SODANKYLÄ, Finland,
July 14, 2020 /CNW/ - FireFox Gold
Corp. ("FireFox" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that
following its oversubscribed non-brokered private placement (see
Company news release dated July 2,
2020), it has launched a multidisciplinary field program on
several of its gold projects in the Central Lapland region of
Finland. The majority of the field
work will be focused on the Jeesiö and Sarvilehto ("Sarvi")
Projects, which are in a portion of the Central Lapland Greenstone
Belt ("CLGB") that has been a hotbed of recent activity by fellow
explorers, Aurion Resources, Rupert Resources, and others. The
primary objective of the program is to define drill targets at both
Jeesiö and Sarvi for a fall and winter drill program.
There are four major elements of the summer exploration
program:
- A high-resolution UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) based airborne
magnetics survey;
- Excavator trenching and systematic sampling at several
projects, and potentially other areas as prospecting results
dictate;
- Follow-up prospecting, reconnaissance mapping and sampling in
areas of known gold mineralization or prospectivity, as well as
newly acquired exploration reservations; and
- A next-generation integrated interpretation and targeting
exercise using multivariate data across the Company's Lapland
properties.
Patrick Highsmith, FireFox's
chairman, commented, "We are very excited to launch a
significant and fully funded summer exploration program that will
include a state-of-the-art UAV magnetics survey as well as
extensive good old-fashioned prospecting. Our Jeesiö and Sarvi
Projects occur on-trend with important structures, where we have
already identified gold occurrences of note. In addition to this
work, we look forward to unveiling a next-generation integrated
targeting exercise in the coming weeks. It is fantastic to see the
Central Lapland Greenstone Belt finally enjoying significant levels
of funding and drilling for its gold potential. As a team, we have
been working these rocks for a long time; the emerging discoveries
in the belt have heightened the intensity for all of us."
Detailed Airborne Survey
The airborne survey will
commence in mid-July and will span over 1,100 line-kilometres.
Radai Ltd (www.radai.fi) will conduct the survey at the Jeesiö and
Sarvi Projects and surrounding areas. Radai is an
experienced, innovative Finnish provider of airborne geophysics and
other services, who has conducted recent mineral exploration
airborne surveys in Lapland for Boliden, Rupert Resources, and
others.
The Radai team will deploy a fixed-wing autonomous aircraft
using a fluxgate sensor to measure total magnetic field. The
aircraft will operate at an altitude of 40 metres with flight line
spacing of 50 metres in order to achieve high resolution. The
detailed magnetic data will facilitate a careful analysis of
bedrock geology beneath the glacial sediments, including faulting,
folding, and alteration that may be important indications of gold
mineralization.
Excavator Trenching and Sampling
FireFox has also
mobilized teams to Lapland for a trenching program that is expected
to last for at least two weeks. Since most of Lapland is covered by
glacial sediments of varying thickness, trenching is an excellent
tool for exploration where an excavator can reach bedrock by
removing glacial sediments and other regolith. The teams will first
target the gold anomalies at Jeesiö where geologists collected
numerous rock samples in 2018 and 2019 containing up to 6.4 grams
per tonne (g/t) of gold (refer to News Releases filed on SEDAR, in
particular that dated January 23,
2020).
The machine will also travel to the Mustajärvi Project, where
FireFox has previously reported high-grade gold in boulders,
channel samples, and in core drilling at shallow depths below
surface (See 43-101 Technical Report on SEDAR, as well as Company
news releases dated January 3 and 21,
2019). The Phase 1 drill program in late 2018 followed from a small
drill program on the property by Outokumpu in the 1990's. FireFox
identified a different style of mineralization that included narrow
intervals of massive to semi-massive pyrite and grades up to 45 g/t
over 2.0 metres from 125.5 metres downhole. The mineralization is
believed to be related to the northeast trending Venejoki Thrust
Zone, which is a splay of the well-known Sirkka Shear Zone, but there appear to be
important cross structures that are not well understood. New
trenches at Mustajärvi will enable collection of extensive
structural geology data and detailed sampling of key structures,
alteration, and host rocks.
