Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) has added a third drill rig to commence a 5,000 m Phase III drill programme at its 100%-controlled Eagle Mine Property in Quebec.
The third rig is expected to arrive at site by mid-October, keeping the company on track to complete approximately 30,000 m across its district-scale 400 sq. km property package in Québec, Canada by year-end.
Two rigs are now turning on deep drill holes beneath and adjacent to the historical underground mine workings in the Telbel mine area at the Joutel Project , which is held by a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Maple Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.
In addition, the company expects to secure a fourth drill rig in November to commence deep drilling at the JV’s Douay Project.
The company is also pleased to announce that it has resolved the electrical issues at site that affected its core saws, effectively removing its core cutting backlog and enabling several large batches of samples from previously completed drilling to be sent to the assay labs.
“We are excited to commence Phase III drilling at Eagle that will follow up on the best results of the first two drilling phases and test additional targets while we are also ramping up the pace of our supplemental C$4.8M deep drilling program at Douay and Joutel,” stated Matthew Hornor, President and CEO of Maple Gold.
“With normal site operations now restored, our backlog of core splitting and sample shipments has been effectively eliminated and we anticipate additional assay results throughout Q4 2022.
“The company expects to be continuously drilling more aggressive step-out and deep drill holes at Douay, Joutel and Eagle with at least three rigs from mid-October through the end of Q1 2023.”
Deep Drilling Progress
Deep drilling at Telbel is progressing steadily with two drill rigs actively testing the down-plunge continuity of gold mineralisation in this area. Drill hole TB-22-001 (drilled from south to north) is approaching 1,500 m downhole and has encountered a broad near-surface zone of felsic-pyroclastic-hosted pyrite mineralisation enroute to a planned total downhole depth of 2,000 m.
Initial samples from TB-22-001 have already been shipped to the assay lab. Drill hole TB-22-002 (drilled from north to south) is collared 2.4 km to the east of TB-22-001 and is currently nearing 900 m downhole.
In addition, the company anticipates commencing a ~10,000 m deep drilling programme at Douay with a fourth drill rig in November. The JV has approved a combined ~16,000 m of deep drilling at Douay and Telbel under the previously announced C$4.8M increase to its Year Two exploration budget.
New Exploration Drillhole Completed at Douay
The company has also recently completed a new 534 m exploration drill hole at Douay (DO-22-330) collared approximately four km south of the 531 Zone along the regional Casa Berardi South Fault, locally known as the Joutel Deformation Zone (JDZ).
The JDZ has seen very limited drilling to-date in this area, with only a single historical drill hole over a nine km segment of this structural corridor. The company’s recently completed airborne magnetic and electromagnetic (Mag-EM) survey identified several conductive targets along trend to the southwest on the Joutel property providing further support for the JDZ as a favourable structural corridor for hosting gold mineralisation.
Initial drill core observations from DO-22-330 highlight the potential for Casa-Berardi style gold mineralisation associated with brecciated and pyritic quartz veins in graphitic fault zones.
For further information please visit: https://www.maplegoldmines.com/
