In late 2022, Exploits Discovery Corp (CSE:NFLD, OTCQX:NFLDF) added to its already strong land position around central Newfoundland’s Appleton Fault, a zone that is fundamental to the gold rush currently underway in the province, and where New Found Gold staked its fortunes to become a $1.2 billion gold miner.
Gander, Newfoundland–based Exploits aims to be next.
After acquiring a sizable land package in 2021, the explorer staked new claims — including its Bullseye gold property — in an enviable position between some of New Found Gold and Labrador Gold’s recent discoveries.
“That's why we call it Bullseye, because it's right where you want to be,” Exploits President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Swinoga tells Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine. “It's 1.2 kilometres long along the Appleton Fault. We also have claims near Keats West, which is having some great success with New Found Gold, and we picked up a claim to the north along the Appleton, which is 10-plus kilometres of benefit for us.
“We're really blessed with having these new great claims along with our existing claims. We have one of the biggest land packages around New Found Gold, around multiple fault lines: the Appleton-Dog Bay line, etc. The key is having a good property and a great team, and that’s what we have.”
Following a drill program that commenced in February, the company knows that it has already struck gold.
Assays from eight of the holes at Bullseye revealed visible grains of gold, which the company believes demonstrates that the property has the potential to replicate or extend the high-grade gold mineralization observed by the neighbours within 250 metres of its claim boundaries.
Exploits has called its first gold discovery “Horseshoe,” and it lines up right where the company believed it would find gold.
“It’s really high-grade orogenic gold, near surface, similar geology to what New Found Gold is finding to the south,” Swinoga explains. “If you look at New Found Gold, on just over a 5-kilometre stretch on the Appleton Fault they have created a $1.2 billion exploration company with multiple gold zones like Keats, Iceberg, K2, Lotto and Keats West. They just keep finding gold along the Appleton. And that’s really 200 metres, 300 metres south of where we are.”
“Bullseye is the next one up. And if you go further up to the new claims, we have another 10 kilometres–plus along the Appleton. So, I think we have all the key ingredients to become either the next New Found Gold or a billion-dollar exploration company in our own right. We are very lucky.”
Location aside, chief among those key ingredients are strategic shareholders, a strong team on the ground and $8 million in the bank as of April 30, 2023.
Perhaps as a sign of confidence in Exploits, New Found Gold has taken a 10% stake in its neighbour, while renowned Canadian investor Eric Sprott holds 19%.
While the company is employing the latest exploration technology as it scours its property for gold, including machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics, Swinoga stresses the importance of local, on-the-ground knowledge.
“All of our team is from either Gander or St. John's or surrounding areas,” he says. “They live and breathe the area. They know the area; it's in their backyard. And so, they care. They're passionate, they're talented, they're experienced.”
On the company’s advisory committee is Dr. David Groves, a world-class geologist and international expert in orogenic gold deposits who Swinoga calls “the father of orogenic gold” after he coined the term back in the early 1990s.
“We’re using tried-and-true methodology,” Swinoga explains. “It’s all based upon techniques and observations in Australia, where Fosterville had this super high grade and became one of the most profitable mines in the world.”
Groves’s expertise, the consultants’ AI technology and data analytics, and the team on the ground in Newfoundland form part of the systematic approach Exploits has taken to exploring the Appleton Fault.
“The work is getting done and lots of techniques are being used,” says Swinoga.
New Found Gold’s support goes beyond its investment as a shareholder, with Swinoga describing the company as a “big brother.”
Following its successes over the past few years, he says the company has created a blueprint that Exploits can use for guidance on how and where to drill, raising its own chances of success due to the geology they share.
New Found Gold is also currently conducting an extensive seismic survey over the Appleton Fault zone, including Exploits’ Bullseye property. A similar survey in Australia found “fingers of God” orogenic flows carrying gold from deep in the earth’s crust, pointing to the source.
“We’re going to get that data, and hopefully it’s going to come out in the next couple of months,” he says. “I've got some high hopes for this seismic survey because if it proves the same as we saw in Australia, it's going to show that maybe not only the Appleton Fault is very highly prospective with the source of gold coming up like these ‘fingers of God,’ but it could reveal other faults that show promise and could really open up the whole region. A lot of people say this is the early days of the Abitibi.”
In the meantime, following the first phase of drilling at Bullseye, Exploits is waiting for the assays for the remaining drill holes to be announced, which will help determine where to start the second phase of drilling.
“The southern part of Bullseye looks super attractive because of a recent discovery called Jackpot in K2, from New Found Gold, which is, again, literally 100 or 200 metres away from our property. So, it looks very prospective,” says Swinoga.
It is also exploring a new area, Gazeebow, with LiDAR, magnetic geophysical (MAG) surveys, prospecting and grab sampling currently underway.
“The goal there is to identify new drill targets along the greater stretch of the Appleton zone,” Swinoga says. “We like what we see; there’s a lot of great quartz running through the properties.”
By year-end, Exploits expects to have identified multiple drilling opportunities along the Appleton Fault, moving it forward in its goal to emulate the success that New Found Gold has enjoyed.
Swinoga says Exploits’ early mover advantage in the area has given it the opportunity to become the next big explorer in Newfoundland.
“In the early days, when the staking rush happened three or four years ago, and everyone wanted the great properties, we were able to pick up all this great land, mostly on the tips of where New Found Gold was. We have been able to build on our early success and keep it going,” says Swinoga.
“Being on the cusp of making history for a huge mining district is just incredible.”
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com