Exploits gearing up to drill 5 targets in Newfoundland

2021.04.23

As the dominant landholder in Central Newfoundland exploring over 200 km of deep regional fault structures known to host significant gold discoveries, Exploits Discovery Corp. (CSE: NFLD, OTCQB:RNRRF, FSE:634-FF) continues to generate buzz in what is one of the world’s most exciting gold area plays.

This month the company reached some key milestones regarding its 2021 exploration campaign.

In February Exploits moved one step closer to its first discovery, announcing assay results from the Dog Bay project, one of seven known prospects that it has assembled within the Exploits Subzone gold belt. Five samples, one of which contained visible gold, returned assays of 61.3, 59.0, 14.4, 14.2, and 12.6 grams per tonne gold. Samples also returned silver grades of up to 189 g/t.

These projects all have comparable geological, geochemical and structural settings to the nearby Queensway discovery held by New Found Gold Corp. (TSXV:NFG), whose exploration in 2019 yielded an “earth-shaking” drill intersection of 92.86 g/t Au over 19 meters near surface, one of the highest ever seen in the province.

Exploits is fully funded for its 12,000-meter spring and summer drill programs and has received drill permits for four out of five targets: True Grit, Schooner, Quinlan Vein and Little Joanna, with one application pending for the Jonathan’s Pond project.

On April 15 the company announced it has awarded its phase one diamond drilling contract to Majors Contracting Ltd., of Deer Lake, Newfoundland.

The contract is for 7,500 meters, with an option to extend to 13,500m.

At Quinlan Vein, drilling is expected to focus on intersecting mineralization in the subsurface coinciding with high-grade visible gold (up to 61.3 g/t Au) in several stacked 0.50 to 0.70-meter quartz veins. The visible gold is exposed at surface across a width of 25 meters and a strike length of 20 meters, before diving under overburden; it remains open in all directions.

“With the drill permit now secured for our Quinlan Vein prospect, Exploits is pleased to now have received four of its five drill applications. The Quinlan Vein prospect is an impressive piece of land with high grade, visible gold samples at surface and we are looking forward to unlocking its potential with the drill,” President and CEO Michael Collins stated in an April 21 news release. He added:

“Our 2021 exploration plans are taking shape with boots on the ground work to refine these targets, culminating in our Phase I drill campaign in May.”

Exploits is working closely with GoldSpot Discoveries (TSXV: SPOT) which is employing geophysical analysis to hone in on the best targets for drilling.

“Simply put, mineral exploration is treated as an art. Is it not time to begin treating it as a science?” states Goldspot in a two-and-half-minute video describing how the Toronto-based company uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to increase the efficiency and success rate of exploration.

“We believe mineral deposits form for a reason. Machine learning links this reason to available geoscience data to determine the relationship. With that relationship we can predict the likelihood of mineralization in new exploration regions,” the company explained.

Goldspot’s machine learning algorithm has successfully processed billions of data points in some of Canada’s most prolific mining camps, identifying staking targets and investment opportunities. In the Abitibi region alone, the algorithm found 86% of existing gold deposits, but only needed 4% of the total surface area to do so, and discovered even more target areas.

Past and current clients include Sprott Mining, Hochschild Mining, McEwen Mining, Yamana Gold, Vale and Integra Resources.

Following is a summary of the five areas to be drilled. Three of the five targets host visible gold at surface with high-grade assays up to 194 g/t Au.

• Schooner was the first high priority target identified by GoldSpot Discoveries. The Schooner Fault is parallel to the gold-bearing Appleton Fault which hosts NFG’s Keats Zone. Drilling will focus on a Schooner Fault splay, where the fault splits in two, and two secondary fault intersections.
• Little Joanna returned NFLD’s highest-grade visible gold in outcrop from quartz veins, averaging 30cm in width, uncovered up to 20m in strike, before disappearing under overburden. Sixteen samples from outcrop and subcrop at the Little Joanna Veins were taken with values ranging from 0.1 to 194 g/t Au. Five samples with visible gold returned assays of 194, 133, 123, 119 and 118 g/t Au.
• The Quinlan Vein prospect is located on a secondary structure splaying off the Appleton Fault. There are multiple 50-70cm-wide quartz veins over a 25m-wide zone, currently exposed 5-20m in strike before diving under overburden. Visible gold was discovered as fine grains in crack seal fractures and as fine to coarse grains in the quartz veins. Trace sulfide mineralization is also present in the quartz veins as pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. The veins are milky white with sections of vuggy and crack seal textures, which are typical of epizonal, orogenic gold deposits. Structurally, the veins are situated within secondary fault structures associated with the Appleton Fault zone, that were highlighted by GoldSpot’s geophysical analysis.
• True Grit is adjacent to the GRUB line fault and has seen some historical drilling (including 0.60 g/t Au over 117m from surface) plus new VTEM geophysics and an SGH soil survey completed within the past five months. The soil and geophysical results indicate that the historical drilling was in the wrong orientation and missed the best targets.
• About 30km southwest from Little Joanna is Jonathan’s Pond. Exploits consolidated its property here in late 2020 with land acquisition from New Found Gold, in exchange for 6.5 million shares, or 9.9% of the company at the time. This project has received the most historical work of any property in NFLD’s portfolio, with historical rock grab samples returning up to 29 g/t and 700 g/t Au. The property features a large, distinctive quartz vein exposed for over 200m, and is bound by the JBP and GRUB line faults. The company has also identified the JP Demagnetized Zone which stretches over 2 km, parallel to the structures known to host visible gold at the JP Veins.

