Vancouver, BC – May 29, 2024 – Kirkland Lake Discoveries (TSX-V: KLDC; OTC: KLKLF) (“Kirkland Lake Discoveries” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on the exploration strategy for the summer 2024 field season. The Company has commenced an extensive soil sampling program across large areas of KL West and KL East (Figure 1). Mapping, prospecting, and sampling of key areas following drill results from the Hurricane Intrusive Zone will also be initiated. Drilling intersected intense alteration and fluid pathways that indicate the presence of a strong system and tracing key interceptions and geochemical traps to surface will help to increase understanding of this prospective system.
“This is a very large land package in the heart of one of the most prolific gold camps in Canada”, states Stefan Sklepowicz, Interim CEO. “It takes systematic thought, many different exploration tools and methods, and an experienced team to put the pieces of the puzzle together. With a team of seasoned geologists, we’re employing tried and tested exploration methodologies to systematically unravel the geological complexities of our land package, paving the way for groundbreaking discoveries.”
Geochemical Soil Survey
The Company will be undertaking an extensive soil sampling survey covering prospective areas on KL West (Figure 2) and KL East (Figure 3) that are highly prospective but have minimal outcrop. These soil sampling grids are contiguous with the programs that Val d’Or Mining and Eldorado Gold completed last year near KL West, and the soil sampling completed by Agnico Eagle Mines south of KL East.
Soil sampling provides a cost-effective method to narrow down potential targets in large areas. This will allow the Company to focus its resources on the areas with the highest potential for mineralization.
Hurricane Intrusive Zone Exploration
In the winter of 2024, drilling at the Hurricane Intrusive Zone encountered wide intervals of syenite intrusive hosted quartz-veining and potassic-hematite alteration (Figure 4) accompanied by pyrite and subordinate chalcopyrite mineralization. This geological signature is very similar to the ore-bearing zones at the Young-Davidson mine owned and operated by Alamos Gold in Matachewan.[1] Drilling also intersected weakly gold-bearing zones of intensely bleached and altered zones within mafic volcanics. Both of the above geological environments provide vectors for continued prospecting and mapping with the goal of tracing these systems to surface.
Barbi Lake Exploration
Barbi Lake is an intrusive body on the eastern section of the KL East property that is coincident with the Mulven Lake Fault. In 2018, samples from trenches completed by New Found Gold returned 3 g/t Au and 0.7% Cu. Findings from the Metal Earth magnetotelluric and seismic studies have indicated that the depth extent of the Mulven Lake Fault is deep-seated, similar to the Larder Lake-Cadillac deformation zone[2] which is an integral structure to the gold deposits of the Kirkland Lake gold camp. The exploration team will be following up on the Barbi Lake intrusive with emphasis on its proximal location to the Mulven Lake Fault.
Copper King Exploration
An historical shaft is located at Copper King where a NE-trending structure is associated with quartz vein-hosted copper that has assayed up to 1.5% Cu. Recent work by Agnico Eagle has identified multiple additional NE-trending mineralized structures that are parallel to the Copper King on their property, less than 2 km to the south. The exploration team will set out to ground truth those structures on the Company’s property.
Gem Lake Exploration
Multiple high gold grain counts in till have been historically identified. The exploration team will follow up this trend and explore the interaction with the Mulven and Misema Lake Faults.
Misema-Mist Lake and Mulven-Kinabik Lake Faults Exploration
Mapping and prospecting will also occur over the next few months along the Misema-Mist Lake Fault system. The deep-seated nature of the fault system identified by the Metal Earth seismic survey makes this a highly prospective corridor for gold mineralization. Previous till sampling along the eastern section of the Misema-Mist Lake Fault returned high gold grain counts along the structure. Emphasis will be placed on following up on these results.
McVittie Diorite Exploration
The McVittie Diorite is an elongated, structurally complex intrusive body with a unique orientation relative to the surrounding geology. The geophysical interpretations indicate tight folding and offset within the system. With previous mapping and sampling returning anomalous gold, it is an area of interest to further expand on the complex nature of mineralization. The McVittie Diorite area is approximately 5km long and 1km wide. Because of the expansive area, the soil sampling grid will provide the initial coverage and allow us to link any potential geochemical anomalous zone with the structural features of interest.
