Wesdome expands high-grades at Kiena, studies second mine potential
Wesdome Gold Mines (TSX: WDO) had a successful 2024 exploration program at the Kiena gold mine near Val d’Or, Quebec. Not only has the high-grade mineralization been extended, but there are reasons to consider a second mine at the site. Uncapped assays ran as high as 1,920 grams per tonne over 0.8 metre.
“This year’s exploration budget for Kiena of over C$20 million covered surface and underground expansion, infill and delineation drilling totaling more than 70,000 metres,” said Wesdome CEO Anthea Bath.
“This robust program has yielded impressive results across various zones at Kiena, underscoring its prospectivity and long-term potential,” she added.
The first of the underground intersections reported was the Kiena Deep Footwall zone of mineralization at grades above the current resource:
- 218.9 g/t gold over 22.1 metre core length, including 988 g/t gold over 1.0 metre and 1,920 g/t gold over 0.8 metre;
- 49.7 g/t gold over 13.5 metres core length; and 18.1 g/t gold over 1.6 metres.
Follow-up drilling at the Kiena Deep Extension also returned high grades: 84.3 g/t gold over 5 metres core length.
Core from the Wish Area zone assayed 26.3 g/t gold over 3.5 metres core length. The hole was aimed at the down-plunge extension.
The Northwest zone unexpectedly cut high-grade mineralization to the north while targeting the zone at depth. Assays returned 93.0 g/t gold over 2.9 metres core length.
Three areas of near-surface potential were reported as well.
Infill drilling at the Presqu’île zone assayed 61.1 g/t gold over 3.0 metres and 33.0 g/t gold over 2.6 metres core length.
The Dubuisson zone infill and down-plunge drilling confirmed the continuity of the zone. Three holes returned 9.5 g/t gold over 3.2 metres, 18.1 g/t gold over 5.9 metres and 9.1 g/t gold over 19.5 metres core length.
Drilling also improved the understanding of the historical Duchesne zone. Assays included 24.4 g/t gold over 3.2 metres.