Matador Mining Ltd (ASX:MZZ, OTCQX:MZZMF) has discovered nine new gold grain anomalies from till sampling of the Malachite structural target near the Cape Ray Gold Project in Canada, offering preliminary indications that the greenfield area is prospective for high-grade gold.
Till sampling was conducted over the entire 15-kilometre by 4-kilometre Malachite target, with three of the nine anomalies open at the edge of the survey area. Results are still pending for more than a third (35%) of the samples.
Matador believes the gold grain recovered from this till sampling program is comparable to the best gold grain counts reported in Newfoundland and may indicate similarities with the Cape Ray Shear Zone (CRSZ) – interpreted to be a multi-million-ounce structure – identified from a detailed 2021 magnetics survey.
Up to 716 gold grains were recovered in one till sample collected on prominent magnetic structures about three kilometres north of the CRSZ, containing 607 pristine gold grains and indicating the source is likely within 100 metres of the sample location.
Targeting multi-million-ounce bodies
“The 60 square kilometre Malachite area is an exciting greenfield exploration target in our significant tenement holdings in Newfoundland,” Matador Mining chief geologist Warren Potma said.
“Following the completion of our 40-kilometre detailed magnetic survey of the multi-million-ounce Cape Ray Shear Zone in 2021, we identified Malachite as a priority area with a complex network of intrusions, crosscut by faults and shears splaying off the largest bend anywhere along the CRSZ.
“This area has never been drilled and has received only minor historic surface sampling. The Malachite area exhibits all the structural and geological complexity we look for when targeting multi-million-ounce gold ore bodies.
“As we await the remaining assays, we are now preparing to start a comprehensive exploration program over the Malachite area that will include infill gold grain till sampling and power auger drilling with an aim to identify specific areas for diamond drilling as rapidly as possible.”
Historically, soil sampling over Malachite has been restricted to a narrow corridor along the main CRSZ, which identified multi-kilometre-long gold-silver-arsenic-antimony anomalies that were never followed up.