MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. [BMK-TSXV; MCDMF-OTC] rallied in active trading Monday December 9 after the company released new drilling results from its Scadding Powerline Jovan (SPJ) property near Sudbury, Ontario where the company has previously intersected high-grade gold.
The latest results are from four holes of its now completed fall 2019 drilling program. The company said results are highlighted by hole SM-19-022 with the discovery of a significant zone of near-surface gold mineralization north of the Scadding East-West Pit. That drill hole returned 7.99 g/t gold over 26.2 metres, including 10.98 g/t gold over 4.98 metres and 11.54 g/t gold over 13.24 metres at a depth of 16 to 42 metres.
MacDonald said 25 holes have been completed with nine holes reported to date. The remaining 16 holes are being processed and assay results will be announced as they are received.
MacDonald shares advanced on the news, rising 6.0% or $0.05 to $0.09 on volume of 2.75 million, making it the most actively traded stock on the TSX Venture Exchange on Monday. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $0.025 and 21 cents.
Based in Toronto, MacDonald is focused on precious metals exploration, primarily in Ontario. The company has a 100% interest in the SPJ property, which covers 10,000 hectares, and is located in a polymetallic gold district that remains under explored.
The historic Scadding Mine, located on the SPJ property, produced 144,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 7.43 g/t gold. The Norstar Mine, located within 500 metres of the Jovan property, produced 63,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 7.2 g/t gold.
In a November 19, 2019 news release, MacDonald said it had expanded its current 2,000-metre drilling program with plans to drill an additional 7,500 metres at SPJ.
“Based on the positive results to date, MacDonald’s objective is to continue to expand the footprint and the extent of the high-grade gold mineralization around the Scadding Mine deposit and further explore regional targets, well beyond the mine area, where current and historic prospecting exhibit significant gold, copper, cobalt, and nickel showings that may be indicative of a much larger gold-rich iron-oxide-copper-gold system at work in the region,” said MacDonald President and CEO Quentin Yarie in the November 19 news release.
The structures targeted [by the 2019 fall drilling program] include those associated with gold mineralization in the North, South, and E-W pits of the Scadding Mine, the Scadding Underground Mine, the Villeneuve discovery, the historic New Zone located between the Scadding Mine and the E-W Pit, and a historic pit located between the New Zone and E-W Pit. Evidence of chlorite alteration associated with gold mineralization was observed in all the completed drill holes, the company said in Monday’s press release.
“Our 2019 drilling program shows that significant zones of near-surface, high-grade gold mineralization are present beyond the original footprint of the historic operations of the Scadding Deposit,” Yarie said.
“Having successfully completed the first phase of our diamond drilling program at Scadding, we will now finalize the logging of all remaining drill holes, update our geological model of the deposit and define the next targets for the budgeted early 2020 diamond drilling program” he said.