Kenorland Minerals drilling Hunter Project, Quebec
Kenorland Minerals Ltd. [TSXV: KLD; OTCQX: KLDCF; FSE: 3WQ0] has begun the maiden diamond drill program at the Hunter Project, located in the southern Abitibi greenstone belt of Quebec and held under an option agreement with Centerra Gold Inc. [TSX: CG; NYSE: CGAU].
The winter 2025 exploration campaign and budget have been approved by Centerra for the maiden drill program at the Hunter project. The program will include up to 4,300 metres of diamond drilling as an initial test of the targets identified through systematic exploration carried out since 2021. Two phases of drill-for-till sonic drilling in 2022 and 2024 identified a large multielement gold-copper-molybdenum-silver-tungsten-bismuth geochemical anomaly, both in glacial till and bedrock sampling over a 3.5-by-2.0-km footprint, where bedrock alteration remains fully concealed beneath thick overburden. Kenorland remains operator of the project, with drilling activities expected to conclude in early April.
Systematic, property-wide exploration at the Hunter project included a VTEM survey flown in 2021, followed by a drill-for-till sonic program completed in 2022. Priority target areas identified for follow-up were advanced through the completion of a high-resolution airborne magnetics survey in 2023 and a detailed sonic drill program and induced polarization survey in 2024 ahead of drill targeting.
Sulphide mineralization includes pyrite with lesser chalcopyrite and molybdenite, occurring as fine-grained disseminations to vein controlled blebs and stringers. Mineralization within the target area is interpreted to be intrusion related, which may be synvolcanic (disseminated sulphide to volcanogenic massive sulphide type mineral systems), or related to younger magmatism similar to the Duparquet gold deposit 6.5 km to the south, located along the Destor-Porcupine fault zone.
The Hunter Project covers 19,262 hectares of mineral tenure over a felsic volcanic complex within the southern Abitibi greenstone belt. The property is dominantly covered by glacial till and lake sediments, resulting in sparse bedrock exposure with very little systematic exploration due to the challenges of exploring through thick glacial sedimentary cover.
Under the option agreement, Centerra can earn an initial 51% interest in the project by spending $5 million on mineral exploration by the fourth anniversary of the agreement. Centerra can then earn an additional 19% interest in the project for an aggregate 70% interest by completing a technical report that establishes a mineral resource of at least one million ounces of gold equivalent on or before the fourth anniversary of the exercise of the first option, provided that Centerra must provide notice of its intent to exercise the second option within 90 days of the first option exercise.
Following the earning of a 70% interest, Centerra and Kenorland will form a joint venture in respect of the project. In the event a joint venture participant’s interest is diluted to below 10%, it will exchange its joint venture interest for a net smelter return royalty of 2% on currently unencumbered claims and 1.5% on claims currently encumbered by an existing royalty.
Kenorland holds a 4% net smelter return royalty on the Frotet Project in Quebec, which is owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. The Frotet Project hosts the Regnault gold system, a greenfield discovery made by Kenorland and Sumitomo Metal Mining in 2020.