Probe and Midland enter JV on Detour Gaudet-Fenelon

Probe Metals (TSXV: PRB; US-OTC: PROBF) has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Midland Exploration (TSX: MD) on the Detour Gaudet-Fenelon project, located 75 km northwest of Matagami, Quebec.

Under the agreement, Probe and Midland will each have a 50% participating interest in the JV project, with Probe as the project’s operator and each party funding its proportionate share of the expenditure.

“Detour is probably one of Quebec’s least explored gold producing belts and, given the recent activity and results coming from this area, provides us with an excellent discovery stage project,” David Palmer, president and CEO of Probe, said in a press release.

The project occupies a 35-km long land position along the Lower Detour Gold Trend (LDGT), located 4 km south of the Wallbridge Mining’s (TSX: WM) Fenelon and Tabasco gold deposits. It includes 226 claims covering 125 sq. km, comprising 65 claims from Probe’s Detour Fenelon-Nantel property and 161 claims from Midland’s Gaudet and Samson properties located east and southwest of the Detour Fenelon-Nantel property.

The JV project, the company said, is contiguous with Probe’s wholly-owned discovery stage Detour Quebec project and its consolidated package, which currently stands at 1,330 claims covering 724 sq. km along the highly prospective Detour Gold Belt.

“To be able to consolidate such an extensive, contiguous land package not only provides us with significant exploration upside, it also allows us to carry out regional exploration programs that will tie geology, geophysics and geochemistry into one cohesive model and increase our chances of success,” Palmer said. “It is a rare opportunity to assemble such a district-scale project, and we will be increasing our exploration presence in 2020.”

Historically, there has been limited drilling and geophysics conducted at the JV property, the company said. However, in recent years both Probe and Midland have consolidated the land package and carried out geophysics in some parts of the property.

Exploration highlights on Probe’s Fenelon-Nantel portion of the property include historical drilling, which returned 0.6 metre grading 11.4 grams gold per tonne, and several induced polarisation (IP) anomalies that identified magnetic structures within the LDGT.

On Midland’s Gaudet section of the JV property, a structural domain similar to the Probe’s Fenelon gold-bearing structural setting was identified following a high-resolution airborne magnetic survey. The intersection of this structural domain with the LDGT, the company said, represents a 25-sq.-km area with very good exploration potential.

Ongoing exploration on the property by Probe and Midland under the JV agreement will seek to define new drilling targets within a high-priority area located south of the Fenelon and Tabasco deposits as well as the Reaper discovery, which is also held by Wallbridge. An IP survey totalling 40 km to define new drilling targets within the high-priority area is slated to begin shortly.

At press time in Toronto, Probe was trading at $1.45 per share within a 52-week trading range of 55¢ and $1.56.

The company has around 126 million common shares outstanding for a $182.4-million market capitalization.