Olympio strikes high-grade gold in first two drill holes in Quebec

Olympio Metals has wasted no time making its mark in the gold-rich soils of Quebec, returning high-grade intercepts from the first two holes of its maiden drill campaign at the Bousquet gold project.

The company today unveiled assay results showing impressive gold grades at its Paquin prospect, including a standout intercept of just under half a metre running at 42.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold within a broader zone of 5.4 metres at 7.6g/t in the first hole. The second hole had a headline hit of 7.9m at 6.2g/t, including 1.3m at 17g/t.

Visible gold grains in 20 centimetre of smoky quartz vein hosted in sulphide, chlorite-carbonate altered wacke sandstone at Olympio Metals’ Bousquet project in Quebec.

Olympio says the new results extend the known mineralisation at Paquin by a further 60m, pushing the strike length of gold hits out to more than 300m. The system remains open in both directions.

With visible gold previously logged in drill core from an earlier hole and a total of 13 holes now completed, the early signs are clearly pointing to a potentially significant gold system taking shape within this storied terrain.

The Bousquet project is strategically perched along the Cadillac Break, one of the world’s most prolific gold structures, responsible for producing more than 110 million ounces of gold to date.

Olympio is targeting a zone 15 kilometres from two active multi-million-ounce mines - Agnico Eagle’s 15.8-million-ounce LaRonde mine and Iamgold’s 2.4M-ounce Westwood mine - putting its ground in elite company.

Importantly, Olympio’s first two holes weren’t wild shots in the dark. They were drilled just 60m along strike from a historical intercept of 9m at 16.96g/t, giving weight to the company’s thesis that high-grade gold is tightly linked to smoky quartz veining hosted in sulphidic, chlorite-carbonate altered rock. The signature is now showing up repeatedly across its drill core.

Olympio’s managing director Sean Delaney described the results as “a great start”, saying the campaign had successfully tested the western extension of the mineralised zone and set the stage for aggressive follow-up drilling.

Follow-up drilling is already underway.

Olympio has extended its drill campaign beyond the initial 2400m to chase multiple emerging targets, not just at Paquin, but also nearby at the Amadee prospect, which sits on what appears to be the same gold-bearing structure.

Field mapping has shown that Amadee’s smoky quartz veins mirror those at Paquin. The two zones may form part of a single mineralised corridor stretching across more than 1km of strike.

Historical hits at Amadee include 1.52m at 6.8g/t and 1.52m at 5.6g/t from shallow depths.

Recent drilling by Olympio has already racked up eight holes in the area, with assays now pending.

Meanwhile, deeper on the structure, the Decoeur Extension prospect has also seen initial drilling, targeting a large IP anomaly interpreted to sit along the North Bousquet Fault – a regional Archaean structure considered ripe for discovery.

Drill core from Decoeur has intersected more of the same smoky quartz veining with sulphides in a favourable geological setting, though the company says the chargeability anomaly isn’t yet fully explained and will be revisited when assays arrive in August.

Olympio is well-funded for the current campaign, having recently completed a $1.6 million capital raise, which received strong support from sophisticated investors and its directors.

With early high-grade success and a string of targets lined up along a globally recognised gold corridor, the company appears to have plenty of news flow ahead.

Olympio has managed to strike early with a maiden drill campaign in a region known for monster gold deposits. In the mining game, turning up visible gold in your first two holes is about the best start you could have.

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