The extent of the trenching program could expand based on the
mapping and sampling work that is already underway. The Company
expects the trenching to include hundreds of metres of excavation
and sampling in areas with anomalous rock and till geochemistry, or
where geophysics or drilling indicate important near-surface
features of interest.
Prospecting, Mapping, and Sampling
Other activities
already in progress include a 2-month mapping and sampling program
concentrated in the Jeesiö and Sarvi exploration areas. FireFox's
land holdings are extensive and outcrop is sparse, so
reconnaissance mapping during the summer season is important to
identify outcrop and update geological maps. Some of the last field
expeditions in 2019 turned up highly anomalous gold samples, such
as the 6.4 g/t sample at the Katajavaara Target on the Jeesiö
Project. The teams will be following up on these emerging targets,
as well as pushing into new areas, such as prospective greenfield
areas in the newly acquired Naula and Lehto exploration
reservations. The vast historical databases in Finland offer huge potential. A component of
this program will be to apply modern assay and ultra-trace
geochemical methods to historical till samples acquired by the
Geological Survey of Finland
(GTK).
The Naula reservation covers approximately 21,820 hectares and
is located in the western part of the CLGB along the northeast
continuation of major crustal-scale structures from the historical
Saattopora Gold Mine. The Lehto exploration permit application area
(494 hectares) is located closer to FireFox's other properties in
the eastern end of the belt, approximately 27 kilometres southeast
from the Agnico Eagle's Kittilä Mine. The Lehto property occurs
within the Kittilä Group volcano-sedimentary sequence, which also
hosts the Kittila Mine. Regional geologic maps suggest that the
underlying bedrock is dominated by mafic volcanics, including iron
tholeiites, graphitic tuffs, and banded iron formation along
NS-trending structures. [ FireFox cautions
that proximity or similar geology to an active or past-producing
mine does not indicate that mineralization will occur on FireFox's
property, and if mineralization does occur, that it will occur in
sufficient quantity or grade that would result in an economic
extraction scenario. These facts were simply used as elements of
the prospectivity analysis of these properties.]
Quality Assurance
Dr. Petri
Peltonen, Exploration Manager of FireFox Gold, is a
qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 –
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Dr. Peltonen has
supervised the collection and interpretation of the technical data
generated in the Company's field program and has helped prepare,
and approves, the technical information in this news release.
Patrick Highsmith, Certified
Professional Geologist (AIPG CPG # 11702) and director of the
Company, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument
43-101. Mr. Highsmith has helped prepare, and approves, the
technical information in this news release.
About FireFox Gold Corp.
FireFox Gold Corp is listed
on the TSX Venture stock exchange under the ticker symbol FFOX. The
Company is focused entirely on gold exploration in Finland where it is exploring its project
portfolio that includes over 150,000 hectares of prospective
ground.
Finland is one of the top
mining investment jurisdictions in the world as indicated by its
multiple top-10 rankings in recent Fraser Institute Surveys of
Mining Companies. Having a strong mining law and long mining
tradition, Finland remains
underexplored for gold. Recent exploration results in the country
have highlighted its prospectivity, and FireFox is proud to have a
Finland based CEO and technical
team.
For more information concerning the Company, please refer to the
Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Carl Löfberg"
Chief Executive Officer
Forward Looking Statements
The information herein contains forward looking statements that
are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking
statements. Factors that could cause such differences include:
changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, the extent of
work stoppage and economic impacts that may result from the COVID
19 virus, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining
industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting
the mining industry.
Forward-looking statements in this release may include
statements regarding: the current and future work program,
including the extent and nature of exploration to be conducted in
2020, as well as future possible drilling on the properties
described. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our
forward-looking statements are reasonable, results may vary. The
forward-looking statements contained herein represent the
expectations of FireFox as of the date of dissemination and,
accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Readers should
not place undue importance on forward-looking statements and should
not rely upon this information as of any other date. FireFox does
not undertake to update this information at any particular time
except as required in accordance with applicable laws.
SOURCE FireFox Gold Corp.