Wels is underlain by metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the White River Formation that have been intruded by a series of Triassic gabbroic sills, and Cretaceous granitic plugs. This package has been cut by a series of WNW trending structures that host alteration and gold mineralization. Mineralization is noted in all rock types observed on the property to date and is associated with quartz veining, brecciation, and sericite alteration with anomalous As, Sb, and, locally, visible gold. All mineralized trends remain open along strike and approximately 80% of the property is unexplored.
Target Areas:
Saddle Target
At the Saddle target diamond drilling conducted in 2015 and 2017 delineated a WNW-trending, N-dipping corridor of high-grade gold mineralization over 130m of strike with highlights including 3.53 g/t Au over 19.5m (DDH15-01) and 10.38 g/t Au over 6m (DDH17-08). The 2022 Mag-VLF survey identified a prominent untested WNW-trending VLF anomaly just 90m north of the surface expression of the Saddle gold anomalism. The anomaly extends for >850m and is coincident with high-grade soil samples returning values of 479 ppb Au, 325 ppb Au, and 262 ppb Au, all of which are found north (uphill) of the historically drilled and trenched mineralization at Saddle. The anomaly may represent a controlling structure focused along the contact between the Saddle granite, which hosts all known mineralization at Saddle, and Paleozoic quartzite and schist. The contact was not intersected by historic drilling and remains fully untested.
Chai Target
Chai is located 1km south of Saddle and is hosted by quartzite, minor siltstone, and gabbro, with local carbonate alteration and pyrite-arsenopyrite mineralization. Trench 19-T3 returned 0.64 g/t Au over 36m including 1.2 g/t Au over 15m at the southernmost end of the 71.5m long north-south-oriented trench. The 2022 Mag-VLF survey has identified two prominent WNW-trending VLF anomalies, with a 700m long, ~100m wide anomaly directly coincident with the trenched mineralization, and a second, 350m long subparallel anomaly coincident with a 112 ppb Au soil anomaly. The northern anomaly is located just 35m north of the northern limit of the 2019 trench. The Chai Target is undrilled.
Gunpowder Target
Located approximately 1km northwest of Chai and 1.2km southwest of Saddle, Gunpowder is predominately hosted by gabbro and returned grab samples grading up to 28.2 g/t Au in 2017 prospecting. Grab and trench sampling 15m and 215m to the south, respectively, returned values of 13.6 g/t Au and 2 g/t Au. No controls on mineralization were known previously. The Mag-VLF survey has identified a very prominent NW-trending VLF anomaly coincident with what is now considered the main trend of mineralization at Gunpowder, as well as a secondary NW-trend which begins at the site of a 796 ppb Au soil sample and 2.2 g/t Au rock grab sample.
Newly Identified Matcha Target
The Matcha Target was identified through the 2022 Mag-VLF survey as a roughly NW-trending VLF anomaly adjacent to soil samples which historically returned 202 ppb Au and 105 ppb Au. The target is located 1.1km west of Chai and 2km southwest of Saddle. A small splay off the VLF anomaly just southeast of the main anomaly is coincident with a minor gold-in-soil anomaly with values ranging from 20-117 ppb Au. The target has not seen any exploration work subsequent to initial pass soil sampling.
Pekoe Target
At the Pekoe Target, located 1.3km northwest of Saddle, trenching in 2019 identified two distinct zones of mineralization separated by approximately 300m. Trenches 19-T1a and 19-T1b returned 2.15 g/t Au over 8m and 0.8 g/t Au over 7.6m within quartz-carbonate veined and altered gabbro with arsenopyrite +/- pyrite and chalcopyrite. Trench 19-T2 at Pekoe returned 0.12 g/t Au over 33.5m within Saddle-type granite. The Mag-VLF survey has identified multiple NW and WNW-trending VLF anomalies in the region, with a prominent >800m long WNW-trending anomaly observed to correlate directly with granite-hosted mineralization in trench 19-T2 and significant gold-in-soil results on trend, with values to 239 ppb Au. The anomaly appears to be open to the west, beyond the limit of the 2022 survey, and corresponds with a large break in topography. A second parallel anomaly is observed 350m to the north, where soil sampling returned results to 177 ppb Au along a WNW-trending ridge. Gabbro-hosted mineralization observed in trenches 19-T1a and 19-T1b is found adjacent to a prominent magnetic high.
Next Steps
Based on the exceptional results of the 2022 Mag-VLF survey, the Company intends to prepare and submit a Class 3 exploration permit for further advanced exploration at the Wels Project in the 2023 season, including additional surface work and a property-wide drilling program to test drill targets identified by the 2022 Mag-VLF survey and previous exploration work.
