New Found Gold trenches 25.8 g/t gold over 39.05 metres at Queensway, Newfoundland
New Found Gold Corp. [TSXV-NFG; NYSE-NFGC] provided an update on surface trenching at the Keats zone at its Queensway project. The 100%-owned Queensway project comprises a 1,662 km2 area, accessible via the Trans-Canada Highway, 15 km west of Gander, Newfoundland.
Trench Highlights: Excavation of the Keats trench began in mid-August and is now complete, exposing a 200-metre long by 70-metre wide area roughly corresponding to the known surface expression of the high-grade segment of the Keats-Baseline Fault Zone, which includes a plethora of veins and vein sets that make up the Keats Zone.
One particularly notable vein called the East-West Vein (E-W Vein) has been uncovered over a 100-metre long surface expression including a 25-metre segment that is host to a significant amount of visible gold. Through drilling, the E-W Vein has been intercepted over a strike length of 300 metres and down to a vertical depth of 150 metres, forming an important constituent of the Keats-Baseline Fault Zone. This particularly well-mineralized vein is associated with several key previously disclosed intercepts.
Prior to the Keats trench, the Keats Zone had only been observed through drill core and modelled in 3D, forming the basis of the Company’s geological model. A high-level first pass mapping program has been completed, broadly confirming the original interpretation but with added structural details not previously recognized in drill-core. This initial phase of work has enhanced the Company’s understanding of the Keats Zone and the controls on high-grade mineralization as seen in the E-W Vein as one example.
A phase II program of detailed trench mapping and sampling will commence in the spring of 2024, which will lend further validation to the geological model, as well as provide critical insights into the genesis of the Keats Zone and assist in future targeting along the Appleton Fault Zone.
The Keats Zone starts 3m below surface at bedrock and has been drill-defined over 1.1km of strike and to a depth of 400 metres. The shallow portion of Keats demonstrates robust grades over significant thicknesses, a hallmark characteristic of the zone.
Greg Matheson, COO, stated: “Now that the trench is fully excavated, we can see the vein network of this portion of the Keats-Baseline Fault exposed in its entirety. The E-W Vein was one of the last areas to be revealed and provides one of the best demonstrations of gold deposition at Keats. This exposure of the E-W Vein is notable; the consistency and amount of visible gold mineralization found throughout this 25m long segment provides good validation of our model and explains the encouraging results encountered along the vein at depth (Table 1). This vein is well mineralized across its 300m strike length yet forms just a small portion of the overall Keats Main Zone. For reasons we don’t yet understand, the 25m long segment of the E-W Vein highlighted today is particularly enriched and with additional study work, we aim to garner additional insights into why – knowledge that will sharpen our ability for continued successful targeting at Queensway.”
Drill hole NFGC-20-23 returned 41.35 metres of 22.3 g/t gold, including 14.55 metres of 57.4 g/t gold, including 0.35 metres of 1,120 g/t gold (Keats Main), including 2.60 metres of 140.8 g/t gold, including 4.55 metres of 15.2 g/t gold.
NFGC-20-37 returned 10.30 metres of 25.0 g/t gold.n NFGC-20-41 returned 10.40 metres of 22.5 g/t gold, including 3.70 metres of 58.9 g/t gold. NFGC-20-59 returned 4.65 metres of 131.1 g/t gold. NFGC-20-80 returned 39.04 metres of 25.8 g/t gold, including 10.10 metres of 58.5 g/t gold, including 9.85 metres of 39.5 g/t gold.
The project has logging roads crosscutting the project, high voltage electric power lines running through the project area, and easy access to a skilled workforce.
The company is currently undertaking a 500,000-metre drill program at Queensway and is well funded for this program with cash and marketable securities of approximately $71.4 million as of November 6, 2023.