Balmoral Announces Start of Drilling at Area 52 Gold Target in Quebec

Balmoral Resources Ltd has announced the start of drilling of the Area 52 gold target on its Fenelon Property, part of the Company’s larger Detour Gold Trend project, in Quebec.

Area 52 comprises an earlier untested 4.0 km-long segment of the Sunday Lake deformation zone, the southern extension of the recently identified Area 51 corridor, and the intersection of these two gold-bearing structural zones. The Sunday Lake deformation zone is the crustal-scale, east-west trending fault system which managed the emplacement of the neighboring, >20 million ounces Detour Lake gold deposit.

Recently, Balmoral has carried out ground geophysical surveys corroborating the continuity of the geophysical features that separate the Area 51 corridor south onto Balmoral’s Fenelon property, which surrounds the Fenelon Mine Property. Drill outcomes issued so far have outlined the Area 51 discovery to within about 300 m of the Fenelon property boundary, where it remains open.

The Area 51 mineralized corridor is found along the eastern margin of a recently discovered intermediate (monzodiorite) intrusive body. It is possible to easily trace this contact across the properties as it is made distinct by a mid-level magnetic high.

This magnetic high traces northwest as well as southeast onto Balmoral’s holdings. To the south and southeast—on Balmoral’s Fenelon property—it can be tracked across a sequence of east-west oriented secondary faults for around 800 m prior to intersecting the Sunday Lake deformation zone.

Available outcomes from the Area 51 corridor propose a propensity for broader gold intercepts as well as a greater frequency of high-grade gold intercepts, closer to where the corridor intersects east-west trending fault zones.

Therefore, the convergence of the Area 51 corridor with the Sunday Lake deformation zone, the largest of these east-west trending faults, and with several east-west trending secondary faults in Area 52 offer Balmoral a series of high priority gold targets, where the Company has now started drill testing.

Most of the large gold deposits in the Abitibi area occur in very close proximity to and drift along regional-scale fault systems—such as the Sunday Lake deformation zone. This covers the Detour Lake gold deposit, which is situated directly north of the northern contact of the Sunday Lake deformation zone 80 km west of Area 52.

Gold mineralization at Detour occurs predominantly along east-west oriented faults situated close to the northern contact of the Sunday Lake deformation zone and within splays that arise from the deformation zone, analogous to the interpreted origin to the Area 51 corridor.

Area 52 is a very intriguing gold target. With two gold-bearing structural zones, and several east-west trending secondary faults, all colliding in proximity to an intrusive host rock which has been shown to be receptive to gold emplacement, we have a fairly unique set of favourable geological factors for gold mineralization in a large area of the project which has remained untested until now.

Darin Wagner, President and CEO, Balmoral Resources Ltd

The early stage of drilling in Area 52 is set for 1,200 m and can be expanded rapidly with available funding. It allows for 21 drill locations already in hand.

Apart from the main Area 52 target area described above, there is possibility for the Area 51 corridor to extend onto Balmoral’s holdings to the northwest and west (Area 50 and Area 51 West targets), and for the discovery of extra gold mineralized secondary features on Balmoral-controlled ground along the untested western margin of the same intrusion.

Balmoral continues to control over 700 km² of mineral rights along the length of the Sunday Lake deformation zone in Quebec, large stretches of which remain untested.