Reviewed by Alex SmithMay 5 2022
Puma Exploration Inc., a Canadian-based mineral exploration company, announced that a second rig has been mobilized and that drilling has begun this week at the Williams Brook Gold Project in New Brunswick, Atlantic Canada.
Proposed focus areas for Drill 1 and Drill 2. Image Credit: Puma Exploration Inc.
Following the Company’s recent drilling success and with a better knowledge of the O’Neil Gold Trend (“OGT”), a second drill rig would be utilized to expedite the ongoing 10,000 m drilling program.
The first drill will proceed to systematically analyze the near-surface (0–100 m depth) favorable Sediment/Rhyolite contact toward the O’Neil and Pepitos Gold Zones for additional high-grade gold mineralization along the OGT’s 750 m strike length. The second drill could well follow up on the high-grade quartz veins discovered during the Company’s first and current drilling programs in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
High-Grade veins intersected at the O’Neil Gold Trend (OGT)*. Source: Puma Exploration Inc.
| Hole ID |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Length (m) |
Au (g/t) |
| WB21-01 |
4.00 |
6.10 |
2.10 |
12.71 |
| WB21-02 |
7.20 |
10.20 |
3.00 |
8.33 |
| WB21-02 |
13.70 |
15.80 |
2.10 |
28.52 |
| WB21-02 |
45.60 |
49.45 |
3.85 |
46.94 |
| WB21-03 |
55.90 |
58.10 |
2.20 |
7.81 |
| WB21-05 |
26.00 |
28.00 |
2.00 |
12.64 |
| WB21-06 |
46.80 |
49.70 |
2.90 |
16.92 |
| WB21-09 |
16.30 |
18.00 |
1.70 |
15.52 |
| WB21-12 |
28.60 |
32.40 |
3.80 |
6.93 |
| WB21-16 |
80.00 |
88.35 |
8.35 |
5.11 |
| WB21-17 |
107.00 |
111.65 |
4.65 |
4.85 |
| WB22-25 |
2.00 |
5.00 |
3.00 |
34.93 |
| WB22-26 |
25.50 |
27.10 |
1.60 |
14.06 |
| WB22-35 |
14.90 |
17.50 |
2.60 |
5.83 |
| WB22-36 |
3.80 |
7.00 |
3.20 |
22.28 |
*Stated lengths in meters are downhole core lengths and not true widths.
True widths will be calculated once more drilling confirms the geometry of the quartz-sulfide system.
Only about 4,000 m of the 10,000 m drilling program at the OGT remains to be completed. The Company expects to complete the program by the end of June 2022, with two (2) drill rigs on site.
After that, an aggressive field exploration program will be initiated to identify and prioritize drilling targets for the fall exploration program, which will include stripping, trenching and prospecting across the entire property, with a focus on the OGT’s interpreted strike length of 10 km.
The entire program is fully funded, including the fall drilling program, and Puma plans to provide regular updates. A detailed exploration program will be announced soon, focusing on first priority targets identified from the current geochemical, geophysical and drilling compilation.
Update on the Ongoing 10,000 M Drilling Program at the OGT
Given the success of the initial stripping and drilling program in 2021, the 2022 drilling campaign was created to verify the extent of the alteration and mineralization discovered at the surface along the OGT at shallow depths to define additional high-grade gold veins for the fall drilling program.
Since late January, a total of 47 holes totaling 6,000 m have been drilled. Only the first 2,300 m of assay results have been made public. The first hole (WB22-66) drilled at the southern end of the latest known OGT intersected the favorable Sediment/Rhyolite contact and reveals the same alteration and mineralization seen in drilling since 2021.
This increases the possibility for additional significant high-grade gold mineralization at the OGT by confirming the mineralized system’s continuity over a distance of 750 m.
Drill hole WB22-54 intersected visible gold (VG) within pervasive alteration before Drill 1 was moved to the south. This hole is in the high-grade gold target area that the second rig will investigate further.