Nov 8 2018
Imperial Mining Group Ltd. ("Imperial") is pleased to report on encouraging results from a recent Induced Polarization survey on Imperial’s 100% owned Opawica Gold project in the Abitibi region of northwestern Québec.
The geophysical survey program was focused on confirming Imperial’s theory that the Central Gold Zone continued westward beyond its previously-defined western limits. Historical drilling from the Central Gold Zone returned up to 6.9 g/t gold (Au) over 3.8 m and 87.7 g/t Au over 1.5 m over a strike length of 350 m. All drilling was above the 150 m vertical level. No geophysical anomalies had previously been detected over the western part of the property, probably due to deep overburden cover.
“Strong geological similarities to the historical Joe Mann Gold Mine environment to the east of the property and the presence of strong geophysics west, north and south of known gold mineralization provides Imperial with very attractive new gold targets,” said Imperial’s President & CEO, Peter Cashin. “The Opawica geophysical survey data has confirmed that the IP signature that defines the known gold and silver mineralized structure on the property continues westward for at least 1.7 km and remains untested. The Joe Mann Mine produced nearly one million ounces of gold and byproduct copper since the 1950s at an average grade of 8-10 g/t gold, one of the highest-grade gold mines in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.”
The Opawica gold property is located 20 km east of Desmaraisville and is accessible via Highway 113 from Val d’Or to Chibougamau, Quebec, and by a network of forestry roads.
The work program completed on the property consisted of 30 line-km of line-cutting, 26 line-km of high-resolution Ore Vision™ 3-D induced polarization (3D-IP) geophysics on the known high-grade gold-bearing Central Zone. The survey was executed by Abitibi Geophysics of Val d’Or, Quebec and was supported by a member of the local Waswanipi Cree Community. Crews were mobilized to the property in early-October and the survey was completed late October 2018.
The results confirmed that the structure hosting the Central Gold Zone, defined as a first-priority target by Abitibi Geophysics, continues westward for at least 1.7 km from what was historically considered to be the main area of interest for gold on the property. In addition, parallel, second priority targets north and south of the main gold structure were identified by the geophysics and remain to be drill tested.
Drilling of these new geophysical targets is currently being planned for 2019.
Historical Exploration
The Central Gold Zone is defined as a NE-striking, 75-100 m wide deformation corridor hosting several highly altered shear zones. The shear zones are mineralized with quartz-carbonate-sulphide veins and veinlets containing strong gold and silver values with occasional visible gold (“VG”).
The Opawica property lies within a major regional NE-SW deformation corridor that hosts several gold occurrences and some gold producers, including the historical Joe Mann mine (historical past-production 4.8Mt @ 7.56 g/t Au) and the current Bachelor Lake mine (historical past-production 870,000t @ 4.66 g/t Au) located 90km to the east and 20km to the west, respectively. The property straddles a major geological contact between the mafic volcanic rocks of the Obatogamau Formation and the felsic volcanic rocks of the Wachigabau Member. This contact is host to a 75-100 m wide deformation corridor consisting of several shear zones showing strong, pervasive carbonate, sericite, and fuchsite alteration.
The technical content in this press release was provided and certified by Pierre Guay, P. Geo., Imperial's Vice-President, Exploration, a Geologist and Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
Source: https://www.imperialmgp.com/news-releases/news/2018/imperial-mining-geophysics-confirms-westward-continuation-of-the-central-gold-zone-structure-opawica-project-northwestern-quebec/