Jun 16 2021
Midland Exploration Inc. has announced the commencement of a new exploration campaign on its Elrond project (100% Midland), situated in Eeyou Istchee James Bay, Quebec.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com/ Phawat
The Elrond project is based close to the new gold discoveries made by Harfang Exploration Inc. (“Harfang”) on the Serpent project. The summer 2021 exploration program on the Elrond project involves a till geochemistry survey that was concluded by end of May 2021, and a prospecting and mapping campaign that will be undertaken from August to September 2021.
Initiated in 2017, the Elrond project focused on a previously unidentified portion of the contact between the Opinacaa and La Grande geological sub-provinces. This contact is a significant metallotect in the James Bay region, hosting several gold deposits and occurrences, such as the Cheechoo, Orfée and Corvet-Est deposits, the La Grande Sud and the Eleonore mine.
The La Pointe gold deposit, which is situated about 15 km northeast of the Elrond project, also sits directly on this prolific contact. Moreover, the Elrond project is situated immediately southeast of new high-grade gold discoveries made by Harfang Exploration on its Serpent project.
Midland identified numerous gold occurrences in just six days of prospecting in 2017 and 2019 on the Elrond project. In the southwest section of the Elrond project, grab samples obtained from an amphibolite with strong pyrite and arsenopyrite mineralization graded 4.53 g/t gold (Au) and 3.23 g/t Au (grades achieved in grab samples do not necessarily indicate the mineralized zone as a whole).
Around 100 m further north, grab samples from a silicified and sheared amphibolite with pyrite mineralization graded 2.17 g/t Au, 1.81 g/t Au, and 1.69 g/t Au (two of these three findings were not published before). About 1 km northeast of both of these occurrences, one more grab sample, gathered in a late felsic dyke injected in an amphibolite, graded 2.49 g/t Au and 0.2% Bi (formerly unpublished results).
In the northeast section of the Elrond project, a disseminated sulfide zone measuring several meters wide and centered on a fault transecting a late pegmatitic granitoid, produced many anomalous values in Au, molybdenum (Mo), and bismuth (Bi). Seven grab samples gathered from an area of 3 m x 2 m in this mineralized zone produced gold grades spanning from 0.38 g/t Au to 1.63 g/t Au, (previously unpublished results) and also high Bi (0.01% Bi to 0.05% Bi) and Mo (0.005% Mo to 0.06% Mo) values. The mineralized zone remains exposed to the north and east.
Au-Mo-Bi mineralization that occurs in two of the four showings, identified so far on the Elrond project, is hosted in late granites or granodiorites of the Vieux-Comptoir Suite. Besides this, the Au-Mo-Bi metal association indicates that these occurrences are part of a “reduced intrusion-related gold” deposit model.
Normally, this kind of mineralization develops low-grade yet very high-tonnage gold deposits. Situated along the La Grande-Opinaca contact further east, the Cheechoo gold deposit is taken into account for this kind (Fontaine et al., 2018) and is also linked to a late felsic intrusive (granodiorite) host rock. Therefore, showings on the Elrond indicate a potential for “reduced intrusion-related gold” on the project. The other two Au±As showings are probably the usual orogenic occurrences, also indicating a potential for this form of mineralization.
A glacial sediment (till) survey totaling 80 samples was performed in late May 2021 on the Elrond project to detect regions that have considerable gold concentrations. Till samples will be processed across summer with the help of the following techniques: heavy mineral concentrate analysis, gold grain counts and characterization and analysis of the fine fraction for gold as well as other metals. A follow-up prospecting campaign of gold-in-till anomalies and present gold occurrences on the project has been scheduled near the end of the field season.