West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd (TSXV:WRLG) (OTCQB: WRLGF) reported additional drill results from its Phase 1 exploration program on its 100% owned Rowan Property located in the prolific Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Hole RLG-23-153 intersected 66.66 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold (“Au”) over 2.0 metres (“m”), when compared to much of the historical drilling, mineralized zones encountered in this years campaign demonstrate increased widths and continuity. The company has now completed 37 drill holes and 11,467 m of drilling to date of a 17,000 m drilling campaign that has been expanded to 25,000 m on the back of a very successful exploration season thus far.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Intersected 2.0m @ 66.66 g/t Au, from 235m to 237m, Including 0.5m @ 266.27 g/t Au, from 235.5m to 236m.
- Intersected 3.11m @ 21.84 g/t Au, from 275m to 278.11m, Including 0.83m @ 77.64 g/t Au, from 277.28m to 278.11m.
- Intersected 10.1m @ 6.27 g/t Au, from 214.9m to 225m, Including 0.6m @ 84.13 g/t Au, from 223.45m to 224.05m.
The high-grade mineralized vein zones encountered at the Rowan Mine target area ( the “Rowan Mine Target”) continue to exceed expectations, confirm the geologic model, and further improve the existing high-grade (9.2 g/t Au) 827,462 ounce Inferred Mineral Resource at the Rowan Mine. Sections for the Rowan Mine drilling outlined in this release are provided in Figures 1 through 6.
TABLE 1. Significant intercepts (>4 g/t Au) from drilling at Rowan Mine Target.
*The “From-To” intervals in Table 1 are denoting overall downhole length of the intercept. True thickness has not been calculated for these intercepts but is expected to be ≥ 70% of downhole thickness based on intercept angles observed in the drill core. Composite intervals do not cross sample boundaries < 0.1 g/t Au. Under ‘Zone’ column, (hw) is indicating ‘hanging wall to’ and (fw) is indicating ‘footwall to’ main vein zones.
A total of 17,000m of infill and expansion drilling was originally proposed for the Rowan Mine target in 2023. Based on the positive results received to date, the program has been expanded to 25,000m and is expected to be completed by year end 2023. The additional drill meters will be used to continue de-risking the Rowan Mine resource, and test the growth potential down-plunge on the highest-grade portions of the resource. Current drilling at Rowan has only tested mineralization down to a depth of approximately 550m. All of the high-grade zones still remain open below this vertical depth. The Red Lake Mining District is known to host orebodies that extend down to +4 kilometre (“km”) depth, which bodes well for the down-plunge growth potential at Rowan.
It is the Company’s belief that potential synergies could exist between high-grade resources at the Rowan Mine target area and Madsen. The Company has initiated a metallurgical study at Rowan to begin evaluating this potential opportunity, as well as a geotechnical study to better characterize the rock mass properties within the mineralized vein zones at Rowan.
In conjunction with infill and expansion drilling, the Company is also initiating the necessary baseline environmental and archaeological assessments to begin moving the project towards an Advanced Exploration Permit status.
FIGURE 1. Deposit-scale plan map of Rowan Mine Target area showing traces and intercepts for holes highlighted in this News Release.
TABLE 2: Drill collar summary for holes reported in this News Release.
DISCUSSION
The Rowan Mine Target consists of more than seven sub-parallel, near-vertical, east-west trending veins that are currently defined over a strike length of approximately 1.1 km– mineralization remains open along strike and at depth. The orientation of the veins at the Rowan Mine tend to follow the direction of D2 deformation, which is oriented in an east-west direction over this part of the property. Individual mineralized vein zones usually average 1.0 to 1.5m in thickness, with an overall thickness of the Rowan vein corridor at around 115m. Gold mineralization is typically localized within quartz-carbonate veins hosted within and along the ‘footwall’ margin of a porphyritic felsic intrusive, with increased grades often associated with the presence of visible gold and base metal sulphides (e.g. galena, sphalerite). High-grade dilation zones or ‘ore chutes’ along the Rowan vein trend have been recognized as important controls for localizing thicker and higher-grade zones of gold mineralization. The position and geometry of these dilation zones is well understood at Rowan.
The drilling completed at the Rowan Mine Target in 2023 has been focused on validating historical data across the Inferred Resource, and also infilling apparent gaps in the analytical data set which was a product of very selective sampling techniques implemented during previous drilling campaigns. Assay results received from the 2023 drilling program continue to confirm our thesis that quartz veining and gold mineralization continue at depth and along strike, with grades consistent with, or higher than those outlined in the current Inferred Mineral Resource which remains open in all directions. For example, the 100 Vein Zone – which is the furthest north vein currently modeled within the overall Rowan vein corridor – was previously interpreted to be a lower grade portion of the block model. Recent drilling has confirmed that higher grades are present within the 100 Vein Zone below 150m elevation, suggesting that gold grades are increasing at depth within this zone which is a trend that has been observed elsewhere in the Red Lake district. Drilling at the Rowan Mine Target area will continue with an emphasis on infill and expansion of the existing high-grade mineral resource
FIGURE 2. Rowan Mine drill section showing assay highlights for Holes RLG-23-153, -156B, -157 and -158[[1]].
FIGURE 3. Rowan Mine drill section showing assay highlights for Holes RLG-23-154 and -155B[[2]].
FIGURE 4. Rowan Mine longitudinal section for Vein 101 showing 2023 intercepts > 4 g/t Au. Assay highlights from current press release shown in red[[3]]..
FIGURE 5. Rowan Mine longitudinal section for Vein 102 showing 2023 intercepts > 4 g/t Au. Assay highlights from current press release shown in red[[4]].
FIGURE 6. Rowan Mine longitudinal section for Vein 103 showing 2023 intercepts > 4 g/t Au. Assay highlights from current press release shown in red[[5]].
High resolution versions of all the figures contained in this press release can be found at the following web address: https://westredlakegold.com/august-28th-news-release-maps/.
Longitudinal sections showing all intercepts > 3 g/t Au on Veins 101, 102 and 103 can be viewed here: https://westredlakegold.com/august-1st-news-release-maps/.
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