Monarques Gold has commenced a new diamond drilling program at the McKenzie Break gold project in the Canadian province Québec.
Image: Monarques launches diamond drilling program at McKenzie Break gold project. Photo: courtesy of yodiyim/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
The McKenzie Break gold project is located 25km north of Val-d’Or, in an area with existing infrastructure and several mills including Monarques Gold’s Camflo and Beacon mills.
Its new diamond drilling program will comprise drilling of 39 holes to a total depth of 8.35km to evaluate the property’s potential at depth under the known lenses and on the periphery of the Green and Orange zones.
Monarques Gold said that the peripheral holes, which will each be drilled to a depth of 150-350m, represent infill drilling in areas where details are missing, and could result in an increase in the size of the planned open pit.
The McKenzie Break gold project was acquired alongside the Swanson gold project from Agnico Eagle Mines through an agreement made in December 2017.
The property hosts a high-grade, multiple-narrow-vein gold deposit in the dioritic Pascalis batholith and underlain by porphyritic diorite and mafic and felsic volcanic rocks. It comprises nine mineral claims spanning a total area of 336.3 hectares.
Monarques Gold president and CEO Jean-Marc Lacoste said: “The McKenzie Break property has great exploration potential.
“It has the advantages of being high grade at depth and easily accessible, as the average overburden thickness is only 5 metres, meaning that we could put the project into production relatively quickly. The program is aimed at increasing the property’s pit-constrained resource and exploring its potential at depth.”
Historical estimate of the McKenzie Break gold project is 813,871 tonnes grading an average 6.63 g/t Au for a total of around 173,500 ounces of gold. In the past, the gold deposit had seen diamond drilling of 258 holes to a total depth of 37.75km.
Drilling in the past was focused on the green and orange zones while a majority of the holes were shallow, with an average length of 150m per hole.
Earlier this month, Monarques Gold divested its stake of 30% in the Chimo property in Quebec to Chalice Gold Mines.