Warrior Gold is in the business of exploring for precious mineral resources with a focus on the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Northern Ontario.
By Danièle Spethmann and Joanne Jobiin
Warrior Gold Inc. (TSX-V WAR) (formerly Champagne Resources Limited and War Eagle Mining) holds a 100-per cent interest in the Goodfish Kirana Property located five kilometres north of the Town of Kirkland Lake, Ont. The property is located in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt, recognized as one of the world’s richest and highest-grade greenstone belts with over 200 million ounces of gold produced to date and, more specifically, in the historic Kirkland Lake Gold Camp, where over 40 million ounces of gold have been produced.
The Goodfish Kirana Property is 10 kilometres long by three km wide (34 square kilometres) and contains two major structural trends: the East-West trending Kirana Deformation Zone (approximately eight kilometres) and the North-Northeast trending Goodfish Deformation Zone (approximately two kilometres). The Goodfish Kirana Property contains numerous high-grade gold showings. Eighteen historic exploration pits and shafts, including the Goodfish Mine (1930s) and the Kirana Kirkland Mine (1900s), are identified within the claim limits. In 1936, the Northern Miner reported that a half rail car of ore grading 1.25 oz/ton Au was taken from a 30-foot pit on the Goodfish-patented claims to the Cobalt for processing. The Goodfish patents were worked from early 1900s to 1938, then laid dormant for first 54 years. The claims were last explored in 1992. The Property represents a first-time consolidation of nine different mineral packages and landowners. Modern exploration technologies have not been applied to the Property and exploration has not been targeted below 200 metres depth.
In July 2018, Warrior Gold announced the purchase of the Deloye claims, consisting of eight patented mining claims (122 hectares), bringing the current Goodfish Kirana land package to 3,418 hectares. The Deloye claims consist of four claims with mineral and surface rights and four with mineral rights only. The Deloye claims contain the old shafts and trenches of the historical Kirana Kirkland Lake Gold Mine, which stopped production in 1936. Historic grades of 30 g/t Au to 145 g/t Au from around Shaft 1 have been reported, and this ground has never been explored below 120 metres. Additionally, the Deloye claims host the intersection of the Goodfish and the Kirana Deformation Zones. Exploration work on this ground was last conducted in the 1980s.
Prior to Warrior Gold’s consolidation of the land package, many companies and individuals have worked different claim blocks within the land package with positive results. A few of the best drilling results found (compiled from assessment reports in the NI 43-101 “Report on the Goodfish-Kirana Property, Bernhardt, Teck, Lebel and Morrisette Townships”, GeoVector Management Inc. January 2018) include 16.97 g/t Au over 12.65 metres (1990s) on the Goodfish patents; 234 g/t Au over 0.61 metres (1996) on the Link claim block; and 46.8 g/t Au over 0.34 metres on the Sutton claims. Some of the work completed by Warrior Gold includes a property-wide LiDAR survey in late 2015 and a 20-man day prospecting program in late 2016 that produced impressive results over 1.2 kilometres of strike along the Goodfish trend, including three samples over 50 g/t Au: 220 g/t Au, and 143 g/t Au and 53.3 g/t Au.
Warrior Gold continues to compile historic data, construct a 3D model of the Goodfish zone and add data to the first structural interpretation of the land package. The company is currently undertaking an exploration program that includes following up on 2016 prospecting results, mapping, trenching and ground truthing geophysical targets with the aim to better define drill targets for a late 2018 and early 2019 drilling program.
The company is pleased to have received the support of the Junior Exploration Assistant Program (JEAP) from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) and the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA) during the challenging past several years as markets have been less than supportive of early stage exploration projects. The JEAP funding grant has been critical in advancing the project assisting with the costs associated with exploration work.
New name, new look
On Feb. 9, 2018, Champagne Resources Limited, a private company, merged with War Eagle Mining. Effective Sept. 28, 2018, the company changed its name and began trading Oct. 1, 2018, under the new name, Warrior Gold Inc. The company also adopted a new logo, reflecting its past history and the communities in which it operates.
