News release for the shorts who missed it
New Found Gold drills 2 m of 89.5 g/t Au at Lotto
2022-06-08 09:42 ET - News Release
Mr. Collin Kettell reports
NEW FOUND INTERCEPTS 89.5 G/T AU OVER 2.00M IN NEW "TUESDAY" ZONE DISCOVERY AT LOTTO
New Found Gold Corp. has identified a new high-grade gold discovery located at the Lotto prospect. This hole was drilled as part of a continuing systematic grid drilling program to test along the highly prospective regional-scale Appleton Fault zone (AFZ). New Found's 100-per-cent-owned Queensway project comprises an approximately 1,500-square-kilometre area, accessible via the Trans-Canada Highway approximately 15 km west of Gander, Nfld.
Highlight
TUESDAY DRILLING HIGHLIGHT Hole No. From (m) To (m) Interval (m)(1) Au (g/t) NFGC-22-552 87.95 89.95 2.00 89.5 Including 88.35 88.75 0.40 442 1. Note that the host structures are interpreted to be steeply dipping and true widths are unknown at this time. Infill veining in secondary structures with multiple orientations crosscutting the primary host structures are commonly observed in drill core which could result in additional uncertainty in true width. Composite intervals reported carry a minimum weighted average of one g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of two m with a maximum of two m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au. Grades have not been capped in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness.
- At the Lotto prospect, drill testing in the area between the Lotto Main vein and the AFZ, intersected a new high-grade zone that returned 89.5 grams per tonne gold over two m in NFGC-22-552 that is 55 m below surface, named the Tuesday zone.
- The Tuesday zone is located in a similar stratigraphic position as the Sunday zone which is 80 m north in the footwall to the AFZ where hole NFGC-20-44 returned 18.1 g/t Au over 6.50 m (see Jan. 14, 2021, news release), and NFGC-21-319 returned 23.1 g/t Au over 2.05 m (see March 24, 2022, news release). The new Tuesday zone is interpreted to comprise part of the network of high-grade veins and associated faults developed within the footwall to the AFZ occurring at an intersection between two differently oriented vein trends with mineralization remaining open in all directions.
Melissa Render, vice-president of exploration for New Found, stated: "The ongoing systematic drill testing along this well-mineralized Keats-Lotto segment of the AFZ continues to identify very gold-rich epizonal-style vein networks. Gold-bearing structures propagate in differing orientations throughout a more than 200-metre-wide corridor of rock adjacent to the AFZ. The extent of this fracture zone is not well constrained by drilling to date, but many lengths of untested structure are interpreted in the volume defined so far, and these are currently being targeted by drilling, particularly focused on near-surface gold mineralization. The Lotto Main vein located further east remains an important open-ended high-grade gold target with drills currently working to define its extent along strike to the north."
Discussion
Mineralization at the Queensway project is hosted by a fold-thrust sequence of northeast-striking, steeply dipping turbiditic sedimentary rocks deposited and deformed and fractured during the closure of the Iapetus Ocean and subsequent continent-continent collision. During this prolonged period of continued shortening, at least two regional-scale deformation zones developed and include the AFZ and JBP fault zones. The AFZ is interpreted to be a significant, deep-seated thrust fault, that strikes southwest across the full more than 100 km length of the property and is likely the main conduit for the gold mineralizing fluids, much like the Cadillac-Larder Lake Fault zone in the Abitibi.
As a result of progressive deformation, the brittle host stratigraphy developed an extensive network of gold-bearing fault zones enveloping the AFZ, the extents of which are not yet known. This structural relationship demonstrates the currently defined vein and associated fault orientations based on structural interpretation and drilling to date along the one-kilometre corridor from Keats to Lotto. Higher grades and widths of gold mineralization occur in areas where there was greater mineralizing fluid flow such as at structural intersections, at dilational openings within fault structures, and along lithological contacts where breakage occurs due to rheological differences in the compressional strength of contrasting sedimentary rock units. A significant amount of the high-grade gold mineralization intercepted in drilling to date is interpreted to be epizonal in nature, having been emplaced when tectonic movements resulted in the explosive tapping of deep gold-rich magmatic fluids that rapidly precipitated gold as they migrated toward surface.
