McDonough Property

Despite the ideal setting with coincident geophysical and geochemical anomalies proximal to a regional unconformity where several mines of the Red Lake gold camp are situated, our first drilling program did not unlock this part of the Red Lake Camp's secrets,” Michael Romanik, president of GoldON. 

GoldON owns a 100% interest in the Property, subject to a 1.5% net smelter returns (NSR) royalty. Located 15 kilometres (km) north of the town of Red Lake, the 1,054-hectare Property is contiguous with Evolution Mining's Slate Bay gold property and straddles a regional unconformity that is a key structural relationship to many of the gold mines within the Red Lake Greenstone Belt (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Regional geological location of the McDonough property within the RLGB.

Work to date by GoldON has included a property-wide heliborne high-resolution magnetometer (MAG) survey by Prospectair Geosurveys and a subsequent data compilation and reinterpretation study by Orix Geosciences that incorporated the new MAG data with all known lithological and mineralogical information and structural measurements.

The result of the Orix study is a far better understanding of the geological and structural framework of the Property that is acutely demonstrated in the comparison of maps below (Figure 2) with the Regional Township Geology from the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) on the left and the new Orix mineralization integration on the right.

Figure 2: Comparison of geology with Ontario Geological Survey (left) versus Orix 2020 (right).

Results of the data compilation and reinterpretation study:

1. Good correlation of anomalous soil samples up to 253 ppb along the contact of an iron formation clast dominated conglomerate and intermediate to felsic volcanic suite at the intersection of NNE and NNW structures (Figure 3).
2. Two phases of deformation (D1 and D2) are identified in the surface reinterpretation causing F1 and F2 folds.
3. Late faults and shear zones dominantly strike NNW and NNE, crosscut and locally displace the early structures.
4. The presence of iron formation which has been broadly locally folded and displaced by late structure.
5. A wider range in lithological types and greater definition of contacts.

Figure 3: McDonough regional geology and structural interpretation with gold-in-soil sample results.

Follow-up work in 2021 included the completion of a 7.68 line-km induced polarization (IP) survey to test the chargeability and resistivity responses over gold-in-soil anomalies that were coincident with a regional unconformity.

The IP survey, interpreted by Dynamic Discovery Geoscience, defined 23 chargeable IP axes. The chargeable responses coincide very well with the McDonough gold-in-soil anomalies where A-horizon soil samples returned values from 2-229 ppb over an iron formation clast-supported conglomerate in an unconformable contact with mafic volcanics (Figure 4). The conglomerate belongs to the Huston Assemblage, which is proximal and associated with the Cochenour, Campbell, and Red Lake Mine Complex 15 km to the south.

Figure 4: McDonough IP anomaly axes over geology with gold-in-soil results and ~drill hole collar locations.

In 2023, the Company completed an eight-hole drilling program totaling 1,138 metres that targeted the IP chargeability anomalies, including some that had coincident A-horizon gold-in-soil anomalies. The results of the drilling were disappointing, with no significant assays returned.

Drilling confirmed the ground IP geophysical survey, which identified several chargeability anomalies and was successful in locating sulphides (pyrite) in intermediate volcanic and metasedimentary rocks. Pyrite occurred as disseminations and blebs within the groundmass in the intermediate volcanic rocks or replacing magnetite in the metasediment host rocks. However, drilling did not explain the A-horizon gold-in-soil anomalies.

The topography of the Property is relatively flat, with outcrop exposure of less than 10%. Much of the area has been logged over the last 15 years, leaving a network of trails with excellent access via Pine Ridge Road. Recent logging has provided even greater access to some of the key portions of the Property identified in the 2020 MAG survey.

GoldON owns a 100% interest in the McDonough property subject to a 1.5% net smelter returns (NSR) royalty held by EMX Royalty.

Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this webpage on behalf of the Company.