Harfang Exploration Inc. announced that its summer field campaign is set to begin on its portfolio of highly prospective gold and lithium properties in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region, Québec. With recent lithium discoveries, new advances in already existing resources and the Québec strategy on Critical and Strategic Minerals, this region has taken centre stage for lithium exploration in Canada. The Lake Menarik Property is characterized by multiple high-grade gold occurrences hosted in a polyphase intermediate intrusion (syenite, monzonite and monzodiorite) and adjacent volcano-sedimentary rocks (Figure 2).

The geological setting of Lake Menarik is reminiscent of that of the Timmins mining camp based on the occurrence of gold-bearing monzonite/syenite intrusions, volcanic and sedimentary rocks including a Timiskaming-type conglomerate, and lamprophyres. The recently completed maiden shallow drill program that mainly focussed on the Pierre Monzonite area, successfully demonstrated that wide zones of gold mineralization associated with increasing intensity of alteration extend at depth in the southeast area of the monzonite. These observations were highlighted by 21.0 metres grading 1.75 g/t Au including 14.1 metres grading 2.49 g/t Au (LMN-23-01), 75.0 metres grading 0.54 g/t Au including 3.0 metres grading 6.75 g/t Au and 1.0 metres grading 12.65 g/t Au (LMN-23-04), and 47.0 metres grading 1.15 g/t Au including 7.0 metres grading 3.75 g/t Au (LMN-23-17).

The planned field campaign is designed to generate additional drill targets and will focus on advancing the overall understanding of the geological model east of the Pierre monzonite and several other target areas. These areas include the Induced Polarization anomalies hosted in the Timiskaming-type conglomerate, the Greco gold showing adjacent to mining claims acquired last fall (1.04 g/t Au over 24.9 metres [channel]), and the 2022 discoveries such as the Oswald showing (up to 17.30 g/t Au, 217 g/t Ag and 0.61% Pb [grab samples] and up to 6.34 g/t Au, 60 g/t Ag and 0.09% Pb over 0.4 metres [channel]) and the ankerite zones (up to 2.87 g/t Au in grab samples) extending up to 700 metres long and 50 metres wide. This program will be enhanced by recent geophysical data from the IP survey and the detailed heliborne magnetic survey also flown over the contiguous Menarik East Property.

Harfang has also designed a till survey to cover the eastern part of the Lake Menarik Property.