Kirkland Lake. Val d’Or. Timmins. There are only a handful of places that resource investors immediately recognize as some of the most prolific gold trends certainly in Canada and arguably on the planet. The aforementioned are all part of the world-famous Abitibi greenstone belt that has produced 190+ million ounces of gold.
Interestingly, nearly all that gold production has happened in the last century, which leaves the region one of primary focus for miners of all sizes proving out hundreds of kilometers of underexplored gold mineralization. The opportunity lured Blake Morgan, who achieved success gold mining in Australia, to Eastern Canada where he now leads Opawica Explorations Inc. (TSX-Venture:OPW) (OTCQB:OPWEF) as one of the most promising juniors in the Abitibi. Additionally, Opawica (pronounced “o-pah-week-ah”) owns highly prospective properties in the Rogerson structural gold corridor in Newfoundland.
Opawica’s three 100% owned Abitibi projects are on the Cadillac-Larder gold fairway where the company is surrounded by proven gold resources. For instance, Yorbeau Resources’ Rouyn project (705,020 ounces of gold) is adjacent to the east of Opawica’s sprawling Bazooka project. Next door, Opawica’s McWatters adjoins Granada Gold Mine’s (TSX-Venture:GGM) (OTCPK:GBBFF) eponymous project that is estimated to hold 1.22 million ounces of gold (measured, indicated, and inferred).
Opawica’s Arrowhead property is 100% surrounded by property owned by Agnico Eagle’s (NYSE:AEM)(TSX:AEM) property that is host to its Mouska mine to the east of Arrowhead. Safe to say, Opawica can use all the drill data from Agnico leading into its property to de-risk development of Arrowhead, as gold trends aren’t going to simply start and stop at Arrowhead’s perimeter; they’re going through it.
Amongst a spate of compelling data, historic drilling at Bazooka intercepted gold mineralization up to 316.23 grams per tonne (g/t) over 1.0 meter. Nearly 30,000 meters of drilling in 2017 confirmed deep and wide mineralization with assays up to 889.97 g/t gold. At McWatters, visible gold has been reported and supported by gold assays returning 1.02 g/t gold of 0.91 meters and 7.79 g/t gold over 3.0 meters.
Exploration at Arrowhead goes back a century, with visible gold noted and chip samples showing up to 90.45 g/t gold over 1.0 meter.
Between the work of neighbors, piecing together identified gold trends and work at its properties, all the signs are reason for OPW to be optimistic about its opportunities. Opawica has partnered with GoldSpot Discovery Corp. (TSX-Venture:SPOT), which is revolutionizing exploration via Artificial Intelligence and other cutting edge technology, to define drill targets at its properties.
14 high priority drill targets have been identified at Bazooka, with the drill permit process initiated and a drill contractor engaged in November to drill a minimum of 3,000 meters at Bazooka.
Investors are standing behind Opawica, showing their support to load the company’s coffers to keep advancing its projects. In June, Opawica completed a non-brokered private placement that raised $5.29 million for the company, led by a $1.0 million investment from exploration magnate Eric Sprott. Sprott, perhaps the most well-known billionaire in the mining space, made his fortune on investments in the Abitibi and remains and active investor in the region.
This week, Opawica closed a private placement to raise another $2.0 million, monies management says will be used for exploration work at Bazooka and Arrowhead, including the latest drilling that will have investors eager to see results.
