Wallbridge Mining has completed rehabilitation of existing underground workings and has commenced ramp development and underground diamond drilling as part of the 35,000 t bulk sample and underground exploration program at its 100%-owned Fenelon Gold Property.
“Once dewatered, the underground workings on the existing 5228 and 5213 levels were found to be in excellent shape allowing for rehabilitation to be completed as planned. With ramp development now underway we are on track to reach the next, 5195 level and start ore production from the first long-hole stopes next quarter” said Marz Kord, President and CEO of Wallbridge.
Some 8,000 m of underground drilling is also underway as part of the stope definition and resource expansion program proximal to the mine workings down to 150 m depth. The drilling is designed to fill-in and extend the high grade mineralisation intersected last year. Highlight intersections from these programs included 260.4 g/t Au over 7.02 m, 141.2 g/t gold over 7.06 m and 311.1 g/t gold over 3.06 m. Deeper drilling to test the down-plunge of known high grade shoots is planned for Q4 of 2018 once the lower levels are developed.
A 10,000 m surface drilling program is also scheduled to start in the latter part of this year to follow known mineralised zones and expand resources at depth and further away from the mine workings. “We are very excited to start the in-fill and resource expansion drill program, which will allow us to fully define and expand the high-grade mineralisation we discovered last year. Given the sub-parallel nature of gold-bearing structures at Fenelon, each drill hole is testing multiple zones, thereby not only defining the stopes to be taken during the bulk sample, but also preparing stopes for future production and exploring for additional mineralisation” said Attila Pentek, Vice President Exploration of Wallbridge. “The 18,000 m drill program planned for 2018 will also test other zones outside of the current resource be used towards an updated resource estimate in early 2019.”
Wallbridge’s Fenelon Gold Property is located in northwestern Quebec proximal to the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone (SLDZ) which hosts the Detour Gold Mine in Ontario, and Balmoral Resources’ gold deposits at Martiniere. The Fenelon Gold Property hosts the Discovery Zone gold deposit and surrounding 4 km strike length of a gold-hosting secondary splay of the SLDZ.
Since acquiring the property in late 2016, Wallbridge has completed an updated resource estimate and a positive pre-feasibility study on the existing resource. In addition, Wallbridge has completed 33 drill holes totalling 6,348 m in three surface exploration drilling campaigns at Fenelon. Drilling significantly extended existing zones and discovered several new parallel zones. The current 35,000 t bulk sample and underground drilling program is designed to provide the information needed to make a production decision by Q1 2019.
