공지 • Nov 19
Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. Provides Kiena Exploration Update
Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. provided an update on the underground and surface exploration programs at its 100%-owned Kiena Mine (“Kiena”) in Val-d’Or, Québec. In recent years, underground drilling efforts have primarily focused on areas around the Kiena Deep A Zone. A significant early achievement was the discovery of the Footwall Zone in 2021. The Footwall Zone comprises several folded parallel veins in the footwall of Kiena Deep with widths ranging from 2 to 7 metres. The gold mineralization in this zone closely resembles that of Kiena Deep, featuring visible gold within quartz veins hosted by ultramafic rock in contact with mafic rock. These highly mineralized veins have the potential to be mined as a single unit from the same development level, which could enhance overall vertical ounces per metre. The recent establishment of the 127-level drill platform has improved the drilling angle towards the Footwall Zone with most 2024 drilling activities directed at this zone within the Kiena Deep orebody. To date in 2024, 14,000 metres of drilling in 48 drillholes has been completed within the Kiena Deep area, including 10,000 metres of infill drilling across 40 holes targeting the Footwall Zone. By the end of 2024, an additional five holes, or 2,000 metres, are planned for the Footwall Zone with a focus on upgrading the inferred resources. Additionally, the incremental drilling is expected to provide essential information that improves understanding of the geometry of the zone and its relationship to the Kiena Deep A Zone. Assay results from hole N103-6840W7, which was drilled from the 103-level platform to explore the down-plunge extension of the Kiena Deep South Limb, have confirmed the findings of previous drillholes. These intersections, together with the latest results, have extended the vertical reach of the Kiena Deep deposit by approximately 125 metres. The 2024 underground program includes plans to develop an exploration drift from the 109-level toward the VC Zone by the end of the year. Drilling from this platform will evaluate the continuity and potential extensions of the VC Zone, which is near hole 6531 that was completed in 2019. This hole returned a remarkable value of 43.6 g/t Au uncapped over 5.1m core length, including 178.5 g/t uncapped over 1.1m core length and visible gold present. The mineralization observed in this area is similar to that found in Kiena Deep, characterized by a stockwork of quartz veins located at the lower contact between basalt and schist lithological units. In addition to focusing on the VC Zone, the company will also target underexplored adjacent areas. Furthermore, a hanging wall exploration drift from the 134-level is planned for completion in 2025. This drift is expected to facilitate targeting and drilling at greater depths to confirm the extensions of the hanging wall Basalt Zone and Footwall Zone. A top priority for 2024 has been the exploration of the Wish Area. In this underexplored region, 40 drillholes have been completed, totaling 9,950 metres. Initial drilling, which started from the existing 33-level development into the Wish Area, has revealed mineralization within quartz veins in a strong basalt horizon that is in contact with sheared ultramafic rocks. These lithological contacts are favorable for mineralization. The initial results are promising, including an intercept of 36.4 g/t Au over 1.5m core length from hole N033-6901. Additionally, historic hole 4344 returned 65.5 g/t Au over 1.0m core length. These results highlight the potential of this underexplored area at Kiena. Follow-up drilling is targeting several promising locations, including the down-plunge section of the Wish Area, where recent drilling recorded 26.3 g/t Au over 3.5m core length in Hole N033-6904. With limited drilling completed so far, extending exploration into the Wish Area and areas to the north remains a priority. Due to the ongoing success in exploration, an additional 2,000 metres of drilling has been authorized for 2024 in this region. The expanded 2024 drill program for the Presqu’île orebody consists of 6,600 budgeted metres across 20 holes. The primary aim is to test the lateral and down-plunge extensions of zones No. 2 and No. 2A, with seven of the holes specifically targeting inferred resources for potential upgrading. Preliminary assay results from infill drillhole PR-24-088 revealed high-grade mineralization, showcasing visible gold and yielding an impressive 42.3 g/t Au (capped) over a true width of 2.6m. This encouraging outcome underscores the potential for conversion to reserves at year-end. In 2025, the company plans to continue targeting lateral and depth extensions from the surface. By the end of First Quarter 2025, the company anticipates that the development of the Presqu’île ramp will have progressed sufficiently to establish a drilling platform to commence underground delineation of the zone. The exploration drilling program planned for 2024 originally involved 7,500 metres of drilling to upgrade resources in the Northern and Southern zones at the Dubuisson deposit, and to delineate the geometry of the ore zone. Based on drilling to date, the program at Dubuisson, which was expanded to 12,000 metres across 38 holes, confirmed the continuity of the deposit, facilitated resource upgrades and enabled down-plunge extension testing of the deposit, highlighting potential for higher-grade zones. The deposit is understood to have a combination of shallow-dipping and steep-dipping veins within sheared, carbonatized and chloritized intrusions (diorite) along with brittle feldspar porphyry dykes that crosscut broadly deformed ultramafic rocks. Results to date from the 2024 drill program confirm this interpretation and the extension of the Dubuisson deposit with one hole (DB-24-024) yielding 9.1 g/t Au over a core length of 19.5m, and another hole (DB-24-023) showing 18.1 g/t Au over a core length of 5.9m. These results are being incorporated into an updated model to enable interpretation of a true width. The 2025 drilling program will aim to upgrade the mineral resource categories and to test both the lateral and down-plunge extensions of the zone.
