Quebec's Troilus-Frotet area has been a beehive of exploration activity. A number of companies including UrbanGold, Troilus Gold Corp., Kenorland Minerals and X-Terra Resources have been exploring the area. At the end of July, Kenorland announced a major discovery of 29 meters of 8.46 grams per tonne (g/t) gold. Troilus has recently found surface samples that point to a new gold zone, the Beyan Gold Zone, located only 110 meters form UrbanGold's own property where gold occurrences are also present. An updated preliminary economic assessment Troilus put out at the end of August calculates an Indicated mineral resource estimate of 4.96 million ounces gold equivalent.
UrbanGold Minerals Inc. (UGM:TSX.V) has interest in two projects in the area, the 100%-owned Pallador property, and the 50%-owned Bullseye property, a joint venture with Argonaut Gold.
The Kenorland high-grade intersection sits right next door to UrbanGold's Pallador Main Block, and that company has found gold mineralization within 400 meters of UrbanGold's property line, and is open toward UrbanGold.
"The geology is the same on both sides of the boundary between our properties," UrbanGold CEO Mathieu Stephens told Streetwise Reports. "There is a major fold in that area, and it folds right back onto our ground. There are zero drill holes on our side."
UrbanGold began an exploration program this summer, and surface sampling returned assays as high as 102 g/t gold in boulders in the Pallador Main Block. In early September, the company reported that soil sampling has identified several anomalous gold targets, "including two high priority targets located south and near the drilling recently completed by Kenorland Minerals." UrbanGold plans to begin drill testing this area shortly.
"Kenorland's assays are within a diorite intrusion, which so far looks like it continues onto our side of the property. We have had two outcrops that show that it does continue to our side," Stephens noted.
This month, the company began a ground induced polarization (IP) geophysics program on the area near the Kenorland discovery and where significant geochemical anomalies in soil were recently identified. Because the area does not have bedrock exposure, "the survey will assist in pinpointing drill targets for an upcoming initial drill program. The time domain IP survey will cover 8 line-kilometres in a dipole-dipole configuration with 25 meter spacing and 1 to 10 kVA power output separations, which will allow for high-definition of anomalies from sources up to 80 metres in depth," the company noted.
"The high-resolution IP survey is our last step in the exploration process prior to undertaking our maiden drill program in the area later this fall," Stephens noted. The company expects to drill around 2,000 meters in the fall program.
A small lake lies right on the boundary with Kenorland. UrbanGold plans to wait until the lake freezes this winter to conduct a larger exploration effort in the area.
UrbanGold's other property is the Bullseye joint venture with Argonaut Gold. In September 2019, UrbanGold signed a deal with Argonaut to earn 50% interest by funding a $500,000 exploration program and issuing 750,000 common shares to Argonaut. The two companies combined their claims in the immediate area to form the Bullseye property. UrbanGold serves as the operator of the project.
UrbanGold notes that Bullseye's geology is similar to the past-producing Troilus Mine, located 14 kilometers away. UrbanGold conducted a small drill program—369 meters—in December 2019, and all three holes hit low-grade but wide widths, including 0.9 g/t Au over 17.55 meters, 0.49 g/t Au over 33.50 meters and 1.02 g/t Au over 22.00 meters.
"This is along the lines of what Troilus is getting at the Southwest zone," Stephens explained. "The gold grades are the same, but the difference between here and Troilus is we have a bit higher silver and a bit lower copper."
The Bullseye area has "good power, a camp nearby, a road, a water treatment facility and a tailings dam," Stephens noted.
The Cressida area saw a lot of drilling in 1987 and 1988. "I started looking at the data and realized that the government had only recorded the high-grade portion of hole 8, 9.7 g/t over 4.75 meters; if you don't look at the data you don't realize that all the other holes around it hit that as well. Every hole hit, so we are looking at a potential deposit here," Stephens said.
"Bullseye would be our main property if Kenorland hadn't made that discovery right next door to us," Stephens said. "We've got two great projects in the same location."
The next steps at Cressida, Stephens said, are "to conduct surface geophysics followed immediately by drilling, verify the extensions and then we get into possibly more advanced drilling and the resource calculation, if we get there."
UrbanGold recently acquired the ground next door to Bullseye's Cressida block from Soquem, the exploration company run by the Quebec government. "This property has a nice IP chargeability anomaly on strike with the Cressida zone, which indicates that the zone could continue from 300 up to 600 meters farther southwest of Cressida based on the geophysics. We want to go ahead and drill this as quickly as we can; we have drill permits so we can move whenever we want this year."
UrbanGold has around 61 million shares outstanding, 84 million fully diluted. Institutions hold 23% and insiders hold 6%.
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1) Patrice Fusillo compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
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