Gold Pathfinder Signs Key To Future Gold Exploration Success
Matador Mining Limited (ASX: MZZ) believes its interpretation of the key gold pathfinder elements defining the gold mineralisation footprints at each of the deposits within the company’s 100% owned Cape Ray Gold Project in Newfoundland, Canada is helping to unlock the vast greenfield exploration potential at the Project.
Exploration Manager, Warren Potma, says high sensitivity multi-element geochemistry has characterised the key pathfinder element footprints associated with the known gold deposits at the Project, providing a mechanism for future exploration success
The pathfinder elements at the Project have defined a zoned halo extending up to 100 metres from mineralised gold intercepts
According to Mr Potma, understanding these pathfinder element footprints materially improves Matador’s ability to explore under the shallow glacial till cover by identifying anomalism associated with “near-misses” in basement samples and providing vectors to gold mineralisation
To date, historical basement sampling and diamond drilling has only targeted outcropping mineralisation at the Project:
“Our 2020 exploration programme demonstrated that hydrothermal gold mineralisation appears to be associated with a large suite of pathfinder elements with predictable zonation up to 100 metres away from gold mineralisation,” Mr Potma said.
“Defining these mineralisation footprints increases the probability of determining the direction to gold mineralisation from broad spaced basement sampling, particularly for those targets under till cover. Systematic sampling of basement rocks beneath shallow till cover (generally less than 5 metres deep) has not occurred at the Project.
“Matador’s new purpose-built ATV-mounted Winkie Drills, constructed in collaboration with our drilling partner (Major’s Contracting Ltd) will allow for rapid, inexpensive, effective and systematic first-pass sampling of high ranked greenfields targets for the first time in the region.
“We believe this will result in a step-change in exploration productivity and effectiveness through cover with the additional benefit of increasing our diamond drilling hit-rate and reducing the discovery timelines and costs.
“We have five high-priority structural target areas under shallow till cover within five kilometres of the Central Zone Mineral Resources (Figure 5) that have never been drill tested, and at least 27 more targets identified along the 120 kilometre strike length of the Project.
“With the commissioning of the new Winkie Drills in progress, we now have a rapid, cost effective method of pinpointing the ‘sweetspot’ within each target area for follow-up diamond drilling, as well as confidently ruling out those targets not worthy of more expensive diamond drilling.”
