In addition to its major gold project, the Tower Gold Project, Moneta also continues to maintain a large land holding in the Timmins Gold Camp, which includes the gold properties of North Tisdale, Nighthawk Lake, Kayorum, DeSantis East (Ogden) and Denton. Additional properties with strategic value are historical base metal projects and include Loveland Nickel (Ni), Kamiskotia (Cu/Zn), and Fripp (Cu).
Most gold mineralization in the region is associated with the Destor, including significant mineral resources and producing mines now operated by Newmont Corporation and several others such as Pan American Silver Corporation, McEwen Mining, and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited. The Timmins Camp has experienced rapid advancement of gold resources, reflecting the strong regional gold potential.
Exploration work conducted in the Timmins Camp properties during 2021 included an airborne magnetics survey over a large portion of the Nighthawk Lake Gold project. The results of the survey are being reviewed and interpreted in relation to targeting gold mineralization targets. Exploration field mapping was conducted on the Ogden and North Tisdale areas during the year. No work was conducted on the on the Kayorum, Loveland, Kamiskotia, Fripp and Denton projects during the year.
Gold Projects
North Tisdale Property
The North Tisdale Property is located in Tisdale, Murphy and Hoyle Townships, north of Timmins, Ontario. Historical exploration programs have been completed on the property due to the proximity of the Hollinger-Mclntyre-Coniaurum and Hoyle Pond – Bell Creek gold mine trends south of and across the property. Historic work includes ground and airborne geophysical surveys (assorted EM, IP, and seismic), geochem surveys both soil and whole rock, as well as diamond drilling on various portions of the property.
Past and recent work has confirmed that the property is underlain by an east-west trending belt of intercalated (tholeiitic) mafic volcanics and minor (komatiitic) ultramafic volcanic flows locally intercalated with graphitic argillites, recognizable as a prominent regional EM airborne conductors from historical surveys.
Gold mineralization is hosted mainly within quartz-sulphide-carbonate stockwork zones occupying porphyry/mafic/ultramafic/graphitic argillite contacts and/or structural zones. Although portions of the property may host the potential for an extension of the Hollinger-Mclntyre gold system to the northeast and the western extension of the Pipestone fault system, the primary target remains the western extension of the Bell Creek-Owl Creek setting as this stratigraphy crosses the central portion of the property.
Nighthawk Lake
The 100% owned Nighthawk Lake project is located in Cody, Macklem, and Matheson Townships 27 km E of Timmins, Ontario, Porcupine Mining Division. The area is host to several past producing gold deposits including the Aquarius, Hoyle Pond, Goldhawk, and Night Hawk Peninsular Mines.
The geology of Nighthawk Lake is comprised of a stratigraphic package of Archean rocks where Timiskaming sediments overlay Tisdale Assemblage volcanic rocks. South of the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone (DPFZ), the Tisdale Assemblage is comprised of ultramafic and mafic volcanic flows and intrusions which host gold mineralization. The ultramafics were found to be highly carbonatized with some poorly developed green carbonate and predominately talc-chlorite schist. These rocks have undergone varying degrees of deformation and alteration (talc chlorite, ankerite, green carbonate, and fuchsite).
Historical exploration work has been completed on the property over the past 80 years, with the primary focus on the Collins Patent Group at the DPFZ influenced contact between the Timiskaming age sediments and Tisdale age volcanics.
Kayorum property
The Kayorum property is easily accessible by vehicle and is located within the (greater) City of Timmins, Ontario. The Kayorum property lies immediately east of the Hollinger Mine property (19.5m oz past production) and south of the McIntyre Mine property (10.8m oz past production). Complexly folded mafic volcanic flows of the Tisdale Group underlie the north part of the property. These are the same mafic volcanic rocks that hosted approximately 75% of the gold produced in the camp to date. Previous work on the property is extensive, dating back to the early 1900's and includes historic drilling.
Ogden (DeSantis East) Property
The Ogden Property, held 100% by Moneta Porcupine Mines Inc., is situated approximately 1.5 kilometres southwest of the city center of Timmins, Ontario. The property is underlain by sedimentary rocks of the Porcupine assemblage characterized by greenish-grey fine-grained greywacke-argillites which are cut by minor quartz carbonate stringers. The rocks are generally massive or interbedded and can exhibit weak to moderate pervasive carbonate alteration.
Historic exploration work on the property includes geophysical surveys, mapping, and surface sampling. Exploration field work conducted by Moneta in 2020 on the Ogden Property consisted of a prospecting and mapping program to locate prospective areas of gold mineralization. The survey was successful at revealing four historical trenches however no new rock outcrop exposures were found.
Base Metals Properties
West Timmins/Denton-Thornloe Property (Ni-Au)
The West Timmins/Denton-Thornloe nickel-gold property is located 30km southwest of Timmins, Ontario. The current Pan American Silvers’ Timmins West mine is approximately 5 km to the northeast on the Bristol Fault, a parallel structure of the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone. The property is dominated by east-west trending volcanics and sediments consisting of komatiitic flows, peridotite, felsic metavolcanics, and banded iron formations with minor graphitic argillite. Historic work on the property includes exploration and drilling by Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mine and Falconbridge Limited on the West Nickel zone.
The property has both a gold and nickel zone. The East and West nickel occurrences found by Hollinger are hosted in peridotite associated with komatiites overlying iron formation. Mineralization consists of high grade massive but narrow sulphide intervals interpreted to represent Kambalda style Nickel mineralization. Gold was also identified by Hollinger and Falconbridge such as the gold values from Falconbridge historic hole THOR41-01 which intersected intermittent anomalous gold values in a mixed quartz-carbonate vein zone/iron formation interval.
Loveland Nickel (Ni) Zone
Loveland Nickel is located 45km northwest of Timmins with excellent access via Hwy 576. The most extensive previous work in the immediate area has been the work by Cominco in 1972 when the deposit with an historical non-compliant NI 43 101 resource of 130,000 tons grading approximately 1.41% combined copper nickel was discovered. Mineralization consists of chalcopyrite and pentlandite associated with pyrrhotite and occurs as intergranular mineralization within a relatively unaltered gabbro.
Kamiskotia (Cu/Zn) Zone
The property is located in Godfrey Township 12 km W of Timmins, Ontario. Historic work on the property includes geophysics and drilling. This surrounding region has hosted several base metal deposits including the Kam-Kotia, Jameland, Canadian Jamieson, and the Genex Mines. Historical exploration in the area has primarily focused on the base metal potential with limited gold exploration. The lithographic sequences in the property correlate with stratigraphy found in the nearby Kam Kotia and Canadian Jamieson deposits. Base metal mineralization observed in the property consists of disseminated and fracture-controlled sulphides commonly occurring in bedded sulphides in felsic to intermediate tuffs and graphitic argillites.
Fripp Property (Cu)
The 100% owned Fripp property is located in Fripp Township, south of Timmins, Ontario. Historic exploration on the property includes geophysics and drilling. The most extensive previous work in the immediate area was the diamond drilling program by Cominco in 1972 when the historical and non-complaint NI 43-101resource of 130,000 tons grading approximately 1.41% combined copper nickel was discovered. Other work completed in the area includes geophysical surveys including magnetic and Max – Min EM surveys. Economic mineralization consists of chalcopyrite and pentlandite associated with pyrrhotite and occurs as intergranular mineralization within relatively unaltered gabbro.