Preparing To Test Multiple High-Priority Targets
Eastmain Resources Inc. (TSX:ER, OTCQB:EANRF) has resumed exploration activities focused on extending the Eau Claire mineral resource envelope at depth and testing new regional exploration targets at Radisson, Reservoir and Clearwater in Quebec.
Interim President and CEO, Blair Schultz, says Eastmain has one of the premier land positions in James Bay with over 100,000 hectares of prospective exploration ground.
“As a result of recent success in the region, this winter saw a significant claim staking rush around our properties. With sufficient funding in place, we are eager and ready to commence our field season and test a variety of high-priority targets,” Mr Schultz said.
“Since 2016, we have improved and expanded our Eau Claire Project. The Eau Claire Preliminary Economic Assessment specifies an NPV of C$260 million, initial capital spend of C$170 million and a payback of 3.1 years using US$1,250 gold.
“In today’s over US$1,700 gold environment, our Project’s economics significantly improve before considering any of the other optimizations we have identified. In addition to optimization of the current resource, we intend to extend and improve the continuity of our High-Grade Schist (HGS) veins.”
According to Mr Schultz, these veins feature significant thickness and have the ability to add considerable resources once extended.”
“We believe Eastmain is truly undervalued. With a robust PEA, and an extensive exploration land package in James Bay, we expect Eastmain to garner the market’s attention again as we ramp up near-term exploration efforts.”
Mr Schultz said Eastmain has already mobilised its team to the Radisson property where they are conducting a field evaluation program. Next, the team will conduct a surface exploration program at the Clearwater property, followed by a planned drilling program at the Eau Claire deposit. The exploration team will then finish the northern summer field season at the Reservoir property.
Radisson Exploration:
Planned exploration at the Radisson Project includes field review based on all compiled geological information to extend known mineralized zones, including prospecting and BeepMat surveying, detailed geological mapping, soil and outcrop sampling.
The Radisson Project is located 160 km northwest of Eastmain’s flagship Clearwater property.
The property covers a 25 km long north-easterly trending by 4 km wide greenstone belt comprising ultramafic to felsic volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks comprising banded iron formations (BIF) and conglomerates, both conducive hosts for gold.
At Clearwater a surface exploration programme will begin in late July, along the Knight-Serendipity (KS) Horizon and the Serendipity-Natel deformation corridor. On the KS Horizon, detailed follow-up will target discovery of additional near surface exposures of Percival-type silicified breccias.
Eau Claire Project Expansion
Approximately 4,000 m of drilling is planned at the Eau Claire deposit in the late northern summer. The drilling will target the lateral extension of the HGS vein system with three holes between 578 m to 778 m depths and along a 200 m strike length. One drill hole will test a 120 m gap between holes ER17-803 (8.72 g/t Au over 11.75 m) and ER03-29 (18.03 g/t Au over 1.5 m).
With a successful intercept, Eastmain intends to further test this extension laterally. A second and third hole will test similar gaps and step-outs in HGS mineralization
Reservoir Exploration:
Planned exploration at the Reservoir property includes prospecting to extend known mineralised zones, geological mapping, and soil and outcrop sampling. The Reservoir Project is analogous to Troilus Gold’s Troilus Gold Project, an historic gold and base metal producer (Inmet, 2.0 million ounces of gold and approximately 70,000 tonnes of copper) in porphyry-style setting of disseminated sulphides within shear zones. Reservoir is located 50 km west of the Clearwater project and 75 km east of Azimut Exploration Inc’s new Patwon discovery: each along the Eastmain greenstone belt and each with occurrences of gold-copper associations. The area is underlain by mafic to intermediate volcanic flows, breccias and tuffs with intervals of clastic sedimentary rock and intruded by quartz-feldspar and feldspar-porphyry dyke systems.
