Drilling at O3 Mining's (TSXV: OIII) Malartic property in Val d'Or, Que., hit near-surface extensions of the Kierens gold deposit, outside of the proposed pit outlines defined in a September preliminary economic assessment (PEA).
The company has released assay results for four drill holes, all of which hit the Kierens-Norlartic zone at shallow depths and suggest that the Kierens deposit comes closer to surface than expected.
Drill highlights included 14 metres of 2.9 grams gold per tonne starting at 28 metres; 11 metres of 2.1 grams gold from 30 metres; and 9 metres of 2 grams gold starting at 29 metres.
Jose Vizquerra, O3 Mining's president and chief executive, said these latest drill holes could positively impact a future mining scenario at Malartic.
"We are pleased with these latest drill results as they show that drilling can continue to expand the mineral footprint at the various deposits on our Malartic property, which bodes well for growing the resource base and making the Marban project development even more attractive," he said in a statement. "We also received the pleasant surprise of intercepting mineralization just below the surface, which could have a meaningful positive impact in a future production scenario."
In its 2020-2021, 150,000-metre drill program, the junior is planning to complete 45,000 metres at Malartic, to test for extensions of existing deposits and test zones outside of the planned pit areas.
The September PEA, completed on the Marban project within Malartic, defines a 15-year, 11,000-tonne-per-day open pit operation, mining the Marban, Norlartic, Kierens, North-North and Gold Hawk deposits.
The Marban project area includes three historic mines, which churned out a total of 585,000 oz. gold between 1959 and 1992.
O3 Mining is part of the Osisko Group and also holds mineral assets in Ontario, as well as in the James Bay and Chibougamau areas of Quebec.
- This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal, part of Glacier Resource Innovation Group.