JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mining and exploration company Iamgold on Thursday revealed that it had intersected high-grade gold at its Monster Lake project in Quebec, Canada, during its 2015 winter drilling programme.

Iamgold exploration senior VP Craig MacDougall said the drilling programme was aimed at assessing several target areas defined through compilation work and modelling completed by the exploration team.

“The programme has significantly added to our geologic understanding of the area and successfully intersected gold mineralisation associated with the [Monster Lake Shear zone (MLSZ) to the north-east of the 325-Megane zone. These results combined with ongoing surveys will help us focus on the best sectors of the MLSZ and satellite structures,” he added.

The 2015 winter diamond drilling programme was completed in April and totalled 7 782 m from 21 diamond drill holes.

The assay results highlighted four drill holes from the 325-Megane zone and the structural corridor, the MLSZ.

Drillhole ML15-134 at 1.46 m recovered gold grading at 18.80 g/t, while ML15-135 presented gold grading at 7.25 g/t at 1.39 m.

ML15-147 saw gold grading at 4.51 g/t at 3.41 m and 3.64 g/t at 10.72 m. This also included gold grading at 9.04 g/t at 2.08 m.

Drillhole ML15-152 intersected gold grading 4.13 g/t at 2.09 m and 4.21 g/t at 5.72 m.

Iamgold’s winter drilling programme evaluated priority targets that were identified from a target generation exercise, which was completed over the entire property. The programme also aimed to take advantage of winter access conditions.

The target areas evaluated included the west limb of the prominent folded unit, close to where new gold showings were identified in 2014 – the south-west and north-east strike extensions of the 325-Megane zone and the MLSZ, and the Zone 52 and Eratix prospect areas.

A few of the holes were drilled to better delineate the 325-Megane zone. Parallel to the winter drilling programme, a versatile time domain electromagnetic airborne survey was also flown over the Lac a L’Eau Jaune and Winchester claim blocks.

The survey identified several strong conductors that coincided with the prominent magnetic anomalies similar to that observed along the MLSZ. These targets would be evaluated in the ongoing exploration programme.

The company had met its first year’s commitments under the terms of the earn-in option agreement.

A summer exploration programme was now under way and would continue with the evaluation of the 325-Megane zone and its possible extensions, as well as explore other identified structures on which little previous exploration had been completed.

Exploration activities would include geological mapping and prospecting aided by a shallow penetrating electromagnetic survey to detect potentially subcropping conductive shear zones. Further drilling was planned in early fall as access conditions permit.