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:

• Drill testing (>300 drill holes)
• Open pit bulk sampling (2001): 13,835 tonnes returning 4,245 oz of gold for a reconciled grade of 9.84 g/t Au at a calculated recovery of 97% (milled at the Camflo Mill)
• Initial underground test mining with bulk sampling (2003-2004): 8,169 tonnes returning 2,596 oz of gold for a reconciled grade of 10.7 g/t Au (milled at the Camflo Mill) 

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.

Maps & Images (click to enlarge)

Fenelon Geology Map

Regional Overview Geology

Fenelon Gold, Photos of typical Area 51 gold mineralization in the new underground exploration drift

Fenelon (effective date of January 13, 2023)

Notes on the MRE of the Fenelon Gold Project (January 13, 2023):

1. The independent and qualified persons for the current Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend 2023 MRE are Carl Pelletier, P.Geo.,Vincent Nadeau-Benoit, P.Geo., Simon Boudreau, P.Eng. and Marc R, Beauvais, P.Eng., of InnovExplo Inc. The Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend 2023 MRE follows 2014 CIM Definition Standards and 2019 CIM MRMR Best Practice Guidelines. The effective date of the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend 2023 MRE is January 13, 2023.
2. These mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability.
3. The QPs are not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, sociopolitical or marketing issues, or any other relevant issue, that could materially affect the potential development of mineral resources other than those discussed in the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend 2023 MRE.
4. For Fenelon, 112 high-grade zones and seven (7) low-grade envelopes were modelled in 3D to the true thickness of the mineralization. Supported by measurements, a density value of 2.80 g/cm³ was applied to the blocks inside the high-grade zones, and 2.81 g/cm³ was applied to the blocks inside the low-grade envelopes. High-grade capping was done on raw assay data and established on a per-zone basis and ranges between 25 g/t and 100 g/t Au for the high-grade zones (except for the high-grade zones Chipotle and Cayenne 3 a high-grade capping values of 330 g/t Au was applied) and ranges between 4 g/t and 10 g/t Au for the low-grade envelopes. Composites (1.0 m) were calculated within the zones and envelopes using the grade of the adjacent material when assayed or a value of zero when not assayed. A minimum mining width of 2 metres was used for underground stope optimization.
5. For Martiniere, 75 high-grade zones and nine (9) low-grade envelopes were modelled in 3D to the true thickness of the mineralization. Supported by measurements, a density value of 2.83 g/cm³ was applied to the blocks inside the high-grade zones (except for the high-grade zones associated with massive sulfide intersections where a value of 3.00 g/cm³ was applied), and 2.81 g/cm³ was applied to the blocks inside the low-grade envelopes. High-grade capping was done on raw assay data and established on a per-zone basis and ranges between 25 g/t and 100 g/t Au for the high-grade zones and ranges between 1 g/t and 6 g/t Au for the low-grade envelopes. Composites (1.0 m) were calculated within the zones and envelopes using the grade of the adjacent material when assayed or a value of zero when not assayed. A minimum mining width of 2 metres was used for underground stope optimization.
6. The criterion of reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction has been met by having constraining volumes applied to any blocks (potential surface and underground extraction scenario) using Whittle and DSO and by the application of cut-off grades. The cut-off grade for the Fenelon deposit was calculated using a gold price of US$1,600 per ounce; a CA/US exchange rate of 1.30; a refining cost of $5.00/t; a processing cost of $18.15/t; a mining cost of $5.50/t (bedrock) or $2.15/t (overburden) for the surface portion, a mining cost of $65.00/t for the underground portion and a G&A cost of $9.20/t. Values of metallurgical recovery of 95.0% and royalty of 4.0% were applied during the cut-off grade calculation. The cut-off grade for the Martiniere deposit was calculated using a gold price of US$1,600 per ounce; a CA/US exchange rate of 1.30; a refining cost of $5.00/t; a processing cost of $18.15/t; a mining cost of $4.55/t (bedrock) or $2.15/t (overburden) for the surface portion, a mining cost of $118.80/t for the underground portion using the long-hole mining method (LH), a mining cost of $130.70/t for the underground portion using the cut and fill mining method (C & F), a G&A cost of $9.20/t and a transport to process cost of $6.50/t. Values of metallurgical recovery of 96.0% and royalty of 2.0% were applied during the cut-off grade calculation. The cut-off grades should be re-evaluated in light of future prevailing market conditions (metal prices, exchange rate, mining cost, etc.).
7. Results are presented in-situ. Ounce (troy) = metric tons x grade/31.10348. The number of tonnes and ounces was rounded to the nearest thousand. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects; rounding followed the recommendations as per NI 43-101.