Home > News > Galleon Gold contracts...

Galleon Gold contracts drill-rig and 2022 exploration outlook for West Cache

Apr 26, 2022


Galleon Gold Corp. (TSXV: GGO) (the “Company” or “Galleon Gold”) is pleased to provide an exploration update for its 100% owned West Cache Gold Project (“West Cache” or the “Project”) in Timmins. Following the release of the Project’s updated Mineral Resource Estimate and maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) in early 2022 (see press releases dated January 12 and February 23, 2022), the Company is planning its exploration and permitting programs for the upcoming field season.

Drill-Rig Contracted

Galleon Gold intends to follow-up on high-priority drill targets at West Cache identified during the Company’s 46,380-meter drill program in 2020-2021, beginning with higher-grade targets in the metasediment units near Zone #9 and the South Area. An initial 5,000-meter program will commence in May 2022 with additional drilling to be planned based on the results from this first phase of drilling. The Company has contracted NPLH Drilling of Timmins, Ontario. NPLH has extensive experience at West Cache, having completed over 75% of the 210,000 meters of core drilling on the Property since 2009.

Permitting and Baseline Activity for Zone #9 Test Mining

Ongoing permitting and baseline studies in support of a bulk sample will continue through 2022. The Company intends to submit permit applications for approximately 100,000 tonnes of Zone #9 material to be extracted from four levels within 200 meters of the surface.   A portion of the overall 2022 budget will be reserved for geotechnical and condemnation drilling in support of the Zone #9 bulk sample ramp design work.  A Metal Leaching and Acid Rock Drainage (“MLARD”) geochemical study has been initiated on representative rock samples from the planned bulk sample ramp area and ore characterization test work on high grade samples from Zone #9 has begun.

Comments from the CEO

R. David Russell, President and CEO of Galleon Gold commented, “We are pleased to be embarking on the next stage of exploration for West Cache.  Our success last year in discovering Zone 9 and the South Area highlights the potential of the project as we have explored less than 10% of the ground within the main West Cache lease area.  This blue-sky scenario coupled with our recently announced initial PEA, which demonstrated strong economics, is setting the stage for Galleon Gold to contribute significantly to the Timmins Community going forward. We anticipate 2022 will be a very rewarding year.”

2022 Geochemical Sampling

In addition to drilling, a soil sampling survey will be initiated during the 2022 field season. The Company completed an orientation soil sampling survey over three areas of known gold mineralization in 2021 and received favourable results suggesting that soil geochemistry may be successful at detecting buried gold mineralization at West Cache. Additional baseline orientation work will be completed over known gold zones and an extensive sampling grid is planned to cover unexplored areas outside of the West Cache Resource Area which is identified in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Galleon Gold’s Land Position in the Timmins Gold Camp

Image removed.

Regional Exploration & Targeting

Compilation of regional exploration targets is ongoing with the recent acquisition of 4,230 hectares of contiguous property in Ogden and Price Townships (see press releases dated February 8, 2022, and March 3, 2022).

About the West Cache Gold Property

The Property is situated in the Western Porcupine Gold Camp along the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone (“DPFZ”) within the Abitibi greenstone belt.  The Property is predominantly underlain by Archean rocks of the Tisdale and Deloro Assemblages (metavolcanics), Porcupine Assemblage (metasediments) and quartz feldspar porphyry of the Porcupine Intrusive Suite. Paleoproterozoic Matachewan diabase dikes trend north-south to northwest-southeast across the Property. The main break of the DPFZ trends east-west through the eastern part of the Property and is offset to the south in the western portion of the Property by the Mattagami River Fault. Gold mineralization is characterized by roughly east-west trending “shear” zones, dipping 60° to 80° to the north, and is associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite. To-date, the quartz feldspar porphyry unit and associated contacts with the metasedimentary units have been the focus of exploration activities. In addition, large areas of Tisdale and Deloro metavolcanics have yet to be explored, including the Rusk contact zone, which is associated with gold mineralization at the Timmins West Complex, approximately 7 km southwest of the Property.

Preliminary Economic Assessment – filed on SEDAR February  2022

The Company’s maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment provided the  first economic valuation for West Cache. The results demonstrate that the project could support a profitable underground mining operation; including Pre-Tax Net Present Value at a 5% discount rate (“NPV5%”) of $378 million with Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 33.7%; 3.0 year payback at US$1,700/oz gold price. Importantly, the project is highly leveraged to the gold price



Tags: Northern Ontario / Operational Updates / Gold / All Articles