Ponton Project

Latest News For Ponton

3D Magnetic Inversion Model Compilation video

On February 4, 2021, the Company announced the commencement of its maiden diamond drilling program at the Copey Hill Gold Zone within the Ponton Project. Subsequently, the Company announced completion of two holes prior to pausing the program to allow for additional dialogue and transparency with a small faction of local stakeholders. The drilling campaign is planned to consist of up to 10 diamond drill holes totalling up to 2,000 metres of drilling. The program is designed to test multiple highly prospective geochemical and geophysical target areas within both the North and South Gold Anomalies of the Copey Hill zone where previously reported geophysical magnetic lows commonly coincide with elevated gold values at surface (up to 53.0 g/t gold and 17.0 g/t silver*). The broader Copey Hill geochemical zone measures over 1 km by 1.5 km and has not previously been drill tested. The epithermal affinities of the coincidental geological, geophysical and multi-element geochemical anomalies within the zone represent priority targets for this first phase of drilling (see accompanying geochemical map and geophysical magnetic 3D inversion map).

On December 3, 2020 the Company announced results and interpretation of the geophysical magnetic 3D inversion study conducted on the Copey Hill epithermal gold target. Highlight results from the survey and interpretation are as follows:

• Identification of numerous large and strong magnetic-low 3D anomalies (near surface and concealed at depth) possibly attributed to magnetite destruction alteration, a common alteration/geophysical feature in gold epithermal systems;
• Numerous discreet and variably linear magnetic-low anomalies aligned with gold enriched surface soil-rock samples and silica-argillic clay alteration zones. This correlation is particularly apparent at the South Anomaly where surface rock samples have reported highlight values of 53.0 g/t gold and 17.0 g/t gold*;
• Substantial magnetic-low at South Zone extends more than 200 metres below surface, supporting the potential for a significant sized system; and
• See 3D Magnetic Inversion Model Compilation video and accompanying magnetic inversion anomaly maps

In August 2020 announce results of follow up infill surface soil and rock geochemical samples collected from the Copey Hill epithermal gold target of the Company’s 100% owned Ponton Project in the Dominican Republic. After reporting a 53.0 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold-in-rock sample* from the Copey Hill Zone (see Company news release dated July 21, 2020), field crews returned to the vicinity to conduct additional detailed infill sampling in the surrounding area where the latest 73 rock samples returned multiple additional high-grade gold and silver results*, including individual highlight values up to 17.0 g/t gold and 37.0 g/t silver with a total of 30 rock samples ranging from 0.5 g/t gold to 17.0 g/t gold. Additionally, analytical results for the 171 soil samples collected have refined the contour of the soil anomaly and report a high value of 0.7 g/t gold.

Data compilation and interpretation of the Ponton property’s historical surface geochemical sampling (soil, rock and stream sediment) has ascertained that the project’s Copey Hill Zone hosts the region’s strongest multi-element geochemical anomaly (gold, silver, arsenic, mercury, antimony) which is likely reflective of a near surface epithermal gold system. The zone has not previously been drill tested and will be the focus of the Company’s near term drill targeting.

Copey Hill Gold Zone Highlights to Date:

• South Anomaly highlight rock sample* gold values of 53.0 g/t, 17.0 g/t, 7.6 g/t, 7.0 g/t, 4.6 g/t, 4.2 g/t, 4.1 g/t and 3.2 g/t gold and up to 43.0 g/t silver. Additionally, a total of 30 rock samples yielded values ranging from 0.5 g/t to 1.8 g/t gold;
• South Anomaly hosts an apparent concentration of elevated gold and silver sample values measuring an estimated 400m by 200m;
• Highlight gold-in-rock samples were collected from low sulphide content quartz vein, quartz breccia or silicification alteration mineralization hosted in the favourable Los Ranchos formation volcanic rocks.
• Current gold-in-rock correlation statistics show a strong positive correlation to important pathfinder elements silver, lead and mercury; and
• Two distinct gold-in-soil anomalies (North Anomaly and South Anomaly) delineated within the Copey Hill Zone; measuring 1,000m by 500m, and 900m by 200m (open to the southwest) respectively

Highlights of the Ponton Project

Project work completed by past operators includes both property-wide reconnaissance scale exploration and detailed follow up work on two of the three surface geochemically anomalous zones identified on the Project. The three notable exploration zones are (i) Copey Hill, an epithermal gold target, (ii) Majagual Hill, a copper-gold porphyry target (tested in 2017 with five diamond drill holes) and (iii) a broad area of early stage rock and stream sediment anomalies, which require follow up investigation.

The Ponton Project is located about 20 kilometres east of the Company’s Pueblo Grande gold project or 45 kilometres north of Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic. The Project covers 3,250 hectares, has excellent access road access, is bisected by a high power electrical line and importantly is underlain by the similar prospective Cretaceous to lower Tertiary aged Los Ranchos Formation volcanic rocks that host Barrick’s Pueblo Viejo Gold-Silver Mine. At the Copey Hill Zone, topography is generally modest, with small hills and ridges varying from 100 to 220 meters above sea level. The Project’s historical project surface geochemical database includes 2,880 grid/auger soil, 1,403 rock and 317 stream sediment samples. At the Majagual Hill copper-gold porphyry zone prior work includes surface trenching, 4.7 line-kilometers of induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveying, and 1,666 metres of diamond drilling (5 holes in 2017).