JV Article: Latest drilling at Red Pine Exploration’s Wawa Gold Project extends existing deposits

When Red Pine Exploration (TSXV: RPX; US-OTC: RDEXF) reported recent results from its 2022 Phase 1 exploration program, it confirmed the potential to expand the existing gold resources at its flagship, 100%-owned Wawa Gold Project in the Michipicoten Greenstone Belt of Ontario.

Initial drilling and exploration at the Wawa Gold Project led to a discoveries of significant new gold mineralization at the company’s two deposits – Surluga and Minto Mine South.

Key to the latest drilling campaign is the intersections of zones of quartz veining, some with visible gold, in the geological structures targeted in the ongoing program. This includes new discoveries in the blue sky target Grace-Nyman gold system, host of the historical Darwin-Grace mine.

Red Pine drilling has now traced gold mineralization along the Grace Shear Zone over a total strike length of 650 metres and intersected gold 100 metres north of the historic mine. Red Pine also made a significant discovery in the Nyman Shear Zone. In the Nyman Shear Zone, approximately 300 metres up-dip from the lowest levels of the mine, Red Pine intersected mineralization grading 11.47 grams gold per tonne over 2.7 metres.

The ongoing drilling program also intersected high-grade gold mineralization in the Jubilee Shear Zone, Minto Mine Shear Zone and the newly identified networks of quartz veins, says Jean-Francois Montreuil, Red Pine’s vice-president of exploration.

Of significance, the exploration results are materializing the potential to expand the resources of the Surluga and Minto Mine South deposits. Also discovered were networks of quartz veins satellite to the Surluga Deposit that host significant mineralization. One of those quartz vein networks is the Sadowski Vein System (29.29 grams gold per tonne gold over 2 metres) and the other is the Surluga North Quartz Vein System (40.07 grams gold per tonne over 1.2 metres).

“The latest results point to an exploration target with attractive potential to develop high grade mineralization,” Haywood Securities analysts said in a Mar. 16, 2022 note to investors.

The progress at the Wawa Gold Project comes after a whirlwind year for Red Pine that included the consolidation of the ownership of the Wawa Gold Project, the acquisition of additional land to enlarge the property and renewed exploration to grow the gold resources of the project, says Montreuil.

“This influx of activity happens in conjunction with a period of rapid mine construction, expansion, as well as extensive gold exploration in Ontario’s prolific Michipicoten Greenstone Belt that now has a demonstrated potential to host world-class gold deposits.”

The Wawa Gold Project is a brownfield site in an underexplored extension of the rejuvenated Michipicoten Greenstone Belt of Canada’s prolific Abitibi gold province, with 8 historic gold mines dating back to the late 1800s. The property has hosted numerous gold mines with production of over 120,000 oz. and many structural corridors with potential for gold.

An August 2021 National Instrument 43-101 technical report on Wawa’s two mineral deposits outlined an estimated indicated resource of 230,000 oz.  gold (1.2 million tonnes grading 5.31 grams gold per tonne at Surluga and 105,000 tonnes grading 7.5 grams gold at Minto Mine South) and inferred resources of 471,000 oz. gold (2.4 million tonnes grading 5.2 grams gold at Surluga and 354,000 tonnes grading 6.6 grams gold at Minto Mine South).

The region has seen an influx of activity over the last few years, with Newmont, Iamgold, Alamos Gold, which holds 19.3% ownership in Red Pine, and Equinox making strategic moves. Newmont, the world’s No. 1 gold producer, achieved commercial production at its Borden mine in the Michipicoten region in 2019.

Sustainably focused

Red Pine recently published its inaugural ESG report, noting the company’s involvement in Surface Water Monitoring in the Parkhill and Darwin-Grace areas of the property for any run-off that may enter Trout Creek or eventually into the Michipicoten River System.

The ESG report’s mandate includes a mutually agreed upon consultation process to identify adverse impacts to First Nations, and engagement to establish a mutually beneficial, positive, and productive relationship.

“The initiation of the ESG process was a crucial aspect of Red Pine’s vision, as we commit ourselves to operating responsibly and remain accountable to the highest environmental, social and governance standards,” says president and CEO Quentin Yarie.

“The company is proud of its substantial first efforts to disclose our practices and performance in ESG in a formal context as we continue to competently advance our exploration program at the Wawa Gold Project.”

The preceding Joint Venture article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by Red Pine Exploration and produced in cooperation with MINING.COM. Visit www.redpineexp.com for more information.