Hits New Wide, High-Grade Gold Intersections In Ontario
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd (TSX:KL) (ASX:KLA) has intersected exceptional grades and widths at the Saddle Zone at its Detour Lake property in Ontario, Canada.
To date the company has results from 30 holes, for 21,928m, it its new 250,000 m exploration programme, which is targeted for completion by the end of 2021.
The programme is being completed to collect information for an updated, and potentially expanded, Mineral Reserve and to support the completion of a new production plan, expected to be released in early 2022.
President and CEO, Tony Makuch, said the new hole results are mainly from drilling in the Saddle Zone, located between the Main and West pit locations, which has been underexplored and has no Mineral Reserves and only limited Mineral Resources.
“With today’s results, we are increasingly confident that a large continuous deposit is situated along the Detour Mine Trend (DMT) that extends from the Main Pit, through the Saddle Zone and continues beyond the West Pit location,” Mr Makuch said.
“We are also extremely encouraged by the wide, high-grade intersections being reported at depth across the Saddle Zone, which confirm the potential for strong growth in Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves in support of future open-pit and as well as underground mining.
“We are already introducing significant enhancements to the Detour Lake operation through re-interpretations of previous work and project improvements, with our progress to date highlighted in a new NI 43-101 technical report to be filed by the end of this month.
“This report will include production results consistent with our previously-released guidance of 680,000 – 720,000 ounces per year for 2021 – 2023, with production to increase to approximately 800,000 ounces in 2025. This report will not include any of the new drilling we have done since the acquisition.
“The exploration success we are achieving will be part of a completely new mine plan and technical report to be issued early next year, which we believe will clearly demonstrate the substantial value upside we have through our extensive commitment to exploration drilling at Detour Lake Mine.”
Drilling in the central portion of the Saddle Zone included nine holes (7,672 m) and targeted the DMT approximately midway between, and 400 m below, the Main and West Mineral Reserve pit shells.
Significant results from the drilling include: 13.95 gpt over 26.9 m, including 108.94 gpt over 2.8 m, 2.43 gpt over 12.7 m, 0.83 gpt over 74.0 m, 1.26 gpt over 13.0 m, 1.53 gpt over 29.0 m, 1.02 gpt over 19.8 m and 23.19 gpt over 2.3 m from hole DLM-20-052A; 3.63 gpt over 58.0 m, including 14.19 gpt over 10.2m and 1.03 gpt over 49.5 m from hole DLM-20-057; 1.27 gpt over 80.3 m, 1.40 gpt over 64.0 m and 1.89 gpt over 19.0 m from hole DLM-20-070B; 1.67 gpt over 50.8 m, 2.68 gpt over 36.0 m and 1.78 gpt over 19.5 m from hole DLM-20-075; 1.19 gpt over 50.0 m, including 17.11 gpt over 2.4 m from hole DM-20-065; 0.99 gpt over 66.8 m, 0.92 gpt over 49.0 m, 1.06 gpt over 26.0 m and 2.21 gpt over 24.0 m from hole DLM 058C and 0.98 gpt over 73.0 m, 0.93 gpt over 67.0 m, 1.38 gpt over 18.0 m and 1.05 gpt over 23.8 m from hole DLM-20- 033A which targeted the DMT between 200 and 400 m below surface.
Mr Makuch said results from all new holes in this area are considered extremely encouraging as they continue to confirm the presence of a broad corridor of mineralization extending between the West and Main pits ( a distance of over 800 m) with the overall style of mineralization and gold tenor being very similar to that found in the West and Main pits.
Particularly encouraging is the identification of wide, high-grade mineralisation near the lower limits of the current resource pit shell, which indicates that a potential exists to expand the pit shell to depth and to add significant new open-pit resources as well as to define underground resources below the pit.
