Historic Exploration

Gold mineralization on the Fenelon property was first intersected by Cyprus Canada in 1988. Between 1998 and 2004 the Discovery Zone (now the Fenelon Gold deposit) on the adjacent Fenelon Mine property underwent extensive drill testing (>300 drill holes), open-pit bulk sampling and initial underground test mining. In 2004, then operator International Taurus Resources Inc. was forced into near-bankruptcy while preparing the property for underground production. Over 95% of the historic drilling in the area was conducted on the adjacent Fenelon Mine property.

Limited drilling on Balmoral’s Fenelon property mainly tested for extensions to the Discovery Zone, which is gabbro hosted, and on testing a number of other gabbro bodies or magnetic highs around the property. Approximately 30, generally widely-spaced drill holes were collared on the property prior to 2010 when the property was acquired by Balmoral with narrow gold-bearing intercepts being reported in most of the holes located proximal to the Sunday Lake deformation zone.

Since 2016 neighbour Wallbridge Mining has worked at refurbishing and expanding the underground access to the Fenelon Gold deposit and in 2019 completed additional underground bulk sampling of the narrow high-grade veins occurring above the 125 metre vertical level at the deposit. Subsequent drilling to date has failed to demonstrate any significant potential to extend the deposit to depth, but has led to the discovery of a gold mineralized corridor to the west – the Area 51 corridor – which remains under evaluation by both Balmoral and Wallbridge.