Apr 2 2019
On April 1st, 2019, Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd announced the results of initial surface exploration drilling at the ongoing 2019 exploration activities at the Company’s 100% owned Eagle River Mine in Wawa, Ontario.
From the start of 2019, surface drilling has persisted with one drill adding 7000 m to resume on initial results from the drilling to the west of the mine diorite at the end of 2018. This program was intended to test the up-plunge capability of the 300 and 7 zones within a sequence of volcanic rocks.
Surface drilling in the volcanics situated to the west of the mine diorite came across two sub-parallel structures that extensively follow the stratigraphy within the mafic/felsic volcanic rocks. Both structures strike around 240°–250° and dip 70°–80° to the north. These could be expansions of the 300 and 7 zone structures, which are situated around 200 m to the east within the mine diorite. Both structures show wide zones of deformed rock (3- to 20-m-wide shear zones) affiliated with strong silicification, which is more than 20–50 m wide. The two new mineralized zones discovered by surface drilling define an area called the Falcon Zones.
Falcon Zones
The “Falcon 300” has been tracked for a strike length of more than 100 m and a down dip of over 150 m. Gold mineralization is related to narrow quartz veins (30 cm to 1 m) with visible galena, gold, pyrrhotite, and sphalerite. Mineralization has been traced east toward section 9000E, and west to section 8900E. Although the zone seems to shrink along strike to the west, it remains open to the east and at depth. Its direct association with the 300 Zone structure (at depth 200 m east) is still untested.
The “Falcon 7” has been tracked for a strike length of more than 130 m and a down dip of over 180 m. Gold mineralization is present in narrow veins (30 cm to 1 m) similar to those mentioned above. Mineralization has been marked between sections 8850E and 8980E. The zone is open to the west and at depth. The 7 Zone structure is present 200 m away within the mine diorite to the east. The following are the highlights of the recent drilling.
Falcon Zones Highlights
- Hole ERM-2019-36: 3389.0 g/t Au over 0.3 m core length (60.0 g/t Au cut, 0.21 m width)
- Hole ERM-2019-22: 18.5 g/t over 5.8 m core length (11.5 g/t Au cut, 3.3 m true width)
- Hole ERM-2019-35: 51.1 g/t Au over 0.6 m core length (32.1 g/t Au cut, 0.4 m true width)
- Hole ERM-2019-15: 73.5 g/t Au over 1.3 m core length (34.7 g/t Au cut, 1.1 m true width)
Assays capped at 60 g/t Au. True widths are calculated.
We are pleased with our recent surface exploration efforts immediately west of the Eagle River Mine, in particular, the discovery of two parallel structures west of the mine diorite that could be the along strike and up plunge extension of the 300 and 7 zones presently being mined only 200 meters further east. Although only a limited amount of drilling has been completed thus far, it certainly indicates that with additional drilling, there exists good potential to define higher grade and wider zones of gold mineralization that would be proximal to existing underground workings. This discovery, combined with our recent announcement of identification of additional parallel zones within the mine diorite further east, is a positive development towards providing additional work places for enhanced mining flexibility and ultimately augmented production rates in the short to medium term. We remain committed to aggressive exploration utilizing four underground drills and one to two surface drills in order to identify additional resources and workplaces for increased future production profiles.
Mr Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO, Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd
Surface drilling will be stopped soon to set aside time to receive remaining assays and to allow for spring break-up. Drilling is likely to start again during the summer months to continue to define well and expand the Falcon zones that remain open down plunge and along strike. Furthermore, surface mapping and prospecting, with potential follow-up trenching and drilling, are intended for this summer proximal to the mine diorite and more regionally along strike as a follow-up to a number of historic showings that remain unknown. This Falcon Zone style of mineralization delivers new targets for the surface exploration of another region in the property.
Technical Disclosure
The sampling of assay data from surface drill core is tracked through the execution of a quality assurance-quality control (QA-QC) program developed to stick to industry best practice. Samples are shipped in sealed bags to AGAT Laboratories in Timmins Ontario for preparation. Pulps are shipped to Mississauga, Ontario for gold assay by fire assay with AAS finish. Samples with high-grade gold are further evaluated with a gravimetric finish and by metallic screen assay where visible gold is present. Wesdome includes certified standards and blanks in the sample sequence for quality control.