Drilling continues to bolster Kirkland Lake confidence in Detour Lake

The drilling programme aims to update and expand the mineral reserve to support a new production plan, which the company will release in early 2022.

The latest drill hole results confirmed the continuity of the mineralised corridor connecting the main pit and the planned west pit, CEO Tony Makuch explained on Tuesday.

High-grade mineralisation was also intersected near the bottom of the mineral resource pit shell in the Saddle zone, which highlighted the potential to add new openpit, and possibly underground, resources.

Kirkland Lake further continued to expand mineralisation to the west of the planned west pit, which Makuch said indicated that the miner was yet to determine the full expanse of the deposit running along the Detour Mine Trend.

“When we issued the new technical report for Detour Lake at the end of March, we described it as an important milestone for the project that included expanded production, low unit costs, a long mine life and attractive economics. We also indicated that it was very much an interim report, that we fully expect to improve upon when we factor the substantial exploration success we are achieving into a new technical report and life-of-mine plan next year. The drilling results we have announced today provide us with even greater confidence that the 2022 technical report will clearly establish Detour Lake as one of the world’s premier gold mines,” he said.