Emperor Metals Intersects Near Surface Mineralization; Building Bulk Tonnage Open Pit Potential at Duquesne West Gold Project in Quebec

Emperor Metals Inc. is pleased to announce additional assay results from the summer 2023 drilling campaign at the Duquesne West Gold Project. A total of 14 diamond drillholes has been completed which represents 8,579 metres.

Highlights

• DQ23-09 intersects 13.2 metres (m) of 3.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), including 5.6 m of 7.5 g/t Au in DQ23-09 

• Drilling confirms Phase 1 open-pit potential

• DQ23-09; 5.6 m of 7.5 g/t Au exceeds the average grade of the deposit

• DQ23-06 intersected 5.2 meters of 2.1 g/t Au (including 1.2 m of 6.1 g/t Au)

• DQ23-06 expands mineralization down plunge over ½ kilometer from any known drillholes, implies additional inferred ounce potential

CEO John Florek commented:

"With the recent development of identifying the open pit potential on the property, holes DQ23-09 to 14 targeted the strategic vision to expand the Phase 1 open pit potential. DQ23-09 confirms that these high-grade lenses seen at depth are expressed at surface and could make very attractive stockpiles for delivery to nearby mills.

"Only an estimated 30% of the core from historical drilling was sampled at surface by previous operators who did not examine the additional lower-grade bulk tonnage material crucial to lowering the stripping ratio. As a result of recent work to locate and sample this material in the historical core library, more than 3,000 meters of additional sampling will be sent out for assays; sampling of historical core is ongoing.

"The intercept at DQ23-06 is very significant, since it expands the mineralization by an additional 0.55 km along strike and plunge, in an area of virtually no drilling. This area has potential to add significant ounces to this deposit.

"Our vision to develop a multimillion-ounce deposit with multiple mining scenarios on the property continues to progress. The proximity to multiple mills and infrastructure in a Tier 1 mining district makes this project highly valuable compared to any competitors." 

Summary of Drill Results: 

DQ23-06 intersection (5.2 m of 2.1 g/t Au) was designed to extend mineralization +500 meters eastward along strike and down plunge of high-grade mineralization. It intersected mineralization predicted by the model, which will help to potentially increase the grade and add ounces laterally to the mineralized stopes model (Table 1, Image 1). 

DQ23-09 intersection (13.2 Metres of 3.8 g/t Au (including 5.6 m of 7.5 g/t Au)) was designed to intersect near-surface mineralization to begin the strategic drilling of development of a potential area of development for a Phase 1 open pit (Image 2).

These partial results and the drill core visuals from our 2023 campaign suggest resource expansion within and outside the open pit concept. 

The open pit concept in Image 1 shows an ultimate pit with a depth extent to 400 meters; the footprint is 1.8 km by 0.8 km. Initial exploration will strategically focus on the area of the phase 1 pit design. This will allow us to determine the potential economics as we progress through the phases having the necessary assay results for resource evaluation and eventually for economic evaluations. Currently, Emperor is sampling near-surface core from the historical core library that was not assayed by previous explorers. Up to 70% of this core has not been assayed. So far, over 3,000 meters have been sampled and will be sent to the laboratory for analysis (Image 3).

Partial assays for these reported drillhole results continue to increase confidence to consider an open pit potential to the Duquesne West deposit. Full laboratory results for drillholes DQ23-01, 03, 04, 05, and 09 have been received. DQ23-09 was rushed through the laboratory to advance our understanding related to near surface mineralization. Approximately 65% of the assays have been returned from the laboratory, Emperor is still awaiting additional assays results. A total of 14 diamond drillholes were completed this summer on this property.

Tags: Quebec / Exploration / Gold / All Articles