder Zone and Apsy Zone (Rattling Brook Deposit)
The Apsy Feeder Zone is hosted along a northwest oriented fault splay extending from the Apsy Zone that has a moderate south dip and has been identified by the Company and previous operators, to have a significant control on gold mineralization within the host Proterozoic Main River granites and the overlying Cambrian quartzites and phyllites. This fault is potentially associated with higher grades within the Apsy Zone. The Apsy Feeder Zone and associated fault, gold-bearing rock grab samples (assaying up to 3.2 g/t gold), and anomalous soils extends for 800 metres northwest of the Apsy Zone mineral resource. The most northwesterly hole drilled along this Trend, drill hole JA-05-36, intersected 1.13 g/t gold over a core length of 115.7 metres (true thickness 70 metres), supporting potential expansion of the Apsy Zone into the feeder fault to the northwest.
Recently re-processed historic IP geophysical data outlines a high chargeability anomaly that corresponds with the know Apsy Zone Resource as well as the Apsy Feeder Zone. The IP chargeability target coincident with the Apsy Feeder Zone has not been tested by diamond drilling and represents an opportunity to further discover sulfide and gold mineralization along this Trend.
Incinerator Trend
The Incinerator Trend comprises a 1.8-kilometre long alteration zone with numerous anomalous soils (up to 700 ppb gold) that has been successfully tested by four broad-spaced (100 to 500 metres) diamond drill holes from 1987 (true thickness unknown) that returned assays of:
The altered and mineralized zone is hosted along an east-west oriented (070o) fault zone and associated topographic low. The fault zone, along with gold intersected in the four broad-spaced drill holes and gold-bearing soil samples, corresponds to a 1.0 kilometre long IP chargeability anomaly that forms a compelling target for follow-up drilling in the winter 2022.
Furnace Trend
The Furnace Trend comprises a 1.5-kilometre long zone of gold-bearing rock grab samples* with assays up to 5.60 g/t gold and soil samples (assays up to 66 ppb gold) that has not been tested with previous drilling. The altered and mineralized zone sub-parallel with and located 1.1 kilometres to the south of the Incinerator Trend, is hosted within a similar east-west trending fault zone.
Jacksons Arm Trend
Jacksons Arm Trend is host to a 2.4 kilometre long by 40- to 400-metre-wide continuous alteration zone that is controlled by a north-south striking fault. The fault extends immediately to the north along strike with similar repeating fault zones to the east outlining a potential strike extent of an additional 4 kilometres. A recent phase 1 drilling program by the Company at the Jacksons Arm Trend intersected broad zones of alteration and gold mineralization in each drill hole outlining a large fertile gold-bearing alteration system along at least a 300-metre section of the larger Jacksons Arm Trend with assays including:
Highlights of surface grab samples* include:
Several north and northeast oriented fault zones truncate the main thrust fault at Jacksons Arm in the area of multiple rock and soil gold occurrences and future work will focus on testing these fault zones for control on gold mineralization.
Viking Trend
The Viking Trend is host to a 3+ kilometre long by up to 40 metre wide deformation and alteration zone with gold grades of 0.45 g/t gold over 20.0 metres in hole VK-16-151, 0.37 g/t gold over 16.5 metres in hole VK-11-125, as well as local high grades as indicated by 7.43 g/t gold over 1.0 metre in hole VK-16-155.
Little Davis Pond Trend
The Little Davis Pond Trend is underlain by strongly deformed and altered Silurian volcanic and sedimentary rocks that are host to a 1.4 kilometre long geochemical anomaly (soil assays up to 530 ppb gold, and rock assays up to 22.15 g/t gold) from historic sampling.
*Note: “grab and boulder samples” are selected samples and are not necessarily indicative of mineralization that may be hosted on the property.