Drill hole details
SUMMARY OF COMPOSITE RESULTS REPORTED IN THIS RELEASE FOR TUESDAY ZONE Hole No. From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) NFGC-22-552 87.95 89.95 2.00 89.5 Including 88.35 88.75 0.40 442
Queensway 400,000-metre drill program update
Approximately 48% of the planned 400,000m program at Queensway has been drilled to date with ~21,700 of the core with pending assay results. Twelve core rigs are currently operating and New Found is targeting an increase in the drill count to 14 rigs.
Sampling, Sub-sampling, Laboratory, and Discussion
True widths of the intercepts reported in this press release have yet to be determined and further exploration is required. Infill veining in secondary structures with multiple orientations crosscutting the primary host structures are commonly observed in drill core which could result in additional variability in true width. Assays are uncut, and composite intervals are calculated using a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2m with a maximum of 2m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au.
All drilling recovers HQ core. Drill core is split in half using a diamond saw or a hydraulic splitter for rare intersections with incompetent core.
A professional geologist examines the drill core and marks out the intervals to be sampled and the cutting line. Sample lengths are mostly 1.0 meter and adjusted to respect lithological and/or mineralogical contacts and isolate narrow (<1.0m) veins or other structures that may yield higher grades. Once all sample intervals have been chosen, photos of the wet and dry core are taken for future reference.
Technicians saw the core along the defined cut-line. One-half of the core is kept as a witness sample and the other half is submitted for crushing, pulverizing, and assaying. Individual sample bags are sealed and placed into shipping pails and/or nylon shipping bags, sealed, and marked with the contents.
Drill core samples are shipped to ALS Canada Ltd. ("ALS") for sample preparation in Sudbury, Ontario, Thunder Bay, Ontario, or Moncton, New Brunswick; an ISO-17025 accredited laboratory. ALS operates under a commercial contract with New Found.
The entire sample is crushed to approximately 70% passing 2mm. A 3,000-g split is pulverized. "Routine" samples do not have visible gold ("VG") identified and are not within a mineralized zone. Routine samples are assayed for gold by 50-g fire assay with an inductively-couple plasma spectrometry ("ICP") finish. If the initial 50g fire assay gold result is over 1 g/t, the remainder of the 3,000g split is screened at 106 microns for screened metallics assay. For the screened metallics assay, the entire coarse fraction (sized greater than 106 microns) is fire assayed and two splits of the fine fraction (sized less than 106 microns) are fire assayed. The three assays are combined on a weight-averaged basis.
Samples that have VG identified or fall within a mineralized interval are automatically submitted for screened metallic assay for gold.
All sample pulps are also analyzed for a multi-element ICP package (ALS method code ICP61).
Drill program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control, and interpretation of results are performed by qualified persons employing a rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with industry best practices. Standards and blanks account for a minimum of 10% of the samples in addition to the laboratory's internal quality assurance programs.
Quality Control data are evaluated on receipt from the laboratories for failures. Appropriate action is taken if assay results for standards and blanks fall outside allowed tolerances. All results stated have passed New Found's quality control protocols.
New Found's quality control program also includes submission of the second half of the core for approximately 2% of the drilled intervals. In addition, approximately 3% of sample pulps for mineralized samples are submitted for re-analysis to a second ISO-accredited laboratory for check assays.
The Company does not recognize any factors of drilling, sampling, or recovery that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.
The assay data disclosed in this news release have been verified by the Company's Qualified Person against the original assay certificates.
The Company notes that it has not completed any economic evaluations of its Queensway Project and that the Queensway Project does not have any resources or reserves.
Qualified Person
The technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Greg Matheson, P. Geo., Chief Operating Officer, and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Matheson consents to the publication of this news release dated June 8, 2022, by New Found. Mr. Matheson certifies that this news release fairly and accurately represents the information for which he is responsible.
About New Found Gold Corp.
New Found holds a 100% interest in the Queensway Project, located 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland, and just 18km from Gander International Airport. The project is intersected by the Trans-Canada Highway and has logging roads crosscutting the project, high voltage electric power lines running through the project area, and easy access to a highly skilled workforce. The Company is currently undertaking a 400,000m drill program at Queensway, now approximately 48% complete. The Company is well funded for this program with cash and marketable securities of approximately $87 million as of June 2022.
We seek Safe Harbor.