Hargreaves and Kirgood Historical Mine Shafts Exploration
On the southeast corner of the KL West property are two historical shafts from the late 1930s and early 1940s known as the Hargreaves and Kirgood shafts. No production was recorded from the high-grade gold veins encountered in the shafts. The gold-bearing systems in these shafts are proximal to the Kirkland Lake Fault or Main Break, which has contributed to the historical 30+ million ounces of gold in the Kirkland Camp 7 km to the southwest. The Company will be targeting traditional Kirkland Lake syenite and Timiskaming-hosted lode gold style of mineralization. Exploration by the Company and past operators have identified anomalous Ag, As, Au, Cu, Mo, Sb, Te and W in soil and rock samples (Figure 5). There are multiple faults inferred by historical companies and intersected in drill holes, and prominent LiDAR lineaments associated with Au. Geophysics identified coincident IP anomalies with those LiDAR lineaments and inferred cross-faults.
The area has seen very little drilling despite its proximity to the Kirkland Lake gold camp and its proximity to an important structural gold mineralizing control.
Exploration in this area aims to ground truth the inferred structural intersection points and collect data to support drill hole planning, location and orientation.
Victoria Creek Extension Exploration
The Victoria Creek deformation zone (VCdz) hosts the Victoria Creek gold deposit discovered by Sudbury Contact Mines in 1993. It hosts a non-NI 43-101 compliant and unclassified resource of 4.3 million tonnes grading 3.27 g/t Au (MDI32D04NW00043). The northeast trending VCdz appears to extend onto the KLW property accentuated by magnetics and LiDAR. Two historical gold showings under the abandoned mines inventory of the OGS were drilled by Golden Valley Mines in 2010 on their Blue Mountain property, surrounded by the KLW claim group, now owned by Val d’Or Mining and optioned by Eldorado Gold. Mapping and prospecting by the Company will target prospective ground along the northwest and southeast extension of the VCdz throughout this area.
Dobos and Raven Showings Exploration
The Dobos and Raven showings are situated along a SE-trending shear along the contact of a gabbroic intrusive. In 1940, the Dobos Syndicate reported 9 g/t Au over 1.82m in Pit 1 (AFRI 42A08SE0014). In 1990, stripping and grab samples by Leahey yielded 6.1, 1.22 and 0.70 g/t Au and up to 0.91% Cu. In 1989, at the Raven showing, drilling by Leahey intersected 0.549 g/t Au over 26.8m (AFRI 42A08SE0014). Both showings have had little exploration since. The objectives of mapping and sampling by the Company this summer will be to investigate the nature and significance of the gold mineralization at both showings and understand the geological relationship between the two in preparation for drilling.
QP Statement
The technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Mike Kilbourne, P.Geo. who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
References:
1. Syenite-hosted gold mineralization and hydrothermal alteration at the Young-Davidson deposit, Matachewan, Ontario by Ryan Martin, a thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Earth Sciences, 2012.
2. Northeastern Ontario Mines and Minerals Symposium, Metal Earth Project Update Course, October 2, 2023.
3. Canada’s Gold Exploration Frontier: The Abitibi Greenstone Belt - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/canadas-gold-exploration-frontier-the-abitibi-greenstone-belt/
About Kirkland Lake Discoveries Corp.
Kirkland Lake Discoveries Corp. is a TSX Venture Exchange-listed company that has recently consolidated a district-scale and highly prospective land package in the Kirkland Lake Gold Camp in Ontario, Canada. The properties are hosted in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, one of the world’s best-endowed greenstone belts, with 200+ million ounces of gold produced to date.[3] The properties are host to regional and property-scale mineralized structures that are considered second-order structures off the Larder Lake Cadillac Deformation Zone (LLCDZ), the regional structure in the belt known to be spatially associated with the gold mines hosted in the camp.
The properties assembled include the Lucky Strike Property, Arnold Property, KL Central, Goodfish-Kirana, and the optioned KL West Properties. The KLDC land position comprises approximately 38,000 ha, over 1,338 claims, and 29 patented claims and ranks the Company as the largest landholder in the Kirkland Lake region.
For additional information, please contact:
Stefan Sklepowicz
Interim CEO
+1 226 979 3515
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operations and activities of Kirkland Lake Discoveries, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “potential”, “possible”, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results “will”, “may”, “could”, or “should” occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, the Company’s three-phase drill program, the results thereof, and any impact therefrom. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Kirkland Lake Discoveries, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete proposed exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, changes in general economic, market and business conditions, and the ability to obtain any requisite approvals. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Kirkland Lake Discoveries does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws.
[3] Canada’s Gold Exploration Frontier: The Abitibi Greenstone Belt - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/canadas-gold-exploration-frontier-the-abitibi-greenstone-belt/