Kenorland Minerals Provides Exploration Update

Rhea-AI Summary

Kenorland Minerals (OTCQX: NWRCF) announced updates on its 2021 exploration activities across multiple North American projects. The company reported extensive drilling operations, including an 18,000m program at the Frotet Project in Quebec and a 5,000m maiden drill program at the Healy Project in Alaska. Over C$17 million is invested in exploration, with C$11 million funded through partners. The company anticipates over C$2 million in revenue from management fees this year, underscoring its commitment to maximizing shareholder returns through exploration success.

Positive

• Over C$17 million allocated for 2021 exploration activities.
• Major drill programs at Frotet (18,000m) and Healy (5,000m) Projects.
• C$11 million of exploration costs funded through partnerships, reducing risk.
• Estimated revenue of C$2 million from management fees projected for this year.

Negative

• Delays in the planned drill program at the Tanacross Project due to geochemical and geophysical survey delays.

VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) (OTCQX: NWRCF) (FSE: 3WQ0) ("Kenorland" or "the Company") is pleased to provide an update on its 2021 exploration activities covering multiple projects located across North America.  

Summary of 2021 Summer-Fall Exploration:

• Frotet Project, Quebec (Joint Venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining): 18,000m diamond drill program
• Healy Project, Alaska (Optioned from Newmont Corporation): 5,000m maiden diamond drill program
• Tanacross Project, Alaska (100% owned): soil geochemistry, UAV magnetic, and IP surveys
• Chicobi Project, Quebec (Optioned to Sumitomo Metal Mining): Geophysics (UAV magnetics, IP, EM)
• Hunter Project, Quebec (100% owned): Property-wide airborne VTEM geophysical survey
• Chebistuan Project, Quebec (Optioned to Newmont Corporation): Phase 2 soil geochemistry survey
• South Uchi Project, Ontario (100% owned): LIDAR survey and regional till sampling (planned for fall)

Francis MacDonald, Executive Vice President of Exploration, commented, "We are carrying out a significant amount of exploration this year, which is shaping up to be our largest yet in terms of both sole-funded, and partner-funded budgets. There is over C$17 million of exploration happening across our portfolio, with the majority of that spend going towards drill programs at the Frotet Project, in Quebec, which is currently under JV with Sumitomo Metal Mining, as well as the Healy Project, in Alaska, which we have optioned from Newmont Corporation, with the balance advancing our 'pipeline' of greenfield projects, located in Quebec and Ontario. With over C$11 million of these expenditures funded through partners on projects which we remain operator, Kenorland not only shares the risk of exploration but also generates significant revenue through management fees and cash payments, which we estimate will be over C$2 million this year alone." 

Figure 1. Kenorland Minerals North American Project Locations

Zach Flood, President and CEO states, "Our mission at Kenorland has always been to maximize shareholder return through exploration success. We take a long-term approach with multiple grassroots projects being advanced through the pipeline at all times.  Some of our projects are sole funded, some are farmed out, while other assets are sold entirely for equity and royalty interests, depending on how a project fits within our risk profile.  We believe that scale, creativity and flexibility are fundamental to building value and optionality within an exploration portfolio. Any of these projects may result in a significant discovery, as we have already witnessed at Frotet through the grassroots discovery of Regnault last year. With interest in over 1 million acres of ground, all which has seen various stages of systematic exploration and being actively explored, we are confident that our efforts will return significant gains to our shareholders."   

2021 Exploration Update

Frotet Project, Quebec (80/20 Joint Venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd.): The Company has completed 9,889 meters of diamond drilling from the recently announced program consisting of up to 18,000 meters (see press release date July 14, 2021) allocated for infill and step-out drilling along the R1 and R2 gold-bearing structures as well as follow-up on additional zones of mineralization within the Regnault trend. In addition to drilling at Regnault, till and soil geochemical surveys as well as prospecting campaigns were completed on several regional areas of interest within the Frotet Project. This work has yielded a number of robust geochemical anomalies which warrant follow-up exploration including detailed geophysics in preparation for drill targeting.  Drill testing of these regional target areas is tentatively planned for Q1 2022.

Healy Project, Alaska (Optioned from Newmont Corporation): The ongoing drill program at Healy (see press release date June 3, 2021) has been extended to include over 5,000 meters of diamond drilling to systematically test the Bronk, Thor and Spike target areas.  The Company has also completed 5 line-kilometers of high-powered induced polarization (IP) and magnetotellurics (MT) which transects the entire Healy gold system.  A total of 4,821 meters has been drilled to date and complete assays from the drill program are expected to be announced in Fall 2021. 

Tanacross Project, Alaska (100% owned): The Company has completed an extensive soil geochemical and mapping survey covering East Taurus, West Taurus, and South Taurus prospects as well as the Big Creek target.  A total of 1870 soil samples have been collected and sent for analysis. Detailed UAV magnetics surveys, consisting of over 600 line-kilometers, was flown over the same target areas.  The Company has also completed 5 line-kilometers of high-powered IP and MT over the South Taurus target. Due to delays of the geochemical and geophysical surveys, the previously announced drill program planned at Tanacross has been put on hold until further notice, and the budget was reallocated to complete additional drilling at the Healy Project.

