New gold discovery for Midland and Agnico-Eagle

Partners Midland Exploration (MD-V) and Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM-T, AEM-N) have found a shallow new gold zone in the northwestern part of the Maritime-Cadillac property in the Abitibi region of Quebec.

Drill hole 141-10-26 intersected an entirely new gold-bearing structure called V4 West  grading 8.6 grams gold per tonne over 5.5 metres from 383.1 to 388.6 metres, including an interval of 13.8 grams gold over 3.0 metres.

The Maritime-Cadillac property is south of the Lapa gold mine (Agnico-Eagle’s highest grade mine), along the Cadillac-Larder Lake Fault zone, a regionally extensive structure that is spatially related to numerous gold prospects and past producers including the historic Lake Shore, Macassa and Kerr Addison gold mines in Kirkland Lake and Larder Lake, Ontario. The Lapa gold mine is 11 km east of Agnico-Eagle’s LaRonde mine and 60 km west of its Goldex mine.

At the Maritime-Cadillac property, the new gold-bearing structure, intersected at a vertical depth of just 350 metres, is made up of a series of quartz-carbonate veinlets with minor pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization and locally, visible gold. The veinlets are injected in sheared ultramafic volcanic rocks and the potential of this new discovery remains wide open in all directions, Midland says.

Drill hole 141-10-24, completed about 100 metres below hole 141-10-23 (which intersected 1.7 grams gold over 37.85 metres including an interval grading 4.8 grams gold over 6.0 meters along the Dyke East-V3 structure),  returned 5.0 grams gold over 1.6 metres from 558.8 to 560.4 metres. This intersection corresponds to the Dyke East zone and is included in a wider anomalous interval grading 0.38 gram gold over 37.7 metres. Several other gold-bearing sections were obtained in the same drill hole, including 1.2 grams gold over 5.2 metres from 189.3 to 194.5 metres, and 1.7 grams gold over 2.7 metres from 205.0 to 207.7 metres.

Agnico-Eagle has started driving an exploration drift at a depth of 1,010 metres along an east-southeast direction from the Lapa mine that will provide access for underground drilling to test mineralization along favourable volcanic units.

The 970-metre-long exploration drift will follow the southern contact zone of the Cadillac-Larker Lake Break. The latter fault zone represents the main structural feature controlling gold deposits in the district.

Agnico-Eagle has earned a 50% undivided interest in the Maritime-Cadillac property and is conducting the exploration program. From fiscal 2006 to 2009, Agnico-Eagle paid $100,000 and completed $1 million of exploration work.

The gold company has the option to increase its interest in the property from 50% to 65% over a period of three years by solely financing a bankable feasibility study or by assuming all mining operations on the Maritime-Cadillac property, earning a 1% additional interest for every $1 million spent on the property (up to 15% by spending $15 million).  

Midland prefers to work in partnership with larger companies and intends to complete additional agreements on newly acquired properties. Its current partners include Agnico-Eagle Mines, Japan Oil, Gas, and Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC), Osisko Mining (OSK-T), North American Palladium (PDL-T, PAL-X), Zincore Metals (ZNC-T), and Soquem.