Martinière | Wallbridge Mining Company Limited

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Gold: US$

Martinière Project, Québec, Canada

Project Snapshot

Status:	Advanced exploration stage
Location:	Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend ~45 km east of Detour Lake gold mine (Kirkland Lake Gold) and 30 km west of Fenelon Gold
Commodity:	Gold
Ownership:	100% Wallbridge
Current exploration activities:	Review of project data for exploration targeting
Mineral resources:	Historic Indicated resource of 591,000 oz and Historic Inferred resource of 54,000 oz split 73%/27% between open pit and underground resources (March 2018)

Overview

The Martinière project is located approximately 110 km west of the town of Matagami and 150 km north of Amos, Québec, Canada. With the acquisition of Balmoral Resources Ltd. (“Balmoral”) Balmoral, Wallbridge increased its land position from 10.5 km² to 739 km² along the eastern extension of the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone ("SLDZ"), a major east-west structure in the northern Abitibi greenstone belt which hosts the Detour Lake gold mine in Ontario (Kirkland Lake Gold). The Martinière project is located 45 kilometres east of the Detour Lake mine and is part of a contiguous group of claims totaling 61.7 km².

Balmoral acquired the Martinière project in November 2010 and, from 2011 to 2017, drilled 133,852 metres in 519 diamond drill holes and reported an initial mineral resource estimate in March 2018. Their work expanded the historical intercepts on the project into the Bug and Martinière West gold deposits and identified several additional zones and showings, including VMS mineralization.

Maps & Images (click to enlarge)

Regional Overview Map

Regional Geology
Brief History

Gold on the Martinière project was discovered in 1997 by Cyprus Canada Inc. Their drilling program of 8 holes intersected three separate auriferous horizons. In 1998, the property was acquired by International Taurus Resources Inc. (merged with American Bonanza in 2004) and in 1999 and 2000, they completed 21 drill holes totaling 3,807 metres. The highlight of the 2000 drill program was an intercept of 14.40 g/t Au over 4.20 m from the Central Zone. Results indicated that the higher-grade gold mineralization was contained in veins and shoots, similar in nature to the high-grade gold mineralization on the Fenelon Gold project.

American Bonanza’s drilling program during 2006-07 (22 holes) expanded the extent of known gold mineralization in the West and Central Zones and led to the discovery of the Martinière East Zone (Hole MD07-20 intersected 2.30 g/t Au over 28.40 m). This was the most easterly drill hole on the property at the time and indicated the potential for bulk tonnage gold zones. American Bonanza sold the property to Balmoral Resources Ltd. (“Balmoral”) in 2010 without completing any further work.

Balmoral completed several phases of drilling from 2011 to 2017 totaling 133,852 metres in 519 diamond drill holes which have outlined two major gold bearing trends - the Martinière West and Bug Lake shear zones - as well as several high-grade gold occurrences outside these trends. An initial mineral resource estimate was published in March 2018.
Geology and Mineralization

The Sunday Lake Deformation Zone (“SLDZ”), a major regional east-west fault structure which can be traced across Ontario and Québec for over 150 kilometres, crosses the southern margin of the Martinière project. Mafic volcanic rocks dominate and generally strike to the north-northeast and dip moderately to the southeast.

The most important structure on the project is the north-northwest trending Bug Lake Fault Zone (“BLFZ”) that hosts the Bug deposit. The BLFZ is expressed by a fine-grained, quartz porphyry unit which is flanked by zones of strong brecciation and local shearing, moderate to intense silica flooding and sericite alteration. Gold mineralization, typically in association with fine-grained pyrite, occurs throughout the silica flooded alteration zones surrounding the porphyry and in sub-parallel structures and vein zones developed in the hanging wall and footwall to the BLFZ.

The high-grade gold mineralization (> 3 g/t gold) of the Bug deposit is associated within zones of increased pyrite mineralization, quartz veining and minor gold mineralization within the most intensely altered and deformed portions of the trend. Broad lower grade halos typically surround the higher grade gold mineralization over metres to tens of metres. The mineralized system has been traced for ~1.8 kilometres and to vertical depths of over 700 metres and the system remains open to depth. Gold mineralization occurs in several discrete zones which collectively span widths of 30 to over 120 metres centered around the BLFZ.

The other prominent gold bearing trend which hosts the Martinière West deposit is the northeast striking Martinière West Shear Zone (“MWSZ”). It transects the southern portion of a multi-phase gabbro intrusion and is interpreted as a splay originating out of the SLDZ. The MWSZ is stratigraphically concordant, 200-300-metre wide and defined by weak deformation fabric, localized silicification and veining, as well as 1-5% disseminated pyrite. It is oriented at an angle of ~60 degrees to the BLFZ.

The Martinière West deposit comprises a series of steep, subparallel, mineralized subzones within the MWSZ. Shear zones and individual veins range from 0.1-10 metres and 1-40 centimetres wide respectively. Gold mineralization is associated with broad zones of sericite alteration cored by zones of silica-sulphide veining and flooding. The highest gold grades are most commonly associated with abundant pyrite, lesser arsenopyrite with minor base metal bearing sulphides. The style and multi-sulphide metal association of the MWSZ is distinct from that associated with the BLFZ, suggesting the presence within the broader system of at least two, discrete, gold-bearing fluids which have both produced high grade gold mineralization.

The Martinière West deposit has been defined over a strike length of 400 metre by 3 to 15 metres wide zone of sulphide-associated gold mineralization to vertical depths of 325 metres and remains open to depth.

Maps & Images (click to enlarge)

Regional Geology

Mineral Resource Estimate

Balmoral reported a mineral resource estimate for the Martinière project in March 2018, which was prepared by Ginto Consulting Inc. (Vancouver, BC). The resource estimate included separate estimates for the Bug and Martinière West gold deposits.

These “Resources” are historical in nature and should not be relied upon. The qualified persons of the March 2021 Technical Report have not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Although they comply with current NI 43-101 requirements and follow CIM Definition Standards, they are included in this section for illustrative purposes only and the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources.

“Mineral Resources for the Martinière Project 1,2,3, effective March 27, 2018”

	INDICATED			INFERRED
Au Cut-Off (g/t)	Tonnage (tonnes)	Au Grade (g/t)	Content (oz)	Tonnage (tonnes)	Au Grade (g/t)	Content (oz)	Strip Ratio
OPEN PIT MINERAL RESOURCES
0.5	6,827,183	1.96	431,225	132,147	2.50	10,622	11.6
UNDERGROUND MINERAL RESOURCES
2.5	1,092,415	4.54	159,417	231,273	5.75	42,722
TOTAL RESOURCES AT PREFERRED CUT-OFFS
0.5/2.5	7,919,598	2.32	590,642	363,420	4.57	53,344

The assumptions and notes which accompany this initial resource estimate are listed below:

Mineral resources are reported within an optimized open pit at a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold for the near surface portion, and at an elevated cut-off grade of 2.5 g/t gold for the underground portion.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources estimated will be converted into mineral reserves. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
The CIM definitions were followed for the classification of indicated and inferred mineral resources. The quantity and grade of reported inferred mineral resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred mineral resources as an indicated mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an indicated mineral resource category

The Independent and Qualified Person for the Mineral Resource Estimate, as defined by NI 43101, is Mr. Marc Jutras, P.Eng., M.A..Sc., Principal of Ginto Consulting Inc. The effective date of the Estimate is March 27, 2018.
While the results are presented undiluted, the reported mineral resources are considered to have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The near surface mineral resource is constrained within an optimized open pit shell, while the below pit portion of the mineral resource is reported at an elevated gold grade cut-off.
The estimate includes several discrete zones/sub-zones of mineralization.
Resources were compiled at gold cut-off grades of 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 g/t gold for the evaluation of open pit estimates and at 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 g/t gold for evaluation of underground estimates (see table below). The base case resource estimate is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t gold for resources constrained within the optimized pit shell and 2.5 g/t gold for resources outside the pit shell.
Cut-off calculations for calculating the base case resource used: (all USD figures) $1.80/t for overburden removal, $2.00/t for open pit mining, $50.00/t for underground mining, $17.00/t for Processing (for both open pit and underground scenario’s), $2.50/t for G&A costs and mill recovery rates of 91%.
Gold recovery rates of up to 91% have been achieved in limited testing for the Bug deposit. The Bug deposit comprises the majority of the estimated resource. Gold recoveries of.up to 97% to concentrate, and 72% overall, have been achieved in preliminary testing of the Martinière West Deposit.
For the open pit scenario pit slopes of 50 degrees were assumed in bedrock and 25 degrees in overburden.
Calculations used a USD/CAD exchange rate of 1.22 and a gold price of US$1,300 in keeping with current long-term consensus estimates.
Cut-off grade calculations would have to be re-evaluated in light of future prevailing market conditions (metal prices, exchange rate, and mining costs).
Density values were estimated for all lithological units from measured samples. Density values for the mineralized zones were calculated from a measured density database.
The resource was estimated using Vulcan software. The estimate is based on results from 490 diamond drill holes (91,988 m).The cut-off date for the drill hole database is January 30, 2018.
High grade capping was done on composited assay data and established on a per zone basis.
Compositing was done on drill hole intercepts falling within the mineralized zones (composite length of 1.0 m).
Resources were evaluated from composited and capped drill hole assays using3-pass ordinary kriging and inverse distance squared interpolation methods in a block model (block size = 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 m).
The Mineral Resources presented herein are categorized as Indicated and Inferred based on drill spacing and geological and grade continuity. Based on the nature of the mineralization, a maximum average distance of composites of 40 m was used for Indicated resources in the Bug Deposit and 35 m in the Martinière West Deposit.
Ounce (troy) = metric tonnes x grade / 31.10348. Calculations used metric units (metres, tonnes and g/t). Metal contents are presented in ounces.
The number of metric tonnes and contained ounces were rounded to the nearest thousand. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects
The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this Mineral Resource Estimate are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred resources as Indicated or Measured, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to these categories.