O3 Mining acquires Lac Esther property, Quebec, from Midland

O3 Mining Inc. [TSXV: OIII; OTCQX: OIIIF] has acquired the Lac Esther property from Midland Exploration Inc. [TSXV: MD], located within proximity of the corporation’s Kinebik project, Quebec. The Kinebik project continues to be an important property for O3 Mining as it forms an integral part of the core exploration strategy and the acquisition of the Lac Esther property will enable the corporation to further consolidate its presence in the Casa Berardi trend.

O3 Mining’s president and CEO, Jose Vizquerra, commented: “We are pleased to further consolidate our presence on the Casa Berardi trend through the acquisition of Midland’s Lac Esther property. The Lac Esther property fits well within our current property holdings at the Kinebik project and will enable our team to conduct additional exploration drilling at Casa Berardi. This aligns well with our core exploration strategy and is an extension of our mission to explore and develop the major geologic faults in Quebec. Our exploration success on the Cadillac break continues a baseline of expertise to continue our strategy along the prolific Casa Berardi trend.”

The transaction was completed pursuant to an asset purchase agreement dated October 30, 2024, between the corporation and Midland. Under the terms of the Midland agreement, the corporation acquired 100% of Midland’s rights, titles and interest in and to the Lac Esther property in exchange for a cash consideration of $75,000. Midland Exploration also retained a 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on all concentrate, dore, metal and products derived from ore mined from the Lac Esther property. In connection with the Midland agreement, Midland Exploration granted O3 Mining the right to repurchase 50% of the Lac Esther NSR royalty from Midland at any time for a cash consideration of $500,000. O3 Mining also retained a right of first refusal on any sale of the Lac Esther NSR royalty.

On a go-forward basis, O3 Mining will be consolidating the Lac Esther property into the Kinebik project.

The Lac Esther property covers an area of 16,094 hectares and is located 45 km northeast of the town of Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Quebec. Three major deformation corridors straddle the property: Casa Berardi, Maicasagi and Lamark-Wedding.

Several historic gold intercepts were identified in drill holes and surface samples in the vicinity of the property, including values of 81.4 g/t gold, 5.46 g/t gold over 0.34 metre and 2.35 g/t gold over 0.65 metre.

The Ratte zone, just outside the property, returned historic assays of up to 61.0 g/t gold. A low-magnetic anomaly into the Lac Esther property suggests that the Ratte zone could extend into the Lac Esther property. Gold mineralization is generally associated with quartz-carbonate veins located in sheared zones associated with deformation corridors, graphitic zones with pyrite or intrusions (diorite and porphyry dike).

A geophysical survey (magnetic drone) is planned for execution in Q1 2025 with the aim of better defining deformation corridors, faults and intrusions that will greatly help interpreting potential gold-bearing structures.

The Kinebik project straddles over 40 km of strike along the prolific auriferous Casa Berardi trend, which extends over 400 km in the northern part of the Abitibi greenstone belt. Along its length, there are five mining districts, including the more-than-five-million-ounce-gold world-class Casa Berardi deposit, the Douay deposit (three million ounces Au at 1.1 grams per tonne gold) and the Vezza deposit (300,000 ounces gold at 5.6 g/t gold).

The Kinebik project is easily accessible all year round through the main roads to Matagami and Chibougamau cities. The Globex property acquired in December 2023, totals 8,220 hectares and covers several prospective structures. One of them, the Cameron Lake deformation zone, is a structural zone up to 5.7 km wide and forms part of the wider Casa Berardi break corridor.

There are three deposits directly west of Cameron, namely Discovery (500,000 ounces gold), Flordin (300,000 ounces gold) and Cartwright (30,000 ounces gold), all of which are hosted by the Cameron Lake deformation zone. The Kinebik block, acquired from New Origin in May 2023, sums 14,636 hectares and covers over 30 km of strike along the Casa Berardi trend, 150 km east of the Casa Berardi mine. The Desjardins property covers a total area of 2,186 hectares. The Kinebik project covers the Casa Berardi break and adjacent iron formations, the same formations present at the Casa Berardi mine. The Kinebik project now covers a total of 47,510 hectares, which offer promising discovery potential based on their strategic geological location, confirmed gold occurrences and limited historical drilling.

O3 Mining is well capitalized and owns a 100% interest in all its properties (127,100 hectares) in Quebec.