Gold explorer Ardiden Limited (ASX: ADV) is pleased to announce a strategic expansion of its highly prospective gold landholding in north-western Ontario to 664km2.
This significant holding within the Uchi Sub-Province of north-western Ontario, is the culmination of selectively staking ground adjacent to the Company's Pickle Lake Gold Project. Tenure was selected on the basis of hosting prospective structures and lithologies analogous to gold mineralisation styles at other locations within the regional Uchi area, such as the Musselwhite Mine (Newmont-Goldcorp), Red Lake Operations (Evolution) and the Dixie Project (Great Bear Resources).
Ardiden's MD Rob Longley believes the added landholding has provided Ardiden with a massive exploration portfolio in an attractive Tier 1 jurisdiction alongside one of the best gold production districts in the World, Red Lake: 'The Pickle Lake Gold project area has been vastly unexplored and is ripe for Ardiden to apply modern exploration methods systematically across its large landholding. This affords Ardiden a significant opportunity to progressively build a considerable high-grade gold resource over time'.
'The ground holding Ardiden now owns at Pickle Lake is comparable in size to that of the 30 Moz Red Lake producing district next door. When we compare the small footprint of our current 110,000 oz JORC Resource at the Kasagiminnis Deposit, with our total ground holding and prospective strike length, which we have aggregated together, the discovery opportunities are truly exciting.'
New Claims - 'Fry-McVean' Property
The new gold Property, 'Fry-McVean' is 100% Ardiden-owned with no associated royalties. It adjoins directly to Ardiden's high-grade Dorothy-Dobie Gold Property, where the Company recently announced historical high-grade results over a 25km strike length with drill intercepts up to 472.8 g/t Au and broad mineralised intercepts including 20.65m at 3.5 g/t Au (ASX Announcement: 18 February 2020).
Fry-McVean has a significant regional structural zone running east-west across its entire 20km width. The area encompasses multiple deformation zones including crustal scale folding and shearing structures. These structures are conducive of producing deep geological features capable of transporting gold bearing fluids.
The Fry-McVean Shear Zone is a major regional structural zone and splays off this have been interpreted as 'Riedel Shear Zones'. Riedel Shear Zones are instrumental to deep gold mineralisation systems at Red Lake as well as at the Golden Mile in Kalgoorlie Western Australia (Fimiston).
The 'Bamaji Lake Fault Zone' stretches across the property with multiple fault splays similar to the Dorothy-Dobie property, which has multiple known gold prospects.
The 'Fry Lake Anticline', a major crustal scale fold structure, runs east-west across its entire width and has seen very limited exploration.
Pickle Lake Gold Project
Ardiden's connected gold Properties at Pickle Lake now represent a true district-scale package with multiple structures identified which are known to be favourable for gold mineralisation. Full ownership of the area has enabled Ardiden compile all of the available geophysical surveys and to reprocess these using modern software techniques. Ardiden is now able to view the Property through a completely new lens.
As illustrated above, the company has barely scratched the surface of tens of kilometres of prospective strike length along which favourable lithologies and structures have now been identified through the use of reprocessed geophysics and drill core examination.
Ardiden currently has an existing high grade 110,000oz gold inferred JORC gold Resource estimate (790,000 tonnes at 4.3g/t gold) at its Kasagiminnis Deposit. As an example of the benefit of low cost modern analytical techniques, core samples from the Kasagiminnis ore zones were analysed recently using a Bruker M4 Tornado micro-XRF (Portable Spectral Services). Analysis of the mineralogy distribution maps determined that gold observed within the Kasagiminnis core is nonrefractory in nature and would be amenable to low cost gravity circuit processing.
The resultant two-dimensional element maps from the non-destructive micro XRF analysis provide highly detailed information about the spatial variation and concentration of major and minor elements within the sample.
Next Steps
Ardiden believesthe optimal and cost-effective window for exploration drilling has now moved to the summer season. Subject to final approvals and prevailing COVID19 restrictions, the Company's immediate priority is to recommence drilling at Kasagiminnis to extend its current 110,000oz JORC resource. Meanwhile, Ardiden's technical team is using the current period of remote working to re-interpret data sets and develop exploration targets based on identifying known geological settings which host significant gold mineralisation at nearby mining and exploration projects within the neighbouring Uchi Greenstone area.
Gold Mines and Deposits within the Uchi Geological Subprovince are associated with a combination of wellknown lithological and structural settings. These include, but are not limited to dilation zones, fold hinges, deformation zones and unconformities, all of which have been identified on Ardiden's Pickle Lake Gold Project through careful examination and interpretation of structural and lithological data. Work continues to identify the best areas for future follow up gold exploration work across the broader Pickle Lake Project area. Exploration work will involve additional ground and airborne geophysics in conjunction with test and resource definition drilling.
Ardiden is currently working closely with its stakeholders in the Project area during this COVID19 Pandemic, and, in particular, with the Mishkeegogamang First Nation Group. Ardiden is offering assistance where it can and will monitor the situation carefully to ensure the health of all its staff, contractors and all stakeholders.
Contact:
Rob Longley
Tel: +61 8 9322 7600
Forward Looking Statement
This announcement may contain some references to forecasts, estimates, assumptions and other forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that its expectations, estimates and forecast outcomes are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that they will be achieved. They may be affected by a variety of variables and changes in underlying assumptions that are subject to risk factors associated with the nature of the business, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed herein. Investors should make and rely upon their own enquires and assessments before deciding to acquire or deal in the Company's securities.
ARDIDEN LIMITED 
