Wallbridge announces $70M exploration at flagship Detour-Fenelon properties
“We see excellent potential to build on our track record of exploration success over the past years to further grow mineral resources at both Fenelon and Martiniere in 2022, with most known mineralized gold trends remaining open for expansion, and additional opportunities within the existing resource footprints,” said Marz Kord, President & CEO of Wallbridge. “After validating the multi-million-ounce potential of this emerging gold camp with a significant mineral resource estimate in 2021, we plan to maintain a similar pace of exploration work this year, with 8 to10 active drills. We expect this program to deliver a number of catalysts for our shareholders over the course of 2022, as we update our mineral resource estimates for Fenelon and Martiniere and will lay the groundwork for an economic study that will incorporate our properties across the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend.”
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited announced that it has approved a $70 million exploration program for 2022 that will focus on growing the gold mineral resources at the Company’s flagship Fenelon and Martiniere properties, located on the highly prospective Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend in Northern Abitibi, Quebec.
The Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend has a demonstrated potential to host world-class gold deposits yet remains highly underexplored in comparison to other prolific gold belts in the southern portion of the Abitibi, such as the Timmins-Porcupine, Kirkland Lake and Val d’Or camps. Regional exploration on this trend is expected to account for approximately 10% of the Company’s 2022 exploration budget.
“The goal of our regional exploration program in 2022 will be to add new discoveries to our growing inventory of ‘drill bit successes’ on the Company’s largely underexplored yet highly prospective land package of roughly 910 km2, located just east of the 30+ million-ounce Detour Lake deposit,” said Attila Péntek, Wallbridge’s Vice President, Exploration. “Our 2022 program makes Wallbridge one of the most active gold explorers in Quebec and we intend to build on our track record of delivering shareholder value through exploration success once again this year.”
2022 Exploration Program
Wallbridge finished 2021 with approximately $40 million of cash on hand and expects to receive approximately $10 million in 2020 refundable tax credits from the province of Quebec. The balance of the 2022 exploration budget of $70 million is expected to be funded from other sources.
Approximately 60-65% of the Company’s planned drilling in 2022 will be targeted at Fenelon, 25-30% will be targeted at Martiniere, and the remaining 10% will be allocated to regional exploration (see details in table below). These results will be supplemented by approximately 60,000+ metres of drilling completed in 2021 after the cut-off date for the Company’s November 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate. In addition, funding has been allocated for preparation work for economic studies and underground maintenance.
The Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend has a demonstrated potential to host world-class gold deposits yet remains highly underexplored in comparison to other prolific gold belts in the southern portion of the Abitibi, such as the Timmins-Porcupine, Kirkland Lake and Val d’Or camps. Regional exploration on this trend is expected to account for approximately 10% of the Company’s 2022 exploration budget.
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