Sumitomo’s first Frotet resource shows 5-gram gold

Kenorland Minerals (TSXV: KLD; US-OTCQX: KLDCF) says an inaugural inferred mineral resource for the Regnault gold deposit at northern Quebec’s Frotet project shows average grades of 5.47 grams per tonne.

Regnault holds an estimated 14.5 million tonnes for 2.55 million oz. gold of contained metal, Kenora said Tuesday in a statement. Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada owns and operates the project, which is located 100 km north of Chibougamau, while Kenorland holds a 4% net smelter return (NSR) royalty.

The resource estimate incorporated data from 289 drill holes totaling 127,217 metres. It includes 92 high-grade veins defined using a 2.50 grams gold cut-off and a broader low-grade envelope of 91 veins at a 0.30 gram gold cut-off. The deposit remains open in multiple directions, suggesting potential for resource expansion, Kenorland says.

The resource is constrained within underground resource panels based on cut-off grades of 2.15 grams gold for long-hole stopes and 2.61 grams gold for cut-and-fill stopes. A 100-metre crown pillar was excluded from the estimate.

Drilling has intersected high-grade gold mineralization beyond the current resource boundaries, Kenorland says. Several areas, including 19 modeled high-grade shells, did not meet the drill-spacing requirements for inferred classification. The southern portion of the system, including the R10 and R11 vein sets and parts of the R9 trend, shows potential for additional high-grade mineralization with further infill drilling.

Kenorland initially staked the project in 2017 and entered into a joint venture (JV) with Sumitomo in 2018. The Regnault gold deposit was discovered in 2020 after two years of systematic exploration.

The Vancouver-based company exchanged its 20% participating interest in the JV for a 4% NSR royalty in February 2024.

“The maiden mineral resource estimate of the Regnault gold deposit “firmly underpins the value of Kenorland and our 4% NSR royalty,” CEO Zach Flood said in the release. “Achieved in under five years from grassroots discovery, at a low discovery cost of roughly $20 per ounce, Regnault has emerged as a high-grade, multi-million-ounce gold deposit that remains wide open for expansion. Discoveries of this magnitude are rare and given the relatively modest amount of drilling completed to date, substantial upside potential remains.”