IAMGOLD drills 1.99 g/t gold over 342.15 metres at Gosselin, Ontario

IAMGOLD Corp. [IMG-TSX; IAG-NYSE] reported additional assay results from its continuing diamond drilling program at the Gosselin zone discovery, located immediately adjacent to the Côté gold deposit in northeastern Ontario, Canada.

The Gosselin delineation drilling program is being undertaken as part of the Cote Gold joint venture between IAMGOLD, as the operator, and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (SMM). Côté Gold is currently under construction and is expected to commence production in early 2024.

Highlights include 342.2 metres at 1.99 g/t gold in drill hole GOS22-105 from 206.9 metres, including 101.8 metres at 3.05 g/t gold from 311.0 metres and 89.0 metres at 2.48 g/t gold from 459.0 metres.

GOS22-126 returned 313.0 metres at 1.29 g/t Au from 511.0 metres, including 75.0 metres at 3.68 g/t Au from 523.0 metres.  GOS22-129 returned 181.0 metres at 1.50 g/t Au from 512.0 metres, including 91.3 metres at 2.55 g/t Au from 582.0 metres.

GOS22-118 returned 388.5 metres at 0.66 g/t Au from 39.0 metres, including 156.5 metres at 1.03 g/t Au from 271.0 metres. GOS22-122 returned 262.0 metres at 0.77 g/t Au from 141.0 metres.

GOS22-116 returned 220.5 metres at 0.74 g/t Au from 193.5 metres, including 69.5 metres at 1.76 g/t Au from 344.5 metres.

Craig MacDougall, Executive Vice President, Growth for IAMGOLD, stated: “We are very pleased to see that the results from the 2022 drilling program support the anticipated expansion potential at Gosselin, specifically south of and below the interpreted resource boundaries of the deposit model. Future drilling programs at Gosselin will continue to target the extensions of the deposit towards the goal of defining further potential resource expansion and resource classification upgrades.

“The 2022 drilling campaign required considerable coordination between the exploration and construction teams during a period of extensive construction activities related to the development of the Côté Gold project. I want to congratulate our exploration team, service contractors, local community employees and partners who together continue to drive the success of our exploration efforts.”

IAMGOLD is reporting assay results from an additional 27 diamond drill holes totaling 14,660 metres completed between January 21 and November 13, 2022.

The 2022 drilling program successfully outlined areas for potential resource expansion both at depth and to the south of the existing Gosselin Mineral Resource boundary. The areas have been tested with a limited number of widely-spaced drill holes and additional closed spaced drilling with a nominal drill hole spacing of 70 metres is required to support future resource block model updates. The next phase of diamond drilling has commenced to further test the identified expansion target areas. Ongoing geological and geochemical studies and refinement of the deposit model will continue to guide future delineation drilling programs and support the regional exploration targeting strategy on the large Cote Gold project land package.

Continuing technical studies initiated in 2022 include: a sampling program to advance metallurgical test work to evaluate comminution characteristics and gold recoveries over a range of ore types and grades; mining and infrastructure studies to review configuration options for the potential inclusion of the Gosselin deposit resources into future Côté Gold life-of-mine plans; and the collection of baseline data to support future permitting requirements.

The Gosselin zone discovery is located immediately adjacent to the northeast of the Cote Gold deposit and is accessible by construction roads on the developing mine property. Diamond drilling to date has delineated wide intervals of low-grade gold mineralization hosted in altered and brecciated intrusive lithologies similar to that observed at the adjacent Côté Gold deposit, extending from the Young-Shannon historical shaft in the west to the Gosselin zone in the east. Drilling to date has outlined mineralization over a strike length of 1,400 metres, width of 400 metres and a depth extent of 425 metres. The deposit outcrops below the shallow Three Ducks Lake, and remains open at depth, to the northwest, and along strike to the northeast and southwest.

A significant milestone was reached on October 18, 2021 with the announcement of an initial resource estimation of the Gosselin deposit, comprising 124.5 million tonnes of Indicated resources grading 0.84 g/t gold for 3.35 million ounces of gold and 72.9 million tonnes of Inferred resources grading 0.73 g/t gold for 1.71 million ounces of gold. The current mineral resources estimate for the Gosselin zone incorporated assay results from 163 diamond drill holes totaling 54,775 metres, including 95 drill holes holes totaling 38,398 metres completed by IAMGOLD as part of its delineation drilling program.

IAMGOLD is building the large-scale, long life Côté Gold project in partnership with Sumitomo Metals & Mining, which is expected to commence production in early 2024.