| Property | Motherlode mineral claims covering 6,250 hectares, south coast Newfoundland |
| Location | The claims are located in southeastern region of Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula approximately 3.5 hours by road from Gander and/or St. John’s. Excellent access and logistical infrastructure, with year-round road access, high-power electrical lines running through the project, nearby Atlantic Ocean ports, and a currently dormant nearby industrial fluorite mine. |
| Summary | Located within an estimated 16.5-kilometre-long exploration trend hosted in late Proterozoic-age Burin Group volcanic and ultramafic rocks. |
| Ownership | The Company maintains a 100% interest in 6,250 hectares of mineral exploration licenses acquired by direct staking. August 2023 the Company terminated the two underlying property option agreements for the combined 6,100 hectares of mineral exploration licenses making up a substantial portion of the Motherlode Project. |
Latest News from Motherlode
On August 11, 2023, Precipitate announces its decision to terminate the two underlying property option agreements for the combined 6,100 hectares of mineral exploration licenses making up a substantial portion of the Motherlode Project.
Motherlode Location and Geology
The Motherlode Project is located approximately 3.5 hours by road from Gander and/or St. John’s within the southeastern region of Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula, which is part of an active gold exploration region that includes other high profile gold exploration projects such as Root & Cellar (Northern Shield Resources), Heritage (Golden Ridge Resources) and Hickey’s Pond (Bonavista Resources).
Project Gold Mineralization and Geology
- Historical data identifies at least 11 newly prioritized target areas characterized by elevated concentrations of gold and arsenic with underlying or nearby structural features;
- District-scale potential within an estimated 16.5-kilometre-long exploration trend hosted in late Proterozoic-age Burin Group volcanic and ultramafic rocks;
- Major northeast trending, sub-vertical dipping shear-fault zones up to 30 metres wide;
- Gold enriched quartz veins and quartz-silica stockworks are strongly associated with ‘high strain’ rocks (i.e. shears, schists, folds) with a generally low pyrite content;
- Project regional government till, lake & stream sample geochemistry anomalies include gold, arsenic, antimony, copper, nickel and zinc.
Project lithologies are part of the major Avalon Tectonostratigraphic Zone, where claims are dominantly underlain by late Proterozoic aged Burin Group submarine oceanic volcanics and associated ultramafics, with interbedded clastic sediments and carbonate rocks. The Burin Group lithologies have a NE-SW trend and sub vertical dip, with a pervasive greenschist facies deformation, ranging from moderate fracture cleavage to a strong and discrete shear fabric (quartz-chlorite-sericite-calcite schists; typically, coplanar to local lithological bedding trends). Historical reports indicate that gold enriched quartz veins and quartz-silica stockworks are strongly associated with ‘high strain’ rocks (i.e. shears, schists, folds) containing a generally low pyrite concentration.
On February 14, 2023 the Company announced results from its fall 2022 diamond drill program comprised of 2,716 metres of drilling in 12 drill holes from the Company’s Motherlode Gold Project. Highlight core sampling results include drilled intercepts yielding 12.1 metres of 1.0 gram per tonne gold (hole ML22-03), including 3.0m of 2.2 g/t Au and 4.5m of 0.94 g/t Au (hole ML22-04), including 3.5m of 1.07 g/t Au. Though modest in thickness and grade, these results support a reinterpretation of the Motherlode Zone’s gold mineralization model type from the originally postulated orogenic gold model to a low sulphide replacement style model. The latest drill program tested an area less than one third of the more than three-kilometer-long Motherlode structural corridor, leaving much of the corridor open for possible future drilling, should the Company elect to test the reinterpreted model. See News release dated February 14, 2023 for full table below of highlight core sample results and accompanying maps and figures.
On December 1, 2021 the Company announced results and interpretation of the airborne geophysical survey conducted over the entire Motherlode Gold Project. Interpretation of the high sensitivity magnetic and radiometric geophysical survey data, in tandem with the recently completed Project-wide analysis of surface geochemical samples (soil, rock, till and lake) and surface structural lineaments, successfully delineated numerous exploration target areas: 7 high priority targets, 11 secondary targets and 7 lower priority target areas. See the accompanying maps on the right side column.
These prioritized target areas are characterized by combinations of important coinciding characteristics for vectoring structurally related orogenic gold style mineralization observed at Motherlode. Favourable characteristics include (i) magnetic linears and their crosscutting intersections that denote potential quartz-silica-gold mineralization structural hosts (contacts, faults, shears and folds), (ii) surface sample geochemistry with elevated concentrations of gold and arsenic, and various other pathfinder elements, and (iii) preferred host rock types, particularly metavolcanic or gabbro lithologies. Interestingly, a number of the high and secondary priority areas have little to no reported historical surface sampling and none of the target zones have seen a modern ground geophysical survey.
In November of 2021 the Company announced target refinement results derived from an expanded compilation and review of historical data from the Motherlode Gold Project. Interpretation of the Project’s historical surface geochemical sampling data (soil, rock, till and lake) in combination with a modern surface lineament structural study confirms and enhances at least 11 priority target areas characterized by elevated concentrations of gold and arsenic combined with underlying or nearby structural features. These attributes are important characteristics for the structurally related orogenic gold style mineralization observed at Motherlode. None of the target zones have seen a modern ground geophysical survey, and only one zone has been drill tested in the past, by way of a shallow drill program in 2007.
Motherlode Select Historical Sampling Results:
- High grade gold rock grab samples: 25.0 g/t Au, 15.7 g/t Au, 11.6 g/t Au, 6.3 g/t Au & 4.5 g/t Au
- Trench/Channel Results: 0.5m of 4.5 g/t Au, 1.5m of 10.1 g/t Au, 6.2m of 3.6 g/t Au (incl. 0.9m of 7.7 g/t Au)
- 2007 Diamond Drill Results (8 holes, 902m): 0.7m of 3.2 g/t Au, 10.4m of 0.82 g/t Au, 1.5m of 2.8 g/t Au
Motherlode Acquisition Terms
The Company entered into two underlying property option agreements granting Precipitate the exclusive right to earn a 100% interest in a combined 6,100 hectares of mineral exploration licences (the “Properties”) by fulfilling certain elective annual cash and share payments over a 4-year option term, as follows:
| Date | Cash | Precipitate Common Shares |
|---|---|---|
| On closing | $26,000 | 370,000 Completed |
| 12 month Anniversary | $52,000 | 650,000 Completed |
| 24 month Anniversary | $74,000 | 990,000 |
| 36 month Anniversary | $84,000 | 1,270,000 |
| 48 month Anniversary | $107,000 | 1,800,000 |
Upon completion of the cash and share payments as set out above, Precipitate will have a 100% interest in the Properties, subject to certain net smelter returns (“NSR”) of 1.5% (Vendor Group 1) and 2.5% (Vendor Group 2) granted to the two vendor groups by Precipitate. Portions of each NSR are purchasable by Precipitate at any time for $500,000 per 0.5% (Vendor Group 1) and $750,000 per 0.5% (Vendor Group 2). In addition, Precipitate retains a right of first refusal to purchase the balance of all NSRs at any time.
Additionally, the Company acquired a 100% interest in an adjoining 6,250 hectares by direct staking and execution of a purchase agreement to acquire a small inlier parcel in exchange for $1,000 and 25,000 common shares of the Company. No NSR is applicable on the staked or purchase agreement claims.
The property option agreements and purchase agreement are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
Motherlode Photos
