Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 5, 2025) - Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has staked an additional 128 mining claims totaling 7,175 hectares (72 square kilometres ("km2")) contiguous with the northern boundary of its 100%-owned Douay Gold Project ("Douay") and Joutel Gold Project ("Joutel") (together, "Douay/Joutel" or the "Property") located along the Casa Berardi-Douay Gold Trend in Québec, Canada. The newly acquired claims expand the Company's Douay/Joutel land holdings by ~17% within prospective Taibi Group sedimentary rocks. The Taibi Group represents a compelling new exploration target area for sediment-hosted gold deposits along a major lithotectonic boundary similar to the Casa Berardi and Canadian Malartic gold deposits.
The Company is also pleased to report that its fully funded, 10,000-meter ("m") 2025 winter drill campaign at Douay (the "Program") has been increased to 12,000 m following recent positive drill results in the Nika Zone (see Company news release dated April 3, 2025). In addition, based on the Company's Quality Assurance and Quality Control ("QA/QC") protocols, 24 higher-grade samples from drill hole DO-25-338 that were previously reported using traditional fire assay with gravimetric finish were re-run using screen metallics and returned 2% to 5% higher gold values (see Table 1).
The Company also announces that its Board of Directors has approved the issuance of annual equity incentive plan grants to certain employees, officers, directors and consultants.
Strategic Land Expansion North of Douay
Maple Gold staked an additional 128 mining claims totaling 7,175 hectares (72 km2) in late December 2024 and early January 2025, adding ~17% to the size of the Property and bringing the Company's total land position at Douay/Joutel to 905 mining claims totaling 48,146 hectares (481 km2). The newly acquired claims cover Taibi Group sedimentary rocks (included folded banded iron formations) immediately north of the regional gold-bearing Casa Berardi Deformation Zone ("CBDZ"), the northwestern projection of the Douay Deformation Zone ("DDZ"), which bounds the current Douay mineral resource, and the main Douay claim block (see Figure 1).
The Archean-age Taibi Group has potential to host large-scale sedimentary-hosted lode gold deposits similar to the Casa Berardi Mine (operated by Hecla Mining Company) located ~80 km to the northwest of Douay/Joutel, the Canadian Malartic Complex (operated by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited) located ~155 km to the south of Douay/Joutel, and the past-producing, high-grade Vezza Mine located ~12 km to the east of Douay/Joutel (see Figure 2).
"We are excited to have secured additional mining claims within the prospective yet largely untested structural-stratigraphic corridor that hosts Douay and similar nearby deposits," stated Kiran Patankar, Maple Gold's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our regional staking program was guided by a new, robust 3D model integrating updated geological, geochemical, geophysical and structural data, which has already contributed to recent drilling success at Douay. This strategic land expansion north of Douay provides potential for sediment-hosted gold deposits along a major lithotectonic boundary and further enhances the Company's foothold along the favorable Casa Berardi-Douay Gold Trend."
Figure 1: Plan view map showing Douay/Joutel property package and location of new mining claims
The ongoing Program has been increased from 10,000 m to 12,000 m, with two diamond drill rigs currently completing follow-up testing near drill hole DO-25-338 in the Nika Zone, which intersected 2.05 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au") over 108.6 m, including 3.05 g/t Au over 55.8 m, and including 4.93 g/t Au over 17 m.
The previously reported assay results from DO-25-338 were determined using 50-gram ("g") sample traditional fire assay with gravimetric finish. The Company is pleased to report that 24 higher-grade samples from the reported intervals were re-run using 1-kilogram ("kg") sample screen metallics and returned 2% to 5% higher gold values as indicated in Table 1.
Table 1: DO-25-338 - Fire Assay w/Gravimetric Finish Assay Results vs. Final Screen Metallic Assay Results:
Target
From
To
Length
Au_FA_GR
Au_MS
%
Drill Hole
(meters)
(meters)
(meters)
(g/t)
(g/t)
Change
Nika Zone
DO-25-338
495.0
664.5
169.5
1.43
1.46
2%
Including
537.4
645.9
108.6
2.05
2.10
2%
Including
588.2
644.0
55.8
3.05
3.15
3%
Including
588.2
596.0
7.8
5.95
6.15
3%
And Including
627.0
644.0
17.0
4.93
5.16
5%
Note: All reported intercepts are downhole lengths. Assays are uncut, but over limits (>10 g/t Au initial assay) were re-assayed using Fire Assay with Gravimetric finish, and subsequently, Au screen metallics. True widths will vary depending on hole plunge but are estimated to be 70-90% of downhole length.
At the time of writing of this news release, the Company has completed approximately 75% of the planned 12,000 m at Douay and expects to complete the Program within budget by the end of May 2025. Additional assay results will be released on a periodic basis over the coming weeks once they are received and interpreted.
Annual Equity Incentive Plan Grants
Pursuant to the Company's Equity Incentive Plan (the "Plan") dated December 17, 2020, as amended, and TSX Venture Exchange policies, Maple Gold's Board of Directors has approved the annual grant of stock options ("Options"), Restricted Share Units ("RSUs") and Deferred Share Units ("DSUs") to certain employees, officers, directors and consultants. The Company granted Options to purchase an aggregate of 7,100,000 common shares of the Company (each, a "Common Share"), with an exercise price of $0.085 per Common Share. The Options will vest in three equal tranches over a 24-month period. Once vested, each Option is exercisable into one Common Share for a period of five years from the date of the grant. The Company also granted a total of 2,650,000 RSUs and 750,000 DSUs. The RSUs will vest in three equal tranches over a 36-month period. Once vested, each RSU and DSU entitles the holder to receive one Common Share (or its cash equivalent, or a combination thereof), net of applicable withholdings. DSUs may only be exercised once a director ceases to serve on the Company's Board of Directors.