Conclusion

To be a significant player in the Central Newfoundland gold camp, your property needs to overlie a deep-seated structure, and have a secondary structure that provides a trap for gold mineralization. Exploits has the faults, subfaults and splays necessary to replicate New Found Gold’s success in Central Newfoundland and become a winner.

The company also has a great management team capable of raising funds and moving projects forward, supported by a technical team with the expertise to judiciously spend money in the ground, to come up with something big for shareholders.

The timing couldn’t be better. The gold price has seen a healthy correction since hitting a record $2,034 an ounce last summer, but there are indications of a rebound. Investors are catching on that we are entering a period of potentially high inflation, as economies recover from the pandemic, jobless rates fall and consumers/ businesses feel more confident to spend and borrow.

Since dropping to a 10-month low on March 1 of $1,724.80, spot gold has gained nearly $60, or 3%.

Exploits is moving right along with its 2021 drilling program involving up to 13,500m of drilling at five targets — all of which are very prospective. Three of five host visible gold at surface with impressive grades up to 194 g/t Au.

The drilling contractor has been named and four of five drill permits have been issued by the Newfoundland & Labrador government.

Exploits is AOTH’s favorite gold junior in this exciting and evolving Canadian area play. I’m expecting a slew of news from NFLD, including a very good chance of a discovery hole, when the drills start turning next month.

Exploits Discovery Corp.
CSE:NFLD, FSE:634-FF
Cdn$0.51, 2021.04.22
Shares Outstanding 59,728,102
Market cap Cdn$33.8m
NFLD website

Richard (Rick) Mills
aheadoftheherd.com
subscribe to my free newsletter

Legal Notice / Disclaimer

Ahead of the Herd newsletter, aheadoftheherd.com, hereafter known as AOTH.

Please read the entire Disclaimer carefully before you use this website or read the newsletter. If you do not agree to all the AOTH/Richard Mills Disclaimer, do not access/read this website/newsletter/article, or any of its pages. By reading/using this AOTH/Richard Mills website/newsletter/article, and whether you actually read this Disclaimer, you are deemed to have accepted it. 

Any AOTH/Richard Mills document is not, and should not be, construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment.

AOTH/Richard Mills has based this document on information obtained from sources he believes to be reliable, but which has not been independently verified.

AOTH/Richard Mills makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability as to its accuracy or completeness.

Expressions of opinion are those of AOTH/Richard Mills only and are subject to change without notice.

AOTH/Richard Mills assumes no warranty, liability or guarantee for the current relevance, correctness or completeness of any information provided within this Report and will not be held liable for the consequence of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained herein or any omission.

Furthermore, AOTH/Richard Mills assumes no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage for lost profit, which you may incur as a result of the use and existence of the information provided within this AOTH/Richard Mills Report.

You agree that by reading AOTH/Richard Mills articles, you are acting at your OWN RISK. In no event should AOTH/Richard Mills liable for any direct or indirect trading losses caused by any information contained in AOTH/Richard Mills articles. Information in AOTH/Richard Mills articles is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. AOTH/Richard Mills is not suggesting the transacting of any financial instruments.

Our publications are not a recommendation to buy or sell a security – no information posted on this site is to be considered investment advice or a recommendation to do anything involving finance or money aside from performing your own due diligence and consulting with your personal registered broker/financial advisor.

AOTH/Richard Mills recommends that before investing in any securities, you consult with a professional financial planner or advisor, and that you should conduct a complete and independent investigation before investing in any security after prudent consideration of all pertinent risks.  Ahead of the Herd is not a registered broker, dealer, analyst, or advisor. We hold no investment licenses and may not sell, offer to sell, or offer to buy any security.

Richard owns shares of Exploits Discovery Corp. (CSE:NFLD). NFLD is a paid advertiser on his site aheadoftheherd.com