Maple Gold Mines Ltd (TSX-V:MGM, OTCQB:MGMLF) has reported promising results from the final 20% of assays that were received from the previously completed 14,720 meters (m) of drilling at its Eagle Mine property in Québec, Canada.
In addition to its 100%-controlled Eagle Mine property, Maple is in a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (TSX:AEM) to advance the district-scale Douay and Joutel gold projects located in Quebec's prolific Abitibi Greenstone Gold Belt.
The Vancouver-based advanced exploration company has completed over 21,500m of drilling across the 4-kilometer long Eagle-Telbel Mine trend, with 14,720m at Eagle and over 7,000m of deep drilling accomplished at the Telbel Mine area of the Joutel gold project.
The final batch of assays from completed drilling at Eagle correspond to roughly 3,000 meters of the 14,720 meters drilled to date. Maple noted that the results continue to demonstrate “continuity of mineralization” and the potential significance of the multiple horizons/splays to the northwest of the former Eagle Mine.
Maple highlighted the following results from the exploration team’s drilling at Eagle:
- EM-22-008W intersected 6.2 grams per ton (g/t) gold (Au) over 2m in the South Mine Horizon (SMH) and 4.2 g/t Au over 3.9m in sediments further downhole.
- EM-22-006W1 intersected multiple intercepts including 6.5 g/t Au over 1.2m and 2.0 g/t Au over 3m in the SMH and 2.3 g/t Au over 3m at the microgabbro/Harricana sediment contact further downhole.
- EM-22-006W4 intersected 4 g/t Au over 0.7m within a broader 1.1 g/t Au over 14.2m intercept within the SMH.
- EM-22-017A intersected 2.9 g/t Au over 2m and additional lower grade over broader near-surface intervals (1.0 g/t Au over 15.5m from 93m downhole).
"We have come a long way since first consolidating the Joutel ground into our JV property package," Maple Gold CEO Matthew Hornor said in a statement.
"All of our exploration and drilling work along the past-producing Eagle-Telbel mine trend is designed with the aim of defining high-grade zones of gold mineralization and additional mineral resources to complement the established potentially bulk-mineable resource present at Douay.”
Hornor noted that Maple’s first year of drilling at Eagle more than covered the company’s exploration spending commitments to earn a 100% interest in the Eagle Mine property.
“We are now in position to finalize our compilation and model updates to support focused follow-up drilling in areas we believe have the most promise to deliver additional high-quality ounces," Hornor added.
Maple pointed out that drilling at Eagle has served to confirm that gold mineralization is not limited to a narrow stratigraphic interval (the Eagle-Telbel Mine Horizon), but instead covers a “significantly broader” stratigraphic interval of over 100 meters straddling the Harricana Deformation Zone.
Investors can find highlights from Maple’s first year of drilling at Eagle summarized in table form here.
When combining Maple’s drilling results with historical results and new geophysical data, several priority target areas emerge along the SMH and North Mine Horizon (NMH), including multiple cross-plunging target concepts that will form part of the focus for Maple’s next phase of drilling of 5,000 meters.
Maple has initiated target definition and permitting work for a planned summer 2023 follow-up program at Eagle. Priority follow-up targets will also be defined at Telbel once assay results have been received and interpreted from the first phase of deep drilling, said the company.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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