Fury Gold Mines (TSX: FURY; NYSE: FURY) has released assay results for the first five drillholes completed as part of a 25,000-metre program focused on expanding and upgrading the highest-grade lower eastern portion of the Eau Claire resource in the James Bay region in Quebec.
Michael Henrichsen, Fury Gold's senior VP of exploration, said the latest results "meaningfully expand the high-grade resource on the eastern margin of the deposit." Henrichsen also added that the predictable nature of the Eau Claire deposit has increased the company's confidence in its ability to extend the deposit down plunge to the east.
Step-out drill highlights (downhole lengths) included 3.8 metres of 4.89 grams gold per tonne; 6.5 metres of 4.45 grams gold per tonne; and 7 metres of 11.56 grams gold per tonne.
"Our first set of drill results confirm the potential of this under explored area of the deposit and supports our overall goal of increasing scale and defining more gold at Eau Claire," Mike Timmins, president and CEO of Fury, said in a news release. "We are very pleased with the productivity and pace of the program and are excited to continue drilling out the lower areas of the deposit, as well as the down-plunge extension."
Additional assays are pending with results expected over the coming months.
In a note to investors, Barry Allan of Laurentian Bank Securities wrote that these initial results are "positive" and validate "Fury's thesis that the Eau Claire deposit actually remains open to the east and to depth." In addition, the company's "ratio" (defined as the proportion of intercepts that returned over 2.5 grams gold per tonne over intervals longer than 2 metres) provides "good confirmation that Fury seems to have a good handle on what is going on with the Eau Claire deposit."
Allan maintains a "buy" rating and $3.35 per share target price for Fury.
The Eau Claire project is 57 km from Newmont's (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) Eleonore mine and lies 350 km northwest of Chibougamau, within 10 km of a hydroelectric power facility.
A 2018 resource defined both open pit and underground resources at the site, with a total of 4.3 million measured and indicated tonnes, grading 6.18 grams gold per tonne for 853,000 gold ounces. Inferred resources add 2.4 million inferred tonnes at 6.53 grams gold per tonne for 500,000 ounces. Open pit resources include 1.2 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 5.86 grams gold per tonne and 43,000 inferred tonnes at 5.06 grams gold per tonne.
A preliminary economic assessment completed for Eau Claire in 2018 outlined a 12-year open-pit and underground operation producing an average of 86,100 oz. gold annually in the first 10 years at all-in sustaining costs of US$574 per ounce.
Fury Gold was formed in the fall of 2020, as a result of the all-share acquisition of Eastmain Resources by Auryn Resources.