Formation Metals (CSE FOMO / Frankfurt VF1) has big goals. The company aims to expand the known historical resources of about 870,000 ounces of gold on its N2 gold project in Quebec to ultimately 3 million ounces. To achieve this, the company is initially planning a multi-phase drilling program totaling 20,000 meters. As announced today, independent experts from Strategy Exploration Advisors will lead the work on-site.
As mentioned, N2 has historical resources totaling about 870,000 ounces consisting of 18 million tons at an average grade of 1.4 g/t Gold, corresponding to about 809,000 ounces distributed across four zones (A, East, RJ-East, and Central) as well as another 243,000 tons with an average of 7.82 g/t gold (~61,000 ounces) in the RJ zone. Formation plans to begin the first phase of the 5,000-meter drilling program there this summer.
Formation Metals Aims to Significantly Increase its Resource Base
Formation’s main focus is on discovery drilling on new high-potential targets along the strike of mineralization in the “A”, “RJ”, and “Central” zones in the northern part of the property. The goal is to discover new gold-bearing trends and develop new zones of gold mineralization. Additionally, the company wants to concentrate on promising targets to more precisely determine and expand the known historical mineralization in these zones, thereby significantly increasing the project’s resource base.
Just a few examples from historically promising zones:
• Zone A: With a historical resource of ~522,900 ounces of gold (10.7 Mt @ 1.52 g/t Au), Zone A is a near-surface, highly coherent historical gold deposit with low variability and ~15,000 drill meters in 55 holes, 84% of which intersected gold mineralization. The best historical intersection contains up to 1.7 g/t over 35 meters. About 1.65 kilometers of strike have been drilled, with now more than 3.1 kilometers of strike to be tested as part of the 20,000-meter program.
• RJ Zone: With a historical resource of ~61,100 ounces of gold (243 Kt @ 7.82 g/t Au), the RJ Zone is a high-grade target that was expanded in Agnico-Eagle’s last drilling program in 2008. At that time, however, the price was just ~800 USD per ounce. In the past, 20,875 meters were drilled in 82 holes here, with the best intersections containing 48 g/t over 0.5 meters and 16.5 g/t over 3.6 meters. About 900 meters of strike were drilled. As part of the newly announced 20,000-meter program, more than 4.75 kilometers of strike will now be tested here!
Strategy Exploration will initially conduct surface exploration work, including field logistics, sampling and sample dispatch, geological mapping and interpretation, exploration targeting, and consulting in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 recording and reporting guidelines. At the same time, Stratexplo will also continue to lead the permitting process for N2.
Recently, the experts assisted Formation in submitting the application for Autorisation de Travaux d’exploration à Impacts (ATI) to the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forets (MERN) (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests). The submission of the ATI application was completed after discussions with all required parties, and the company expects to receive its ATI permit within the next 20 to 30 days. Following this, Formation Metals states, the first drilling program on N2 will commence!
Perfect Timing!
Deepak Varshney, CEO of Formation Metals, is very confident: “We are thrilled to have engaged StratExplo as part of our team for the N2 project. StratExplo is a first-class company that has conducted several successful programs in the past year, and we are very excited to welcome them as part of the first drilling program on N2.
Mr. Varshney continued: “Given the size of the property, the compelling geological data, and the established history of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt as the birthplace of gold mining, we believe the planned program will achieve our goal of expanding N2’s historical resource into a multi-million ounce near-surface deposit.”
We see the potential for more than 3 million ounces of gold at N2, and our first 5,000-meter drilling program will mark the beginning of Formation’s pursuit of this goal. Our initial program will focus on building upon the successes of our predecessors. The drilling discoveries made by Agnico-Eagle and Cypress after the initial historical resource estimate demonstrate the expansion potential of N2. With the gold price at nearly $3,200 per ounce – more than four times the price from 2008 when Agnico last drilled the project – we believe the timing for N2 is perfect, and we look forward to a very busy upcoming quarter.
