Canadian gold miner Iamgold has made a new gold discovery at the Côté joint venture (JV) project, north of Sudbury, Ontario.
The latest drilling results confirm the discovery of a new zone of mineralization referred to as the Gosselin zone, located about 1.5 km northeast of the Côté gold deposit, which has proven and probable mineral reserves totalling 7.3-million ounces of contained gold and measured and indicated resources totaling ten-million ounces of contained gold, as well as inferred mineral resources totaling 2.4-million ounces of contained gold.
The Gosselin discovery represents the most significant drill intercepts of continuous gold mineralisation so far encountered outside of the Côté deposit on the JV project mineral holdings.
"The Gosselin zone is a new grass-roots discovery, the result of our ongoing commitment to sustained exploration and an excellent group effort by the Côté exploration team. With the completion of a positive feasibility study for the Côté gold deposit in 2018, demonstrating a solid development opportunity with a long mine life and low production costs, this exploration success continues to add to our track record of resource expansion and further enhances the long term value of this exciting development project," commented senior VP for exploration Craig MacDougall.
The 2017/2018 exploration drilling programme was designed to test the continuity of the new Gosselin zone in a number of directions from the discovery hole to determine if the gold mineralisation intersected at depth extends to surface. The programme included one drill hole executed as a deepening of a pre-existing shallow drill hole from 2015 (CL15-39 EXT).
The 2019 Phase I exploration diamond drilling has already started and entails the completion of 15 planned diamond drill holes (4 500 m) mainly on Three Ducks Lake. The programme is designed to test for the extension of the new Gosselin zone to surface beneath Three Ducks Lake, and to delineate the ultimate size potential of this discovery. The programme will also test for continuity between the new Gosselin zone and the recently discovered intrusion-hosted gold mineralization associated with the Young-Shannon zone.
As results merit, a second phase of drilling is anticipated to complete an infill drilling programme (50 to 75 metres drill hole spacing) to support the completion of an initial National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource estimate in 2020.