HEMLO
Barrick Gold continues to expand its operations at the Hemlo Williams Mine and open pit, situated approximately 35 kilometres east of Marathon, Ontario. Although the Hemlo mine complex has produced over 22,000,000 ounces of gold in the past 30 years, there appear to be continuous opportunities at the mine for many years of ongoing production based on statements from Barrick Gold during 2017.
Tashota completed field work on its Hemlo South, Hemlo North, Hemlo West and Hemlo Pinegrove properties in the summer and fall of 2017, including; trenching, increasing road access, and sampling. This work was done in preparation for drilling operations to be performed in 2018.
Tashota's Hemlo South claims (3,318 acres) are situated within 1,100 metres of Barrick’s Williams Mine open pit and Hemlo West claims (11,000+ acres) situated approximately 2.5 kilometres west of the Williams open pit.
Of particular importance is the anticipated work that Barrick is expected to complete during 2018, especially if they expand the mine to the north and west, as this area contains interpreted shear zones that appear to run east-west through Tashota's Hemlo West property as illustrated in the map below.
Barrick’s 2017 announcements and graphics on Hemlo suggest they intend to expand to the west and north of the open pit and William’s shaft, as illustrated by their statement in their VRS Case Study, wherein they mention having (1) doubled their Hemlo property footprint, removing mining and tailing storage constraints, (2) during 2016 conducted a Comprehensive Hemlo Geological Study, and (3) determined that, based on the study and field work, concluded that the future of Hemlo would be “Go West, go deep, automate”. Here Barrick Operations and Technical Update.
This decision by Barrick bodes well for Tashota since the companies’ Hemlo West claims appear to be directly in the path of Barrick’s proposed work program for 2018 through 2021.
Of particular geological interest are the interpreted (by Kaminak Gold) three (3) shear zones that appear to run east-west through the upper section of the open pit (SZ1), as well direct north of the open pit and Williams shaft (SZ2).
Previous work on Hemlo West by other companies has substantiated that there are gold showings on the property, suggested by both sampling and minor shallow drilling.
Management of Tashota is well positioned to take advantage of any and all news emanating out of Barrick’s Hemlo camp in 2018 and as a result intends to drill the Hemlo West property during 2018, following developments announced by Barrick on their ongoing work program.
SHEBANDOWAN
As previously mentioned in an earlier news release, the Shebandowan Gold Camp (SGC) has taken on a new life in the past two (2) years. Especially during 2017 there has been continuous field work and drilling by Wesdome Mines (WDO:T), situated approximately 7 kilometres southeast of our Larose property.
Also, Kesselrun Resources (KES: V) having acquired the former Huronian Mine property, adjacent to Larose, has reported very encouraging results from their summer-fall field work, including channel sample results of 7.7 g/t Au, 23.9 g/t Ag over 3.1 metres. KES also extended their Trench 2 Zone, that yield excellent samples of 99.2 g/t gold and 42.9 g/t at T2SW.
Of particular interest was Kesselrun’s field program consisting of ongoing prospecting, and structural mapping guided by an Umanned Aerial Vehicle (“UAV”) magnetic gradiometry survey over the target area. The results of the UAV magnetic survey led to an interpretation of the location of the Huronian Shear Zone, different from previous interpretations.
This new interpretation as outlined on their website map, illustrates a New Shear Zone Interpretation, with a north-east orientation. A new shear zone with the same orientation, containing high grade gold mineralization, was discovered at the Alexander Trench on Tashota’s Larose property during the fall of 2017.
"The Larose property is underlain by Precambrian sedimentary rocks. Gold exploration in the Canadian Shield has traditionally focussed on areas of volcanic rock, and many hundreds of millions of ounces have been mined from gold deposits in volcanics. However, the potential of Precambrian sedimentary rocks to host gold mineralization is slowly being recognized. To illustrate, the latest two new gold mines in Canada - Goldcorp's Éléonore and Osisko's Malartic mine - are both hosted in sedimentary rocks. The Larose property, because of its sedimentary geology, has been largely ignored by prospectors and exploration companies, with the result that there are discoveries waiting to be made. The Alexander trench was found during a 10-day prospecting program in 2017, and illustrates the emerging potential of this important property"
The map above illustrates the October 2017 highlights of work on the Larose and Echo/Ridge (50%) property, which reinforces the belief that Larose has great potential. The grades of 30.6 g/t, 50.9 g/t and 32.4 g/t Au, further illustrate the potential of the Larose Shear Zone (LSZ) and surrounding area.
Management is presently preparing a drill program for early 2018 on the Larose property to follow up on previous drill work during 2017 that resulted in an “unexpected” high grade gold bearing zone including 5.65 grams of gold per tonne (g/T Au) over 3.00 metres from 42.00 to 45.00 metres downhole, including 0.50 metres of 27.69 g/t Au.
Management is pleased to provide previously unannounced hi-grade samples recently taken at Larose by Resident Geologists from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines [MNDM] - which included; 1.76 oz/t, 1.63 oz/t, 5.058 oz/t, 3.216 oz/t, from P1West -including 2.36 oz/t from the new P2 Trench. (1 oz/ton = 34.286 grams/tonne)
OPINACA
The James Bay, Quebec mining camp (JBMC) near Goldcorp’s Éléonore continues to draw investor and institutional interest based on drilling results from junior mining companies in the immediate area, including Sirios Resources, Midland Resources, Eastmain Resources Inc., Hecla and Azimut Resources.
These companies are very active in the Opinaca and surrounding area and during 2017; companies such as Sirios continued to find excellent drilling results. Tashota is strategically located within the gold corridor adjacent to Osisko, and Beaufield, and is approximately 15 kilometres west of Goldcorp’s Éléonore. Goldcorp continues to add infrastructure to the area which will allowTashota easier access to its property and lower exploration costs.
Tashota geologists are currently analyzing past results and planning future exploration for the property, including a winter drilling program subject to financing.