Chicobi Project, Quebec (Optioned to Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd.): The Company has received all assay and gold grain counts from the Phase 3 sonic drill-for-till geochemical program.  A coherent, multi-element (including gold) anomaly, 'Target B', was identified from multiple sonic drilling campaigns which began with a property-wide regional survey in 2019. Detailed geophysical surveys are now being planned to refine drill targets within the anomaly.  These geophysical surveys, which include drone magnetics, IP, and electromagnetics (EM), are planned for fall 2021. Initial diamond drill testing is tentatively scheduled for Q1 2022.

Hunter Project, Quebec (100% owned): The Company has completed a property-wide airborne Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) geophysical survey covering the 18,177-hectare project aimed to identify potential volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) targets for follow-up exploration.  A total of 1,104 line-kilometers were flown at a spacing of 200m.

Chebistuan Project, Quebec (Optioned to Newmont Corporation): The Company has completed the Phase 2 geochemical survey following up on multiple anomalous areas of interest defined from the initial regional program in 2020. A total of 2,121 soil samples were collected for geochemical analysis and 225 till samples collected for gold grain analysis.  A follow-up prospecting campaign is tentatively planned for the Fall.

South Uchi Project, Ontario (100% owned): The Company has completed a LIDAR survey and surficial geology map covering the 76,511-hectare project.  This data has been used for planning a first pass till geochemistry program scheduled for the Fall.

Other Equity and Royalty Interests

Rupert Project (LiFT Power Ltd - Private) Kenorland recently optioned the Rupert Lithium Project, located in Quebec, to LiFT Power in return for a 10% equity interest in the company upon listing and a 2% uncapped NSR.  A first-pass regional till sampling program has been completed covering ~1000 km² of the prospective geologic sub-province boundary that hosts the Whabouchi lithium pegmatite deposit.

Napoleon Project (J2 Metals Inc. - Private) – The Company recently vended the Napoleon Project, located in Alaska to J2 Metals for a significant equity position and 2% uncapped NSR.  J2 is currently carrying out a 3,000m rotary air blast (RAB) drill program to test multiple gold-bearing structures.

Fox River Project (Superior Nickel Corp. - Private) – The Company recently vended two mineral exploration licenses covering prospective Ni sulphide targets in the Fox River Belt in Manitoba in return for a significant equity position and 2% uncapped NSR, as well as an exploration commitment to complete 2,000m of diamond drilling to test various Ni-sulphide targets within the belt.

Goldrange and Thibert Projects (Kingfisher Metals Ltd. - TSXV: KFR): The Company holds a 2% uncapped NSR on the Goldrange and Thibert Projects as well as a significant equity position in Kingfisher.  A 5,000m maiden diamond drill program is currently underway at Goldrange to test a large-scale gold-in-soil anomaly related to a previously undrilled gold system.

Prospector Royalty Corp. (Private) – The Company owns an approximate 40% stake in Prospector Royalty Corp., a private royalty generation and acquisition company which recently received a C$2 million strategic investment from Gold Royalty Corp. (NYSE: GROY).

Koulou Gold Corp. (Private) – The Company owns a 20% stake in Koulou Gold, a private West Africa-focused gold exploration company. 

Qualified Person

Mr.  Jan Wozniewski, B. Sc., P. Geo., OGQ (#2239) is the "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

About Kenorland Minerals

Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSX.V KLD) is a mineral exploration Company incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia and based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Kenorland's focus is early to advanced stage exploration in North America.  The Company currently holds three projects in Quebec where work is being completed under joint venture and earn-in agreement from third parties. The Frotet Project is held under joint venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. (SMMCL), the Chicobi Project is optioned to SMMCL, and the Chebistuan Project is optioned to Newmont Corporation. The Company also owns 100% of the advanced stage Tanacross porphyry Cu-Au project as well as an option to earn up to 70% from Newmont Corporation on the Healy Project, both located in Alaska, USA.

Further information can be found on the Company's website www.kenorlandminerals.com

Kenorland Minerals Ltd.
Zach Flood
President and CEO
Tel: +1 604 363 1779
zach@kenorlandminerals.com

Kenorland Minerals Ltd.
Francis MacDonald
Executive Vice President
Tel: +1 778 322 8705
francis@kenorlandminerals.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects', "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing these forward-looking statements are reasonable based upon the information currently available to management as of the date hereof, actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. 

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SOURCE Kenorland Minerals Ltd.

FAQ

What are the key projects Kenorland Minerals is focusing on in 2021?

Kenorland Minerals is focusing on the Frotet Project in Quebec and the Healy Project in Alaska, among others.

How much has Kenorland Minerals invested in exploration activities in 2021?

Kenorland Minerals has invested over C$17 million in exploration activities across its projects in 2021.

What is the revenue projection for Kenorland Minerals from management fees in 2021?

Kenorland Minerals expects to generate over C$2 million in revenue from management fees in 2021.

What caused the delays at the Tanacross Project for Kenorland Minerals?

The delays at the Tanacross Project were due to setbacks in geochemical and geophysical surveys.