Onyx Gold drills 0.61 g/t gold over 47.6 metres at Munro-Croesus, Ontario
Onyx Gold Corp. [TSXV-ONYX; OTCQX-ONXGF] reported the final exploration drill results from its 2023 fall drill program at its Munro-Croesus project in the Timmins gold camp, northeastern Ontario.
2023 work program highlights: Drilling continues to define gold mineralization on 100-metre stepouts at the Argus zone, successfully doubling the strike length to 525 metres and a width of 200 metres, which remains open in all directions.
The Argus zone remains open for expansion, especially toward the west, where the zone likely converges with the Pipestone fault, a key regional structure known to host material gold deposits, including Mayfair Gold’s 3.5-million-ounce Fenn-Gibb deposit located 3.5 km to the southwest of the Argus zone.
The westernmost hole returned one gram per tonne gold over 27.6 metres, demonstrating the strength of the Argus mineralized system, highlighting the upside potential of further expanding the zone to the west.
Drilling in an undertested area of the Argus zone successfully intersected gold mineralization consistent with this zone, including 0.61 g/t gold over 47.6 metres and 0.66 g/t gold over 28.5 metres.
Geological modelling of the Argus zone continues to define and refine controls to gold domains. Plans for a 2024 follow-up drill program at the Munro-Croesus property are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
“We are very excited about the portfolio of properties we’ve accumulated in this world-renowned mining camp. With opportunities for continued discoveries of both high-grade vein and bulk-tonnage gold systems, it stands to reason that Onyx could become the go-to explorer in this prolific region,” said Brock Colterjohn, president and CEO. “The fall drill program successfully doubled the strike length of the Argus zone to 525 metres, demonstrating the strength and continuity of the mineralized system. In addition, a new high-grade vein discovery was made at Croesus, returning 121.8 g/t gold over 0.9 metres, including 363 g/t gold over 0.3 metyres. This work validates our approach to exploration in the Timmins camp, and we are excited to continue to test these zones and find new discoveries on our other properties on the belt. We look forward to outlining our targets and drill plans for 2024 in the coming weeks.”
The company completed the program in early December with 4,078 metres drilled in 19 holes. About half of the program was focused on expansion drilling at the Argus zone on the property’s western side, with the remaining half focused on follow-up holes at targets near the historic high-grade Croesus gold mine. Initial results reported from the program included a new quartz vein discovery 350 metres northwest of the historic Croesus gold mine, which returned 121.8 g/t gold over 0.9 metres, including 363 g/t gold over 0.3 metres, within a 30-centimetre-wide quartz vein containing abundant visible gold in drill hole MC23-132.
Results reported today include eight drill holes totalling 2,163.4 metres from the shallow, bulk-tonnage-style Argus zone located 3 km west of the Croesus gold mine. The program tested an area of low drill density to expand the zone to the northwest and then stepped out in 100-metre increments to the southwest to test the convergence of the Argus zone and the regional Pipestone fault.
Highlight assay results: 0.96 g/t Au over 27.6 m in hole MC23-140, including 3.86 g/t Au over 5.1 m, including 8.57 g/t Au over 0.5 m; 0.61 g/t Au over 47.6 m in hole MC23-135, including 1.69 g/t Au over 4.9 m; 0.66 g/t Au over 28.5 m in hole MC23-136, including 2.09 g/t Au over 3.4 m; 1.29 g/t Au over 5.1 m; 0.45 g/t Au over 21.2 m in hole MC23-137; 0.33 g/t Au over 24 m and 8.33 g/t Au over 0.6 m in hole MC23-138; 0.43 g/t Au over 25.5 m in hole MC23-139, including 5.27 g/t Au over 0.7 m.
The Argus zone has now been defined over a strike length of 525 metres and a width of 200 metres and remains open in all directions. The results from hole MC23-140, the most westerly hole drilled by the company, show the strength of the Argus mineralization system as it approaches the Pipestone fault and highlight the potential to continue to drill farther to the west.
The Munro-Croesus project is located along Highway 101 in the heart of the Abitibi greenstone belt, Canada’s premier gold mining jurisdiction. This large, 100%-owned land package includes the past-producing Croesus gold mine, which yielded some of the highest-grade gold ever mined in Ontario. Extensive land consolidation from 2020 to 2023 has unified the patchwork of patented and unpatented mining claims surrounding the Croesus gold mine into one coherent package and enhanced the exploration potential of the project. The project covers 70 km2 (27 square miles) of highly prospective geology within the influence of major gold-bearing structural breaks.
The Argus zone is located 3 km west-northwest of the past-producing Croesus gold mine and immediately north of the Pipestone fault. Onyx’s recognition that mineralization may be more widespread provided the rationale to target the prospect, resulting in the discovery of shallow, bulk-tonnage-style gold in 2022, highlighted by 62.8 metres at 0.79 g/t gold within 136 metres at 0.54 g/t gold in MC22-110.
The company completed 2,163.4 metres in eight drill holes in the Argus zone area to expand on the known mineralization identified in 2022. Three holes, MC23-135/136/137, were drilled on the same drill hole cross-section through a little tested area of the zone; three holes, MC23-138/139/140, were drilled as 100-metre step-outs along the projected intersection of the Argus zone with the Pipestone fault; and two holes, MC23-141/142, tested new targets to the east of the Argus zone within the same variolitic mafic volcanic flow below anomalous surface gold geochemistry (four and 1.6 g/t Au).
Results from holes MC23-135/136/137 returned intercepts of 0.61 g/t gold over 47.6 metres in hole MC23-135, 0.66 g/t gold over 28.5 metres in hole MC23-136, and 0.45 g/t gold over 21.2 metres in hole MC23-137.
The Argus zone has now been defined over a strike length of 525 metres and a width of 200 metres and remains open in all directions.
Results from four additional holes, MC23-130/131/133/134, completed on the Brown-Munro vein extension target in the vicinity of previously reported hole MC23-132, have been returned and included 1.92 g/t gold over 0.6 metres, 25 metres down dip the visible gold intercept in MC23-132.
Results from six short holes, MC23-124/125/126/127/128/129, completed on the northeast extension of the Backhoe vein target, immediately northeast of the Croesus gold mine, returned narrow widths of gold mineralization associated with quartz veining with highs of 5.19 g/t gold over 0.8 metres and 4.45 g/t gold over 0.4 metres in hole MC23-125.
The company is currently developing exploration budgets and programs for follow-up drilling at the Munro-Croesus project and other Timmins area projects during 2024.
Onyx owns 100% of each of its three Timmins properties. The Munro-Croesus gold project is located approximately 75 km (47 miles) east of Timmins, proximal to the Porcupine-Destor and Pipestone faults, and approximately 2 km (1.2 miles) northwest and along trend of Mayfair Gold’s multimillion-ounce Fenn-Gib gold deposit.
Onyx Gold also controls four properties in the Selwyn basin area of Yukon, which is currently gaining significance due to recent discoveries in the area.