McLaren Resources acquires remaining 50% in Past-Producing Blue Quartz Gold Mine near Timmins

McLaren Resources Inc. has acquired from its joint venture partner, Orla Mining Ltd, the remaining 50% interest, to hold a 100% interest, in the past-producing Blue Quartz Gold Mine property near Timmins.

The Blue Quartz property is located in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in the north-central part of Beatty Township approximately 73 kilometres (km) east of the city of Timmins. The property is located in a historic gold producing area and sits 8 km north of the producing Black Fox Gold Mine operated by McEwen Mining Inc., 12 km northeast of the past-producing Hislop Mine owned by Kirkland Lake Gold and 14 km northeast of the former producing Ross Mine. In addition, McLaren's McCool gold property, which was recently acquired from Newmont Corporation ("Newmont") (see news release dated May 14, 2020), lies 22 km east of the Blue Quartz property and McLaren's Kerrs property, also recently acquired from Newmont, lies 21.5 km east-northeast of the Blue Quartz property.

The Blue Quartz property is comprised of 25 Patented Mining Claims covering 400 hectares ("ha") and 8 adjoining Crown Mining Claims covering a further 240 ha. The large property straddles both the Pipestone Fault as well as a subsidiary, sub-parallel fault, the Painkiller Lake Fault, both of which exhibit strong silicification and are key gold-bearing structures in the area.

The Blue Quartz property is reported to have produced gold from high grade veins during the 1920s and 1930s. Underground mining operations were undertaken from a 160 metre deep shaft sunk on the Pipestone Fault. Underground work included 1,830 metres of crosscutting and drifting, over half of which was on the 150 metre level, and with lateral workings to a depth of 225 metres.

Two diamond drilling programs undertaken in 2011 and 2012 by McLaren and Orla (formerly Red Mile Minerals Ltd.), consisting of 3,693 m of diamond drilling in 16 holes, intersected significant high grade gold mineralization along with substantial widths of lower grade gold mineralization and wide zones of hydrothermal alteration at depth below and to the west of the old Blue Quartz Gold Mine workings as well as below the majority of the drilling completed on the property to date.

Selected gold intersections from this drilling include:

5.28 grams per tonne gold ("gpt Au") over 2.8 m in hole RBQ-10-01;
3.52 gpt Au over 8.4 m, including 23.00 gpt over 1.0 m in hole RGB-10-02;
2.20 gpt Au over 6.1 m, including 57.00 gpt Au over 0.2 m in hole RBQ-10-03;
8.71 gpt Au over 1.3 m in hole RBQ-08-02;
13.30 gpt Au over 1.0 m in hole MBG-11-07;
13.95 gpt Au over 2.0 m and 1.34 gpt Au over 7.0 m and 2.95 gpt Au over 3.7 m,
including 7.26 gpt Au over 1.2 m in hole MBQ-11-09;
5.51 gpt Au over 3.1 m and 1.21 gpt Au over 63.0 m, including 5.56 gpt Au over 4.0 m
and 12.80 gpt Au over 1.5 m in hole MBQ-11-10.

Consideration for the acquisition was 300,000 treasury shares of McLaren which cannot be traded on the open market by Orla prior to October 15, 2021.

 

Tags: Northern Ontario / Deals & Financial / Gold / All Articles