The Detour East property is part of the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend land package acquired with the acquisition of Balmoral. It covers over 20 km of the SLDZ and the Lower Detour Deformation (“LDDZ”) stretching east from the Québec-Ontario border. The SLDZ is a major east-west structure in the northern Abitibi greenstone belt which hosts the Detour Lake gold mine approximately 11 km to the west, whereas the LDDZ hosts Agnico’s Zone 58N gold deposit.

The Company owns a 100% interest in the majority of claims on the Detour East property and the Company is the operator of an exploration joint venture consisting of 18 claims on the Detour East property. There is an NSR royalty of 2%, relating to the entirety of the property, payable to a former owner, which may be repurchased at any time for $1.0 million for the first 50% of the NSR interest and $2.0 million for the remainder.

To allow Wallbridge to focus the majority of exploration spending on Fenelon, the Company entered into the Detour option agreement on November 23, 2020, with respect to its Detour East property with Agnico. Under terms of the Detour option agreement, Agnico can earn a 75% interest in Detour East by making expenditures totaling $35 million on Detour East.

Under the terms, the Company will grant Agnico the option to acquire up to an undivided 50% interest in the property by funding phase one expenditures of $7.5 million over five years with a minimum commitment of $2.0 million in the first two years ($0.5 million by the first anniversary and $1.5 million by the second anniversary of entering into a definitive joint venture agreement). During the option period, Agnico shall have the right to act as operator of the property. Agnico satisfied the first and second anniversary minimum commitments of $2 million by November 23, 2022.

Between September and November 2021, Agnico completed eleven diamond drill holes for a total of 4,672 metres on the Detour East Property which covers a portion of the SLDZ. These holes were designed to test geologic and geophysical targets for gold and base metal mineralization in proximity to the SLDZ and on interpreted associated structures. Targets were focused on the northern half of the Detour East claim block using geophysical survey data in conjunction with historical drilling based on lithology and assay results. Anomalous gold mineralization was intersected in several of the drill holes.

The 2022 field program completed by Agnico consisted of mapping and prospecting, high-resolution drone imagery, soil sampling and a review of historical core. No significant gold values were returned from the twenty-six samples submitted. During January 2022, and November 2022 an airborne magnetic gradiometer survey was completed to cover most of the property at a 50m line spacing. This survey was completed in two phases. In 2023, data compilation, interpretation and targeting will be completed to get targets ready for active exploration work to be done in 2024.

Historically, the major exploration activity in the region was 25 kilometres to the southeast with the discovery of the Selbaie VMS deposit in the mid-1970s. At about the same time, across the border in Ontario, the Detour Lake gold deposit was discovered during a base metal exploration program.

Drilling by Lynx Exploration (now Encana) in 1987 led to the discovery of the Lynx gold zone, which was subsequently explored by Cyprus Canada and American Bonanza. Following the Lynx discovery, Coleraine Exploration discovered the Rambo gold zone to the east (approximately 30 drill holes). Radisson Mining Resources became the property owner in 1995 and conducted several exploration campaigns, including 13 holes totaling 4,016 metres at the Lynx prospect.

In late 2010, Balmoral Resources Ltd. (“Balmoral”) optioned the property from Radisson and by 2012 Balmoral held a 100% interest in the property. Short drilling programs (for a total of ~2,400 metres) and IP surveys were completed in 2011 and 2012. In 2016, Balmoral completed a 6 drill holes and extended the Lynx gold zone with an intercept of 0.91 g/t Au over 14.25 m, including a higher-grade interval of 5.53 g/t Au over 1.58 m. It also completed an extensive geophysical survey (induced polarization survey) in the northeast part of the property. In 2017, Balmoral completed 15 drill holes totaling 4,695 metres on a variety of grassroots targets located on the northern half of the Detour East property. Only minor gold mineralization was intersected in 2 holes.

The Company entered into the Detour option agreement on November 23, 2020, with respect to its Detour East property with Agnico. Under terms of the Detour option agreement, Agnico can earn a 75% interest in Detour East by making expenditures totaling $35 million on Detour East.

Under the terms, the Company will grant Agnico the option to acquire up to an undivided 50% interest in the property by funding phase one expenditures of$7.5 million over five years with a minimum commitment of $2.0 million in the first two years ($0.5 million by the first anniversary and $1.5 million by thesecond anniversary of entering into a definitive joint venture agreement). During the option period, Agnico shall have the right to act as operator of the property. Agnico satisfied the first and second anniversary minimum commitments of $2 million by November 23, 2022.

Readers should also consult the Company’s latest AIF for details on the Detour option agreement.

Two major regional structures cross the Detour East project – the SLDZ to the north and the LDDZ to the south. Magnetic patterns suggest dominantly east-west trending stratigraphy locally cut by northwest to northeast trending fault structures. These secondary structures, which can crosscut or splay out of the SLDZ play an important role in localizing gold mineralization at the nearby Detour Lake mine and also at the Martinière and Fenelon gold systems to the east. 

On the northern portion of the property, gold mineralization has been identified in association with quartz-tourmaline-sulphide veins and zones of strong sericite alteration within regionally extensive fault corridors related to the SLDZ. 

To the south, along the trace of the LDDZ, gold mineralization has been intersected in historic drilling in numerous locations along the 13 kilometres strike length. 

The Lynx gold zone is an east-west striking, shallowly west-plunging zone of quartz-veining with associated pyrite and rare visible gold hosted along the contact between andesitic and mafic volcanic rocks, proximal to a diorite intrusion. Drilling has traced the Lynx zone for approximately 250 metres along strike at shallow depths. The Lynx zone exhibits widths of 50 to 100 metres and drill indicated thicknesses of 0.40 to 13.40 metres. Geological modeling by Balmoral suggested that the gold mineralization at Lynx may be associated with faulting in the nose region of a fold structure drag folded along the margins of the LDDZ (similar model to the high-grade Casa Berardi gold mine to the south). 

The Rambo gold zone is located approximately 2.5 kilometres east of the Lynx zone. Historic drilling on the Rambo area is highlighted by a number of high-grade intercepts associated with quartz-carbonate veining located along a 100 metre long stretch of the LDDZ. 

Maps & Images (click to enlarge)

Geology of Wallbridge Mining Land Package