Wallbridge Mining Company (WM-T) has intersected multiple visible-gold-bearing shear zones and other abundant mineralized veins over about 275 metres of core length. This hit is from the first hole of its drill program at the new Area 51 discovery zone at its Fenelon project, in the Abitibi district of northwestern Quebec. Assays are pending, but investors are clearly expecting something substantial. Last year, Wallbridge produced assays of up to 137.63 grams of gold per tonne over 4.85 metres from Fenelon, one of many high-grade hits in the company's big drill program.
Area 51 is an "entirely new zone," says Mr. Kord, Wallbridge's $285,000-per-year president and chief executive officer, adding that the zone is several hundred metres from the main deposit, but it displays very similar characteristics to the existing deposit. The first hole into Area 51, completed in February, returned 3.93 grams of gold per tonne over 9.96 metres. Mr. Kord says that Wallbridge will drill between 50,000 and 75,000 metres this year at Fenelon, ahead of a significant resource update. In that vein, Area 51 is "an exciting discovery that confirms the significant potential to expand the mineralized system," he cheers.
Not to be outdone, Attila Pentek, Wallbridge's vice-president of exploration, cranked open the taps on a gusher of his own: He lauded the "remarkable endowment" of the gold-bearing system at Area 51, which had been indicated by numerous high-grade shear zones within a low-grade halo spanning about 200 metres in the February hit. Mr. Pentek then reined in his enthusiasm, noting that the six new zones with visible gold in the latest hole, across the 275-metre area, "increases our confidence in the potential of this discovery." He says that Wallbridge now plans 50-to-100-metre stepout holes at Area 51 "to test our concept of a continuous, kilometre-scale gold-bearing structure."
Ahead of the drilling, Mr. Pentek, who joined Wallbridge at the start of 2018, and Mr. Kord, who arrived seven years ago, are already hailing Area 51 as a "significant size target" that increases the ultimate size potential of Fenelon. Assays aside, they are probably right, as while Fenelon's current resource is high on grade, it is low on size. Wallbridge lists 91,100 tonnes measured and indicated at 12.97 grams per tonne and 6,500 tonnes inferred at 9.15 grams per tonne, a total of just under 40,000 ounces. |
