Calibre Mining drills 2.43 g/t gold over 172.8 metres at Valentine Mine, Newfoundland and Labrador
Calibre Mining Corp. [TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF] reported initial discovery and resource expansion diamond drill results from its Valentine gold mine, located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The program, part of the expanded 100,000-metre drilling initiative is focused on discovering new gold mineralization beyond the known resources on the 250 km2 property. Launched earlier this year, the drilling highlights the vast potential that exists outside of the three-pit 2022 feasibility study, which includes a total of 64.6 million tonnes grading 1.90 g/t gold containing 3.95 million ounces of measured and indicated resources and 20.7 million tonnes grading 1.65 g/t gold containing 1.10 million ounces of inferred resources.
These resources are hosted across only 8 km of the highly prospective 32-km-long main Valentine Lake shear zone (VLSZ). Drill results include numerous intercepts with visible gold and both high-grade intersections and broad zones of continuous mineralization have been identified in several holes, all of which are located outside of known mineral resources.
Highlights from the Frank zone drill program southwest of the Leprechaun pit include: 2.43 g/t gold over 172.8 metres estimated true width (ETW), including 3.84 g/t gold over 90.9 metres ETW, in hole FZ-24-048; 2.12 g/t gold over 95.4 metres ETW in hole FZ-24- 046; 2.26 g/t gold over 78.3 metres ETW in hole FZ-24- 040; 10.21 grams per tonne gold over 2.9 metres ETW in hole FZ-24-028; 5.50 g/t gold over 6.0 metres ETW in hole FZ-24-031; 1.73 g/t gold over 11.0 metres ETW in hole FZ-24-034; 13.39 g/t gold over 0.9 metre ETW in hole FZ-24-035; 8.34 g/t gold over 1.0 metre ETW in hole FZ-24-037; and 11.15 g/t gold over 0.9 metre ETW in hole FZ-24-039.
Darren Hall, president and CEO of Calibre, stated: “We acquired the five-million-ounce Valentine gold mine in Canada primarily for its near-term production of approximately 200,000 ounces per year for the first 12 years of its 14-year reserve life. With construction 85% complete, the funded project remains on schedule for first gold in Q2 2025. Successfully delivering Valentine will transform Calibre into a mid-tier gold producer with annual production of 450,000 to 500,000 ounces.
“Since our initial due diligence in 2024, the team has been extremely excited by the highly prospective district potential of the Valentine gold mine property, which has a similar geologic setting to the prolific Val d’Or and Timmins camps in the Abitibi gold belt.
These initial drill results highlight the significant upside potential for further discoveries and resource expansion. Holes FZ-24-048 (2.43 g/t gold over 172.8 metres) and FZ-24-046 (2.12 g/t gold over 95.4 metres) are very encouraging given the grades and widths, with mineralization importantly remaining open laterally, vertically and up dip. In just a few months, we’ve discovered broad zones of gold mineralization up to 1,000 metres southwest of the Leprechaun open pit with grades more than 40% above reserve grade.
“These results are located proximal to the mill and outside of the mineral resource, which strengthens our confidence that Valentine’s 250 km2 land package represents a new gold district. Furthermore, ongoing drilling northeast of our Marathon deposit is uncovering promising opportunities and identifying several new, high-priority targets for exploration. We are excited about what lies ahead and look forward to sharing more information as we continue the expanded multirig drill program and progress construction completion.”
Tom Gallo, senior vice-president, strategy and growth, of Calibre, stated: “The anticipated discovery potential of the orogenic gold setting of the Valentine gold mine property is highlighted by today’s drill results. Hole FZ-24-040 sits approximately 400 metres along strike to the southwest of the Leprechaun open pit, followed by another 450-metre stepout in hole FZ-24-046 and a further 150 metres in hole FZ-24-048.
“These three intercepts define a 1,000-metre corridor outside of our present mineral resource, which is now being defined for future delineation drilling. These results, combined with the previously announced Frank zone drilling, ultimately define continuous gold mineralization extending nearly 1,500 metres southwest of the Leprechaun resource. Furthermore, gold mineralization in the past has been defined proximal to the Valentine Lake shear zone (VLSZ), the main mineralized structure. It is, therefore, extremely encouraging to see intercepts such as in holes FZ-24-028 (10.21 g/t gold over 2.9 metres ETW) and FZ-24-031 (5.50 g/t gold over 6.0 metres ETW), which have outlined gold mineralization 250 to 300 metres north of the VLSZ, meaningfully expanding the width of this golden corridor.”
Calibre is a Canadian-listed, Americas-focused, growing mid-tier gold producer with a strong pipeline of development and exploration opportunities across Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, Nevada and Washington in the United States, and Nicaragua.