Opus One Gold has released the initial assay results from its winter drilling programme at the Noyell property in the Abitibi greenstone belt in Quebec, Canada.
Drilling began in mid-January, encountering delays due to personnel and mechanical issues, alongside harsh winter conditions.
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Once these challenges were resolved, four rigs operated at full capacity, with three focusing on Zone 1 definition drilling and one on exploration in the West Zone, located 3km west of Zone 1.
The drilling programme is expected to achieve a total of 12,000m out of the initially planned 14,000m.
Assay results received so far are solely from Zone 1, as West Zone drilling began later.
Hole NO-26-01 tested Zone 1’s eastern extension, yielding 0.42 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 2.43m, showing a weakening trend.
Hole NO-26-02, drilled deeper nearby, returned 0.16g/t gold over 5m for Zone 1 and 0.53g/t gold over 2m for Zone 2.
Hole NO-26-03 focused west of Zone 1, with Zone 1 yielding 1.11g/t gold over 5.4m.
Hole NO-26-04, drilled 125m below, provided 0.59g/t gold over 3.01m from Zone 1 and 0.76g/t gold over 2.55m from Zone 2.
In-fill hole NO-26-05 intersected Zone 1 at a depth of 400m, showing 2.64g/t gold over 7.45m, confirming the strength along Zone 1’s main ore shoot. Zone 2 returned 0.38g/t gold over 3.74m.
Silver grades across all holes remained low comparable to gold grades.
Currently, the drill rigs are set for demobilisation as weather conditions change.
The drilling will continue into April due to the extended winter, a rare occurrence.
Opus One plans to complete the programme and analyse the drilling data to refine the geological model of Zone 1.
Preliminary West Zone observations suggest a different geological setting involving volcanic, intrusive and sedimentary rocks, unlike the mostly sediment-hosted Zone 1.
Further analysis is required to determine its relationship with Zone 1 and 2.
Opus One CEO Louis Morin said: “It has been a very challenging drilling season. The formidable level of exploration activity in Abitibi created a major shortage of experienced personnel, the latter moving from one drilling company to another, forcing management to hire marginal people who brought with them more problems than solutions.
“Thanks to an excellent collaboration from our drill contractor, these issues were finally resolved and, at the end, most of the planned drilling will be completed. The geological picture as well offered some challenges as our drilling is moving away from areas that are better known.”
