An aerial view of the Troilus Project, a former gold and copper mine. — Photo courtesy Troilus Gold Corp. Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX: TLG; OTCQB: CHXM
An aerial view of the Troilus Project, a former gold and copper mine. — Photo courtesy Troilus Gold Corp.
Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX: TLG; OTCQB: CHXMF) (“Troilus” or the “Company”) initiates its 2019 Exploration Program on its 100%-owned Troilus property (the “Troilus Project”) located near Chibougamau, within the Frotêt-Evans Greenstone Belt in Quebec, Canada.
The 2019 Exploration Program will include a drill program of at least 40,000 metres, to be carried out in two phases, designed to continue to derisk and expand upon the already significant mineral resource defined by Troilus in November of last year (see Table 1, or press release dated November 19, 2018). The program will aim to continue expanding the potential open pittable mineral resources near-surface, and also confirm and expand down dip and strike extensions of historic mineralization below the former producing Troilus mine.
Justin Reid, Chief Executive Officer of Troilus Gold Corp., commented, “We are looking forward to following-up on the tremendously successful exploration program of 2018, which resulted in a 90% increase in our estimated mineral resources with just one season of drilling. A lot of growth opportunities are presenting themselves to us as our geological understanding of the property improves. We are very excited about the targets outlined for 2019.”
The Company has engaged the services of Forages Chibougamau Ltée, who have already mobilized two drills to the property, with another one on the way.
J Zone (J4 & J5)
- Approximately 50% of drilling
- Expand and solidify mineralization below and around the 2018 mineral resource envelope
- Focus on increasing confidence in the open pit potential
Z87 South
- Approximately 25% of drilling will be allocated to this zone, located southwest of Z87 Open Pit
- Focus on expansion of the near-surface open pit potential discovered in 2018
Z87
- Approximately 15% of drilling will be allocated to this zone
- Outlining down dip and strike extensions
- Folding to the northeast of the open pit suggests potential high grade shoot
- Approximately 10% of drilling will be allocated to this zone
- Follow-up on 1.8 kilometre mineralized trend from end of the J Zone leading onto newly acquired land package to northeast identified in 2018
Property Scale Exploration
- Southwest and Z86 Zone, located approximately 3.5 kilometres from Z87 open pit. Follow-up on strong gold results from sampling and historic drilling at surface.
- Newly acquired 11,300 hectare property on trend with Z87, J Zone, and J4 North
- Validate geological interpretations across the entire property
J Zone (J4 & J5)
J4 and J5, two secondary historic open pits located 1.2 kilometres directly northeast of Z87 are characterized by the same mineralization and geology as Z87; both remaining open at depth and along strike. These areas have undergone a significant amount of deformation, and appear to potentially represent a structurally hosted mineralization related to tight isoclinal folding, suggests folding could represent excellent traps for gold. This is likely true at drill core scale, and as broadly as regional scale.
Near-surface mineralization at the J Zone defined during the 2018 exploration program signifies promising open pittable resource opportunities. The objective of the 2019 drill campaign, will be to expand open pit estimated mineral resources below the 2018 conceptual grade shell (whittle shell) with the intent of recognizing material that could contribute to an early production scenario.
Z87 South
Z87 South and Z87 Open Pit are located on the surface flanks of the Z87 open pit. The objective of drilling in these areas is to create new, near surface open pit opportunities directly adjacent to the Z87 pit, and to better understand the structural relationship between Z87 and the J Zone. The offset between these two areas moving grid west has previously been interpreted as solely related to faulting. More recent work carried out by the Company suggests that a large, regional fold system could be accountable, at least in part, for the en echelon pattern moving northeast and grid west. The nature of these structures could relate directly to high grade gold distribution, ultimately changing the approach to property exploration completely.
Z87
The broad geology and style of mineralization at Z87 creates a large deposit area, nearly 1 kilometre along strike and 30-50 metres wide, which remains open both along strike and down dip. The 2019 drill program in this area is designed to expand and infill certain areas of Troilus’ existing underground estimated mineral resource. The program will also serve to increase the overall understanding on geological orientation of mineralized material and use this to vector property scale exploration.
From 1996 to 2010, Z87 produced the majority of the over 2 million ounces of gold and 70,000 tonnes of copper produced at the Troilus Project. The Z87 pit was ultimately 350 metres deep and had a strike of approximately 900 metres. The Z87 zone is the focus of the current underground estimated mineral resource, representing over 1.02 million ounces of indicated and 600,000 ounces of inferred material
J4 North
J4 North represents an area of mineralization running 1.8 kilometres from the end of the J Zone to the former boundary of the Troilus gold property. The excellent results obtained from surface exploration in 2018, including outcrop samples returning over 100 g/t Au and 4 g/t Au, led to the acquisition of over 11,000 hectares to the immediate northeast. This trend could represent the extension of the J Zone or potential new gold deposits to the northeast.
Southwest Zone
The Southwest Zone is located along the margin of the Troilus Diorite and surrounding volcanics, 3.5 kilometres Southwest of Z87. Historically this area exhibited significant mineralization from drilling including intercepts as high as 36m @ 1.23g/t Au, and 18m @ 1.06g/t Au. Historic drilling in this area is limited, leaving the opportunity to explore and potentially outline new mineralization at surface.
The Southwest Zone exemplifies near term, blue sky opportunity at Troilus, and will be the initial focus of a significant, property wide exploration program. The Troilus Diorite remains underexplored and highly prospective. Surface mapping on recently uncovered bedrock show geology (lithology) resembling the identical sequencing to Z87, over 3.5 kilometres to the northeast.
Troilus is a Toronto-based, Quebec-focused, advanced stage exploration and early-development company focused on the mineral expansion and potential mine re-start of the former gold and copper Troilus mine. The 16,000-hectare Troilus property is located near Chibougamau, within the Frotêt-Evans Greenstone Belt in Quebec, Canada. From 1997 to 2010, Inmet Mining Corporation operated the Troilus project as an open-pit mine, producing more than 2,000,000 ounces of gold and nearly 70,000 tonnes of copper.
Forward-looking statements apply.