Further information regarding the Plan is set out in the Company's Management Information Circular filed on July 26, 2024, which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).
Qualified Person
Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng. (PEO/EGBC/OGQ), Vice President, Technical Services of Maple Gold, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information related to exploration and Mineral Resource matters contained in this news release. Mr. Cunningham-Dunlop is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
The Company implements strict QA/QC protocols at the Douay Gold Project covering the planning and placing of drill holes in the field, drilling and retrieving the NQ-sized drill core, drill hole surveying, core transport, core logging by qualified personnel, sampling and bagging of ½ cut drill core for analysis, and the transport of samples from site to commercial laboratories for analysis.
All core drilling conducted by the Company is oriented. Samples of drill core were cut by a diamond blade rock saw, with half of the cut core placed in individual sealed polyurethane bags and half placed back in the original core box for permanent storage at the Douay site. Sample lengths typically vary from a minimum 0.3-m interval to a maximum 1.5-m interval, with an average 0.5-m to 1.0-m sample length. Drill core samples were delivered by truck in sealed woven plastic bags to AGAT laboratory facility in Val d'Or, Québec for sample preparation with final analysis at AGAT Geochemistry Analytical Lab facility in Thunder Bay, ON and Calgary, AB. AGAT Geochemistry operates by meeting all requirements of International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015.
For sample preparation, ½ cut drill core is dried and crushed to 90% passing 2 mm, split to 500 g, pulverizing to 95% passing 105 microns. Gold is determined by fire-assay fusion of a 50-g sub-sample with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Samples that return values >10 ppm gold from fire assay and ICP-OES are determined by using 50-g sample fire assay and a gravimetric finish. Selected samples with visible gold or high-grade mineralization are assayed by Metallic Screen Fire Assay on a 1-kg sample. A sub-sample from the homogenized pulps after sample prep is sent to Calgary, AB for the multi-acid digestion (4 Acid Digest) analysis. 0.2 g is weighed out for each sample for 4 Acid Digest and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma emissions spectrometry or mass spectrometry (ICP-OES/MS). ICP-OES/MS analyzes various metals including silver, gold, copper, lead and zinc. All AGAT Geochemistry sites comply with ISO/IEC 17025:2017. AGAT Geochemistry follows the quality management and operational guidelines set out in the international standards ISO/IEC 17025 - "General Requirement for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories" and ISO 9001 - "Quality Management Systems". The Company maintains a robust QA/QC program that includes the collection and analysis of duplicate samples and the insertion of blanks and standards (certified reference material).
About the Douay/Joutel Gold Project
The Douay/Joutel Gold Project is located adjacent to Highway 109 in the heart of Québec's northern Abitibi Greenstone Belt, a world-class Archean gold district. This large, 100%-owned land package includes the Company's flagship Douay gold project, which hosts an established mineral resource1 containing 511,000 ounces of gold (Indicated) and 2.53 million ounces of gold (Inferred), as well as the past-producing, high-grade Joutel Mine Complex2. The Property contains 481 km2 of highly prospective geology within the influence of the major gold-bearing Casa Berardi Deformation Zone. Gold mines in the immediate region include the Casa Berardi Gold Mine operated by Hecla Mining Company and the Detour Lake Gold Mine operated by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.
About Maple Gold
Maple Gold Mines Ltd. is a Canadian advanced exploration company focused on advancing its 100%-owned, district-scale Douay/Joutel Gold Project located in Quebec's prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canada's premier gold mining jurisdiction. Douay/Joutel benefits from exceptional infrastructure access and boasts 481 km2 of highly prospective ground including an established gold mineral resource at Douay with significant expansion potential as well as the past-producing Telbel and Eagle West mines at Joutel. In addition, the Company holds an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Eagle Mine Property, a key part of the historical Joutel Mining Complex.
Maple Gold's property package also hosts a significant number of regional exploration targets along a 55-km strike length of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone that have yet to be tested through drilling, making the property ripe for new gold and polymetallic discoveries. The Company is currently focused on carrying out exploration and drill programs to grow mineral resources and make new discoveries to establish an exciting new gold district in the heart of the Abitibi. For more information, please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.
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 PRESS RELEASE.
Forward-Looking Statements and Cautionary Notes:
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada. Forward-Looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective,", "strategy", "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Forward-ooking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements about the resource expansion and discovery potential across the Company's gold projects, and its intention to pursue such potential, and the Company's exploration work and results from current and future work programs. Although the Company believes that forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct, as forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events on the date the statements are made and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of additional risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements in this news release, please refer to the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators available on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval Plus (SEDAR+) at www.sedarplus.ca or the Company's website at www.maplegoldmines.com. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and/or the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any intention to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
1 The Douay Project contains Indicated Mineral Resources estimated at 10 million tonnes at a grade of 1.59 g/t Au (containing 511,000 ounces of gold), and Inferred Mineral Resources estimated at 76.7 million tonnes at a grade of 1.02 g/t Au (containing 2,527,000 ounces of gold). See the technical report for the Douay Gold Project entitled "Technical Report on the Douay and Joutel Projects Northwestern Québec, Canada Report for NI 43-101" prepared by SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. with an effective date of March 17, 2022, and dated April 29, 2022. 2 The Eagle, Eagle West and Telbel gold mines at Joutel were in production from 1974 to 1993 and produced 1.1 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 6.5 g/t Au (Agnico Eagle Mines Limited's corporate website)
