Kenorland Minerals Ltd (CVE:KLD) (OTCMKTS:NWRCF) (FRA:3WQ0) has announced plans for surface exploration during the 2021 summer field season at the 161,025-hectares Chebistuan project in the northern Abitibi greenstone belt of Quebec.
The company said the 2021 follow-up surface work will include about 800 infill B-horizon soil samples (glacial till substrate) along with 220 C-horizon till samples, which will be analyzed for gold grain counts.
Sampling will be carried out within 15 areas of interest (AOIs), covering broad multi-element geochemical anomalies that the company identified from its property-wide regional till sampling program in the fall of 2020.
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The company also said it plans to carry out additional first-pass regional till sampling (1240 B-horizon soil samples) covering an additional 35,000 hectares of ground staked in October 2020.
Kenorland said the approximate budget for the planned surface program is C$400,000 and the exploration will be funded by Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) (TSE:NGT) (FRA:NMM) under an exploration agreement with a venture option. Kenorland will remain the operator of the project.
Kenorland said the agreement provides an option for a two-phased exploration earn-in over three years, where Newmont can earn a 51% interest in the Chebistuan Project through certain exploration expenditures and cash payments to Kenorland.
The initial phase of the agreement consists of a property-wide geochemical sampling program, target definition and testing. Newmont then has the option to earn an additional 29% interest for a cumulative 80% interest (phase two earn-in) in the project over six years by completing a 43-101 compliant pre-feasibility study on a minimum 1.5 million ounces gold resource, as well as meeting certain cash payments to Kenorland.
Kenorland noted that both parties may continue to explore and develop the property through an 80% Newmont, 20% Kenorland joint venture, or in the case of a construction decision, Kenorland can elect for Newmont to finance its portion of mine development cost. If Newmont elects not to continue with the phase two earn-in, then ownership interest in the project will switch to 51% Kenorland and 49% Newmont.
"We're looking forward to getting back on the ground this summer at Chebistuan as we continue working with Newmont to advance this extensive greenfield exploration project,” said Zach Flood, president and CEO of Kenorland, in a statement.
“This property covers a vast amount of prospective geology, including over 100 kilometers of strike along a major deformation zone, most of which is concealed below glacial till and largely under-explored. In terms of exploration strategy, we're applying the same approach that we took in the Frotet-Evans greenstone belt, which led to the significant gold discovery made at Regnault in 2020."
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