K9 Gold gets set for Valentine Lake exploration with LiDAR and EM surveys

2020.10.09

Fresh off its recent “rebranding” into a gold miner, K9 Gold Corp. (TSX.V:KNC, FSE:5GP, OTC:WDFCF) is now ready to begin the first part of exploration on its Stony Lake project, located in the central part of Newfoundland province. A LiDAR and imagery survey is expected shortly on the property, to be conducted by an expert geomatics team with over 40 years of industry experience across the globe.

Days earlier, the company learned that an electromagnetic (EM) survey was also ready to take place on the Stony Lake property, designed to better define the interpretation of the airborne magnetometer, radiometrics and VLF-EM survey previously conducted in 2019. The interpretation of that had already shown a significant structural trend crossing onto and continuing along the main axis of the property.

Golden Opportunity in Newfoundland

The Stony Lake property was recently acquired by K9 Gold through an option agreement while operating under its old name Global Vanadium Corp.

The company would earn a 75% interest in the project by making a series of cash payments and share issuances to District Copper Corp., with the remaining 25% interest earnable, by paying District $500,000 within the next three years and issuing 2 million shares.

While vanadium mining presented an attractive opportunity for the company given the burgeoning electric car battery industry, it has a good reason to direct full attention towards gold mining with this acquisition. The biggest factor in its decision? The geographical appeal of Stony Lake.

This 13,625-hectare property is conveniently situated within Central Newfoundland’s Cape Ray-Valentine Lake structural trend, sandwiched between two prominent gold discoveries in the region. To the northeast is the Moosehead project operated by Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SIC) (OTCQB: SICNF), while Marathon Gold Corp.’s (TSX: MOZ) flagship Valentine Lake project lies to the southwest (see map below).

In late September, Marathon filed its environmental impact statement for the Valentine project, where recent drilling returned high-grade results of 1.47 g/t Au over 111m, 14.39 g/t Au over 9m, and 4.25 g/t Au over 15m.

Another major gold discovery made headlines in the region last year when New Found Gold Corp., the largest claims holder in Newfoundland, announced one of the highest-grade gold intercepts ever drilled in the province at its Queensway project: a 19 m intercept of 92.86 g/t Au.

Stony Lake Exploration

On the Stony Lake property, an extensive field program had already been completed in 2019 focused on prospecting, mapping and sampling in identified target areas, along with a property-wide airborne magnetometer, radiometric and VLF survey to map bedrock lithologies, structural features and areas of structurally controlled potassic alteration.

Interpretation of results of the 2019 field program suggested that two separate styles of gold mineralization may occur on the property:

1. Widespread low-grade (0.5 to 4.0 g/t Au) mineralized quartz-feldspar porphyry, pyritic sandstone, quartz veins and quartz stockwork as seen exposed in the Silurian-age Botwood Group sediments;
2. A high-grade gold environment (up to 15 g/t Au), in the basement rocks below the Botwood sediments similar to the nearby Queensway project and the adjacent Moosehead discovery.

K9 Gold’s 2020 exploration plan will consist of further mapping and sampling to help define a preliminary drill program, beginning with an EM survey to confirm that the structural trend of the Sokoman’s Moosehead discovery does indeed cross onto Stony Lake, angling across the northern part of the property. According to the company, this appears to be a primary basement structure with multiple splays off it, which would become a high-priority exploration target in the basement below the Botwood Group.

This survey will cover the entire property at a 200-metre line spacing and will help to better define the interpretation of the airborne magnetometer, radiometrics and VLF-EM survey conducted in 2019.

Prior to the 2020 field season, airborne geophysical coverage, along with follow-up ground prospecting and sampling, has helped the company to identify as many as eight areas of highly anomalous to high-grade gold mineralization (15.05 g/t).

Thus, all ground work will be focused on these identified areas, hosted in quartz-feldspar porphyry, pyrite and arsenopyrite-bearing reduced sandstone, quartz stockworks and quartz veins.

But the work does not stop just there. The upcoming LiDAR survey will also help supplement ground mapping to extrapolate geomorphology and both regional and local geologic structures, leading to a more focused approach to mapping, sampling and prospecting programs.

Highly Anomalous Samples

Any optimism surrounding Stony Lake has been validated thus far.

Through an ongoing compilation of past exploration work on the property, K9 Gold has identified a large area with highly anomalous gold values in tills collected in 1989. These are clustered around the Island Pond – Moccasin Lake area in the central part of the property.

Calculated visible gold assays yielded 15 samples with values over 1,500 ppb Au, four of which recorded values of 11,787, 12,754, 14,092 and 19,502 ppb. An analysis of non-magnetic heavy mineral concentrates also yielded 16 samples with values better than 1,000 ppb, with four samples reported to be over 10,000 ppb, the upper detection limit.

K9 Gold Technical Team

With the amount of exploration work ahead, the company wasted no time in assembling an experienced team to help advance the Stony Lake project. It recently established a highly skilled technical advisory board with the addition of industry veterans Elmer B. Stewart and Chris Healey, who have accumulated over 90 years of industry experience combined.

Stewart, whose expertise spans gold, uranium, base metals and copper exploration, is the current head of Copper Fox Metals Inc., a North America-focused copper miner with multiple copper projects including the Van Dyke project in Arizona and the Schaft Creek joint venture in British Columbia with Teck Resources. During his career, he has already been involved in the development of two underground mines and the construction of three open-pit gold mines.

Likewise, Healey is no stranger in leading a project from early-stage exploration through development to production, having worked for both International Nickel Company (now Vale Limited) and Cameco Corporation – one of the world’s largest uranium producers. He has also served as the national president for the Geological Society of Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, with several papers published on resource and reserve evaluations under his name.

Commenting on the advisory board additions, K9 Gold CEO Jeff Poloni remarked that both Stewart and Healey have “extensive experience and deep knowledge” of the area hosting the Stony Lake project, and will be “a key piece to achieving success.”

Of course, the K9 Gold chief is also a highly regarded industry figure himself with over 30 years of experience working with gold projects across the Americas.

Conclusion

The Valentine Lake Trend may have been severely overlooked, as only a few areas around the world could match the blockbuster discovery at Queensway of 92.86 g/t Au over 19 m.

The Stony Lake project, given its extreme proximity and similarity to notable gold discoveries along a well-mineralized trend, represents everything an up-and-coming miner looks for in a successful exploration story. Such opportunities are few and far between.

This was also the chief reason for K9 Gold to transform from vanadium into something potentially bigger, especially under the current climate where precious metals have garnered more investor attention than ever before.

Companies such as New Found Gold and Marathon Gold have all found drilling success nearby, so there is no reason why K9 Gold cannot follow the same footsteps.

With financing already secured and exploration plans clearly “mapped out”, it seems like K9 Gold has more good news to deliver in the coming months.

k9 Gold Corp.
TSX.V:KNC, FSE:5GP, OTC:WDFCF
Cdn$0.41, 2020.10.10
Shares Outstanding 28,656,879m
Market cap Cdn$11.74m
K9 website

Richard (Rick) Mills
aheadoftheherd.com
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