New Found Gold is advancing its 100% owned 1,662km2 Queensway gold project, located on the Trans-Canada highway 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland. To date, the Company has announced 18 zones of significant gold mineralization along the Appleton Fault Zone (AFZ). Recent discoveries add to the growing list of zones that make up the “AFZ Mineralized Envelope”. While untested gaps still exist within the envelope, this 4.1km long mineralized strike area averages 400m in width, and in some locations extends a full 500m from the fault.
The initial discovery hole was drilled in late 2019. NFGC-19-012 returned 19m of 92.9 g/t Au at the Keats Zone. The Lotto Zone was the second major discovery, located approximately 2km north of Keats, and provided a high-grade discovery hole of 41.2 g/t Au over 4.75m and 25.4 g/t Au over 5.15m (NFGC-20-172). In June 2021, New Found announced an interval of 430 g/t Au over 5.25m at the Golden Joint Zone (NFGC-21-2412), an area located between the Keats and Lotto Zones.
In September 2022, the Company discovered the first of several new high-grade gold zones located on the west side of the AFZ. Follow-up drilling at the Keats West Zone showed impressive gold intercepts including 42.6 g/t Au over 32.00m in NFGC-22-9603.
In March 2023, the announced discovery of the Iceberg Zone, located along the highly prolific Keats-Baseline Fault Zone (KBFZ). This is the same structure that hosts the Keats Main zone. Iceberg has provided significant intercepts including 105 g/t Au over 27.05m in NFGC-23-12101. The expanded Iceberg-Iceberg East segment is currently defined over a strike length of 665m, highlighting the continued strength of the gold system of the KFBZ.
Further north, three new zones were announced in May 2023. Monte Carlo, K2, and Everestextended the AFZ mineralized envelope to its current strike length of 4.1km. Monte Carlo occurs on the west side of the AFZ, adjacent to Lotto. Meanwhile, systematic grid drilling on the east side of the AFZ tagged into the Everest zone, with veins grading 36.7 g/t Au over 3.70m in NFGC-22-8882 and 28.7 g/t Au over 2.30m in NFGC-22-9303.
The K2 Zone, located 725m north of Lotto, is also on the west side of the AFZ, north of Monte Carlo. This zone saw extensive drilling in 2023. The “K2 Main” structure is a low-angle gold-bearing fault zone starting at surface, that dips 40° to the south and shares a similar orientation to Keats West. Several of the cross-cutting veins located in this zone are high-grade in nature, including 40.0 g/t Au over 2.45m in NFGC-23-18683 and 29.0 g/t Au over 2.85m in NFGC-23-16351.
Two additional high-grade, at-surface discoveries were made north of the Lotto Zone in late 2023. The first is Jackpot, intercepting 95.7 g/t Au over 3.25m at NFGC-23-12921. This new discovery is at a vertical depth of just 20m and is located 280m east of the AFZ.
Marking the first discovery of 2024, New Found announced the Honeypot Zone located 230m north of Jackpot. High-grade intercepts include 26.4 g/t Au over 7.65m in NFGC-23-18101, and 23.1 g/t Au over 5.25m in NFGC-23-19312. Gold found at Honeypot is hosted within a primary fault that has been drill-defined over a strike length of 280m and to a depth of 190m. The high-grade domain shows good continuity and appears to strengthen at depth.
The company is in the midst of an industry-leading 3D seismic survey at Queensway North. The program was announced in March 2023 and acquisition began on June 25, 2023. The acquisition phase was completed in August 2023, with data analysis is currently underway. Much of the 2024 drilling will be designed to target prospective areas both peripheral to and beneath the current mineralized zones defined to date by New Found along the Appleton North Corridor. Drilling will also occur along the parallel JBP Fault Zone, located 5km to the east.
In addition to exploration at Queensway North, the Company is continuing with a targeted follow-up drill campaign along with grassroots exploration work at Queensway South for the remainder of the 2024 season.
For more information on the Queensway project, please see our corporate presentation.