Maple Gold Mines posts Douay Project drill results, Quebec
Maple Gold Mines Ltd. [TSXV: MGM; OTCQB: MGMLF; FSE: M3G] reported initial assay results from the first five drill holes completed during the 10,000-metre 2025 winter drill campaign at its 100%-owned Douay Gold Project located along the Casa Berardi-Douay Gold Trend in Québec, Canada.
Reported assay results include one hole completed in the Nika Zone, three holes completed in the Porphyry East Zone, and one hole completed in the Central Zone.
Highlights: In the Nika Zone, drill hole DO-25-338 intersected 2.05 g/t gold over 108.6 metres (from 537.4 m downhole, or 490 metres vertical depth), including 3.05 g/t gold over 55.8 metres, and including 4.93 g/t gold over 17 metres. This result was within a broader envelope of mineralization that returned 1.43 g/t gold over 169.5 metres.
The company is planning immediate follow-up drill holes to DO-25-338 during this program.
In the Porphyry East Zone, drill hole DO-25-334 intersected 15.50 g/t gold over 1.0 metre, drill hole DO-25-335 intersected 3.15 g/t gold over 9.0 metres, including 14.30 g/t gold over 1.0 metre, and drill hole DO-25-336 intersected 0.98 g/t gold over 35.0 metres, including 2.31 g/t gold over 9.0 metres.
“The company’s ambitious 2025 exploration program is already yielding exciting results,” stated Kiran Patankar, Maple Gold’s President and CEO. “We have only begun to test Douay’s resource expansion potential at depth using our improved geological and targeting models. Hole DO-25-338 was a planned 300-metre step-out that intersected exceptional grades and widths, including the best intercept drilled to date in the Nika Zone and one of the best grade-thickness intercepts ever encountered at Douay, within the syenite that hosts the existing mineral resource. Today’s result builds on the consistent gold mineralization previously identified at shallower depths in the Nika Zone and defines a new high-grade, bulk tonnage target at Douay that remains open in multiple directions.”
The company approved a minimum of 10,000 metres of diamond drilling at Douay in 2025. Phase I drilling commenced in January 2025 with an expected duration of approximately four months
Key objectives include targeting sparsely drilled 100-200 metre gaps between modeled mineral resource domains (both pit-constrained and underground) to convert Inferred Resources to Indicated Resources; adding new Inferred Resources along strike, down-dip, and down-plunge of the existing deposit; focusing on the down-plunge extensions of higher-grade zones outside the Douay MRE with bulk tonnage underground resource potential; and 4) testing new regional geophysical targets with the potential for new mineralized zones. The company is leveraging the results of its year-long data compilation exercise to initially target the shallow portions (<500 m depth) of the Douay mineralizing system. This approach is intended to improve understanding of the geometry of the known zones and validate key plunge directions in Phase I before systematically stepping down-plunge and testing at depth during a proposed Phase II. This phased approach will allow the Company to manage exploration risk and maximize the potential for exploration success.
At the time of writing of this news release, the company has completed more that 50% of the planned 10,000-metre at Douay and expects the program to be completed on time and within budget.
The Nika Zone is in the northwestern portion of the Douay MRE and is geologically very similar to the main Porphyry Zone, with both zones hosted within a mixed basalt-syenite intrusive sequence, including thick syenitic dykes that are well mineralized.
Current drilling in the Nika Zone has targeted the potential down-plunge extension of broad zones of gold mineralization previously identified in drill hole DO-21-282X, which returned 1.76 g/t Au over 100.3 m, including 5.49 g/t Au over 9.6 m, in what was then the best intersection reported in the Nika Zone (see Company news release dated May 26, 2021).
Drill hole DO-25-338, located 300 metres down-plunge from drill hole DO-21-282X, returned 1.43 g/t over 169.5 metres, including 2.05 g/t gold over 108.6 metres, including 3.05 g/t gold over 55.8 metres, including 5.95 g/t over 7.8 metres, and including 4.93 g/t gold over 17.0 metres, including 15.31 g/t over 1.9 metres.
This result underscores the potential for bulk tonnage underground gold mineralization at depth at Douay and represents the best hole completed to date in the Nika Zone based on gold accumulation (grade x thickness). The Nika Zone remains open both at depth and along strike, and the Company plans immediate follow-up drilling to test the area around hole DO-25-338 during this Program.
The Porphyry Zone hosts high tonnage, lower grade, structurally controlled gold mineralization within the Porphyry West, Porphyry Central and Porphyry East Zones and hosts >55% of the contained Indicated and Inferred gold ounces within the Douay MRE.
The three drill holes reported herein, DO-25-334, DO-25-335 and DO-25-336, all intersected the modeled Porphyry East Zone ore body at anticipated depths with promising gold mineralization hosted within the DIC. The Porphyry East Zone remains open both at depth and along strike.
Drilling at the Porphyry East Zone was focused on the overall plunging trend of mineralization within and beneath the 2022 modeled pit shell which was interpreted to be plunging to the southwest. The three drill holes reported herein targeted this trend over a 450-meter down-plunge distance and returned encouraging assay results in all three holes.
Drill Hole DO-25-334 and DO-25-335 targeted middle and shallow portions of the Porphyry East Zone and returned 15.50 g/t gold over 1.0 mteres and 3.15 g/t gold over 9.0 metres, including 14.30 g/t gold over 1.0 metre, respectively.
Drill Hole DO-25-336 tested the extension of the Porphyry East gold mineralization 350 metres below the bottom of the 2022 modeled pit (450 m down-plunge) and intersected 0.98 g/t gold over 35.0 metres, including 2.31 g/t gold over 9.0 metres.
The sparsely drilled Central Zone is located north of the Porphyry Zone and east of the NW and Nika Zones. One drill hole, DO-25-337, was completed on the Central Zone to extend higher-grade mineralization to depth and returned 5.00 g/t gold over 1.0 metre at an approximate vertical depth of 200 metres. An additional deeper hole, DO-25-340, was also completed, with assays pending.
The Douay/Joutel Gold Project is located adjacent to Highway 109 in the heart of Québec’s Abitibi greenstone belt. This large, 100%-owned land package includes the company’s flagship Douay Gold Project, which hosts an established mineral resource2 containing 511,000 ounces of gold (Indicated) and 2.53 million ounces of gold (Inferred), as well as the past-producing, high-grade Joutel Mine Complex.
The property contains ~400 km2 of prospective geology within the influence of the major gold-bearing Casa Berardi Deformation Zone.
Maple Gold Mines is focused on advancing its 100%-owned, district-scale Douay/Joutel Gold Project in Québec’s prolific Abitibi Greenstone Gold Belt. Douay/Joutel benefits from exceptional infrastructure access and boasts ~400 km2 of highly prospective ground including an established gold mineral resource at Douay with significant expansion potential as well as the past-producing Telbel and Eagle West mines at Joutel. In addition, the company holds an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Eagle Mine Property, a key part of the historical Joutel Mining Complex.