IAMGOLD releases positive results from drilling on Gosselin property at Cote
IAMGOLD Corporation has announced additional positive assay results from its delineation diamond drilling program at the Gosselin zone discovery, centered approximately 1.5 kilometres northeast of the Côté Gold construction project. The Gosselin delineation drilling program is being undertaken as part of the Côté Gold 70:30 joint venture between IAMGOLD, as the operator, and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. Côté Gold, southwest of Timmins, is currently under construction with commercial production anticipated in the second half of 2023 (see news releases dated July 21, 2020 and August 4, 2021).
In March 2021, IAMGOLD reported the results of the remaining nine (9) diamond drill holes totaling 3,686 metres as part of the resource delineation drilling program completed in the fourth quarter of 2020 (see news release dated March 8, 2021).
IAMGOLD is now reporting assay results from an additional thirty one (31) diamond drill holes totaling 11,735 metres completed in 2021. Drill holes were completed from land-based drill platforms on the north and south shores of Three Ducks Lake, and also on lake ice and barge-based platforms directly on Three Ducks Lake.
Craig MacDougall, Executive Vice President, Growth for IAMGOLD, stated: "These additional drilling results continue to demonstrate the continuity and strength of this wide mineralized system. The Gosselin zone remains open to the northeast and southeast as well as at depth. I want to acknowledge the tremendous effort of our exploration team to safely complete this logistically challenging drilling campaign, as well as our core shack technicians who processed and prepared large numbers of core samples to facilitate a timely submission for analysis. Additionally I want to acknowledge the support of our assay laboratory partner to expedite the assaying of the drill core samples allowing for their inclusion in the drilling database to support the completion of a maiden resource estimate, which we expect to release in the fourth quarter of 2021."
The Gosselin zone discovery is located immediately northeast of the Côté Gold deposit, and is accessible by construction roads on the developing mine property. Diamond drilling to date has delineated wide intervals of low-grade Au mineralization extending from the Young-Shannon historical shaft in the west to the Gosselin zone in the east. This continuous zone of mineralization is herein referred to as the Gosselin zone.
The 2021 diamond drilling program continued to in-fill and delineate the Gosselin zone at a nominal drill hole spacing of approximately 70 metres, including the shallowest parts of the deposit under Three Ducks Lake and on the Young-Shannon peninsula. Two of the completed drill holes were oriented in the opposite direction from the regular drill pattern to cross-cut the central part of the Gosselin zone, providing additional information on the central breccia core of the deposit.
Diamond drilling data collected from this program, including oriented drill core, have been used in the creation of a robust geology model incorporating vein orientation and the observed associated structural controls. Results continue to demonstrate gold concentrations associated with two principal vein compositions, which have been modelled and used to underpin the deposit model to support the mineral resource estimate.
Drilling results to date confirm widespread Au mineralization which has now been defined over a strike length of 1,400 metres, width of 400 metres and a depth extent of 425 metres. The zone lies immediately northeast of the Côté Gold deposit outcropping below Three Ducks Lake, and remains open at depth, and along strike to the northeast and southeast.
Next Steps
The finalization of the deposit model and supporting drill hole database, including QA / QC validations have been completed and is now being used to support an initial resource estimate for the Gosselin zone, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Drilling continues with additional in-fill drill holes in progress utilizing one barge-based drill rig on Three Ducks Lake and two land-based drill rigs on Young-Shannon peninsula, with the program expected to continue into late October of 2021.
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