Maple Gold Mines extends gold mineralization at Douay

Drilling within the Porphyry zone at Maple Gold Mines’ (TSXV: MGM; US-OTC: MGMLF) 355-sq.-km Douay project in northern Quebec has intersected mineralization outside of the existing resource model.

The company has released assay results for two holes. Drill highlights include 17 metres of 1.91 grams gold per tonne starting at 189 metres downhole from hole 20-283 as well as a number of gold zones within the top 90 metres of 20-280, such as 4 metres of 0.85 gram gold, 4 metres of 1.14 grams gold and 2 metres of 1.61 grams gold.

Hole 20-283 tested a 140-metre gap in drilling near the northern limit of the conceptual pit and ended in mineralization, returning 7 metres of 1.06 grams gold at the end of the hole. However, drilling was stopped early due to the COVID-19 shutdown in Quebec. Additional assays are pending, including the bottom portion of 20-280, as well as all of hole 20-281, which tested the continuity of the mineralization down-dip.

Hole 20-283 also hit lower-grade halo mineralization (including 22 metres of 0.35 gram gold) near surface.

“I’m encouraged to see these significant new intercepts in relative proximity to indicated resources that are already defined,” Fred Speidel, vice president of exploration, said in a press release. “There are several more drilling gaps remaining to be tested, and the western part of the Porphyry zone is an area we believe can contribute additional higher-than-deposit-average grade mineralization within the top 50 metres to 250 metres from surface.”

Examining maps at Maple Gold Mines’ Douay gold project in Quebec, from left: David Broughton, director and head of the technical committee; Fred Speidel, vice-president of exploration; and Matthew Hornor, president and CEO. Credit: Maple Gold Mines.

According to the company, the Porphyry zone at Douay features higher grades than other deposits at the site with relatively sparse historical drilling. The most recent results suggest a number of gold zones within the near-surface portion of the western part of the Porphyry area, which would be above or at the base of the current conceptual pit shells.

Maple plans to start additional geophysical surveys over the site to zone in on anomalies defined over the winter – this will include follow-up on a target to the south of the Porphyry zone.

Last year, the company released an updated resource for Douay with total pit-constrained indicated resources of 8.6 million tonnes grading 1.52 grams gold for a total of 422,000 oz. gold and a further 65.8 million inferred tonnes at 0.97 gram gold totalling 2 million pit-constrained ounces. The underground component is 5.4 million inferred tonnes grading 1.75 grams gold for a total of 307,000 ounces. The resources are contained within the Porphyry, Douay West, Nika and 531 zones, among others.

Douay covers 55 km of strike along the Casa Berardi deformation zone, within the Abitibi greenstone belt.

The news sent the junior’s shares up 6.3% to 8.5¢ with just over one million shares trading hands. Over the last year, the company’s shares have traded within a range of 4¢ and 14¢.

Maple Gold Mines has about 239 million common shares outstanding for a $20.3-million market capitalization.

— This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal.