Status: | Advanced exploration stage (defined mineral resources) |
Location: | Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend, ~80 km east of Detour Lake gold mine (Agnico Eagle Mines) |
Commodity: | Gold |
Ownership: | 100% Wallbridge |
Current exploration activities: | 117,000 m of drilling completed in 2021; Approximately 115,000 m of drilling completed in 2022; total of 1,800 m of underground development of exploration drift in 2021-2022 |
Mineral resources: | 2.37 million ounces of indicated and 1.72 million ounces of inferred |
Wallbridge’s flagship project, Fenelon, is located on the highly prospective Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend Property, approximately 75 kilometres west-northwest of the town of Matagami, Québec, along the eastern extension of the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone ("SLDZ"). This major east-west structure in the northern Abitibi greenstone belt hosts the Detour Lake mine in Ontario operated by Agnico Eagle Mines.
Since the acquisition of Fenelon in 2016, Wallbridge has completed over 300,000 metres of surface and underground drilling and underground bulk sampling at the project. The drill programs have successfully expanded the footprint of the Fenelon mineralized system along strike and at depth, including new discoveries within the Area 51 and Lower Tabasco-Cayenne zones. In January 2023, the Company announced a maiden mineral resource estimate consisting of 2.37 million ounces of gold indicated and 1.72 million ounces of gold inferred.
The Fenelon deposit remains open laterally in most directions, and at depth below the current extent of drilling at approximately 1,000 metres. Expansion drilling in 2022 will focus on adding resources within the 2021 resource open pit shell and within the known footprint of the gold system where drill spacing was not sufficient to include mineralization in the 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate. Drilling will also aim to extend known gold zones and test extensions of the main host rocks (Jeremie Diorite, Main Gabbro), as well as structures important in controlling gold mineralization (Sunday Lake Deformation Zone, Jeremie Fault, and other secondary fault zones).
Approximately 60-65% of the Company’s planned drilling in 2022 (total of approximately 150-167,000 m) will be allocated to Fenelon.
Gold mineralization on the Fenelon Gold property was first intersected by Cyprus Canada in 1988. The Discovery Zone (now referred as Main Gabbro Zones) was discovered in 1994. In 1997, Cyprus and Fairstar reported a resource (uncategorized) of 252,000 tonnes at 14.2 g/t Au for a total of 115,000 ounces of gold1. In 1998, Taurus Resources acquired Cyprus’ interest in the joint venture. Between 1998 and 2004, the following advanced exploration activities were conducted on the Discovery Zone:
In 2004, then operator International Taurus Resources Inc. was forced into near-bankruptcy while preparing the property for underground production. The Company agreed to combine with American Bonanza Gold Mining Corporation (“American Bonanza”) to create a new company and also acquired Fairstar’s interest in the Fenelon Gold property.
In 2005, a NI 43-101 compliant technical report reported Measured and Indicated resources after depletion of 47,927 tonnes grading 19.61 g/t Au (30,216 oz) and Inferred resources of 27,245 tonnes grading 12.79 g/t Au (11,203 oz)1. Additional drilling by American Bonanza was conducted from 2005 to 2008 (approximately 65 holes) targeting the Discovery Zone extensions and other targets on the property.
In late 2010, Balmoral Resources Ltd. (“Balmoral”) acquired American Bonanza’s Fenelon Gold property. In 2011, Balmoral drilled 41 holes testing the test lateral and down-dip/plunge extensions of the Discovery Zone and its eastern and northern ends. The drilling program extended some mineralized veins in the zone along strike and to a vertical depth of 250 metres.
In October 2016, Wallbridge completed the purchase of the Fenelon Gold property from Balmoral for a purchase price of $3.7 million and subsequently in March 2020 announced the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Balmoral in an all-stock transaction valued at equivalent of $110 million, based on 28-day trading value of Wallbridge shares as of February 28, 2020.
1. These “resources” are historical in nature and should not be relied upon. It is unlikely they conform to current NI 43101 requirements or follow CIM Definition Standards, and they have not been verified to determine their relevance or reliability. They are included in this section for illustrative purposes only and should not be disclosed out of context.
The Fenelon Gold project is located in the northwestern Archean Abitibi Subprovince, in the northernmost volcano-sedimentary belt segment. It is located less than 1 kilometre north of the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone (“SLDZ”) and is mainly underlain by a turbiditic sedimentary basin and the eastern margin of the Jérémie Pluton.
The gold mineralized zones defined to date are structurally controlled and affected by ductile deformation. The mineralization shares many similarities with orogenic gold deposits in terms of metal associations, wall-rock alteration assemblages and structural controls. Secondary splays of the SLDZ have controlled the emplacement of a significant gold system along and within the Jérémie Pluton. Historically, exploration has focused on the high-grade shear zones hosted in the Main Gabbro area (location of the open pit and underground workings).
Three domains of gold mineralization are present on the property: The Main Gabbro zones, and the newly discovered Tabasco and Cayenne, as well as Area 51 zones. Gold is associated with disseminated pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pyrite, and minor sphalerite, arsenopyrite and marcasite. Native visible gold is fairly common in all zones.
The Main Gabbro area contains seven zones: the Fresno, Chipotle, Anaheim, Naga Viper, Paprika, Habanero and Serrano zones. These mineralized zones are restricted to a wide corridor of intensely altered gabbro between two panels of argillaceous sediments.
The Tabasco and Cayenne mineralized system occurs in turbiditic sediments between the Main Gabbro and the Jérémie Pluton. The zones trend northwest/southeast (130°) and dip steeply south. They form an anastomosing and sheared system with numerous secondary splays. The mineralization is discrete with a low sulphide content (<5%) and is mainly associated with silicification and sericitization. Gold intervals are associated with a pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite assemblage. Arsenopyrite and sphalerite are locally present. The best gold intervals associated with veining are in intersections with light grey quartz veins. High-grade gold intervals of more than 10 g/t over 0.5 to 1 m are common.
The Area 51 Zone is hosted in the Jérémie Pluton and its contact. It occurs as a series of parallel mineralized subzones grouped into two ENE-WSW trending corridors (Andromeda and Orion) parallel to the SLDZ. Gold mineralization is mainly associated with isolated or regularly spaced subparallel translucent grey quartz veins generally less than 2-3 cm thick.
Fenelon (effective date of January 13, 2023)
Notes on the MRE of the Fenelon Gold Project (January 13, 2023):
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Position Title | Status | Location |
---|---|---|
Mechanic | 14/14 Schedule | Fenelon |
Environmental Technician | 14/14 Schedule | Fenelon |