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The 23,110ha Gochager Lake property is located 75km north-northeast of La Ronge and 22km west-northwest of Missinipe. Fathom has met the expenditure commitment as part of an option agreement on part of the property and will have 100% ownership of the entire property upon meeting a final cash payment and final share issuance (September 2025). Access to the property is currently by fixed wing aircraft or by helicopter. A 20-25 person, all season camp has been established on the property to allow for all season exploration; the exception being the freeze-up (November-December) and break up (April-May) periods during the year.
Geology
The Gochager Lake property falls within the interpreted border of the Rottenstone and La Ronge Domain of the Proterozoic (1.8 – 2.0 Ga) Trans-Hudson orogenic belt (the THO or Trans Hudson Corridor). The Gochager Lake property area is underlain by a monotonous succession of northeast-trending, heavily foliated biotite gneiss or biotite migmatite. The southern and eastern part of the property show highly foliated lenticular bands of hornblendite and hornblende gneiss, while the centre of the property hosts small, scattered intrusive dioritic and gabbroic bodies that vary in size from 300 m to 1.8 km in length and are aligned with the regional northeasterly trend. The Gochager Lake deposit, a historic indicated mineral reserve consisting of 4,262,400 tons grading 0.295% Ni and 0.081% Cu1, is hosted within a chaotic, complex intrusive suite composed of norite and variable-textured gabbro, and ultramafic rocks (pyroxenite). Pyrrhotite is the dominant sulphide mineral within the deposit, and occurs as stringers, blebs, disseminations, and net-texture, as well as in a semi-massive to massive sulphide breccia form. Pentlandite occurs as coarse disseminations within the pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite is additionally present as stringers and interstitial blebs in low concentrations throughout the deposit. Cobalt, a significant component to the Gochager style of mineralization, is directly associated with pentlandite.
Exploration History
The most significant period of exploration occurred between 1966 and 1972 and resulted in the discovery of two drill indicated mineral reserves, the Gochager Lake and Borys Lake mineral deposits and the discovery of the Mal Lake Ni-occurrence (SMDI#0836).
At the Gochager Lake deposit available historic records suggest the area was subject to > 27,000 meters of drilling in 149 drillholes. Much of this drilling utilizes vertically inclined drillholes. Historic, drillhole I-12; starting at just below surface, intersected 290.4 meters grading 0.58% Ni, 0.11% Cu. At the bottom of this intercept 9.7 meters grading 2.36% Ni, 0.36% Cu and 0.14% Co occurs. Cobalt was not reported in the historic mineral reserve and Fathom drilling to date illustrates the significant Co credit associated with the Ni-Cu mineralization. Two inclined drillholes drilled in 2018 confirmed the presence of semi-massive to massive, high-grade Ni-Cu-Co sulphide breccias occurring within a broader disseminated halo of magmatic Ni-Cu-Co sulphide mineralization. This is critical as it provided the Company with good evidence that the style of mineralization should provide robust conductivity and that borehole electromagnetic surveys (BHEM) can be utilized at the property to define and locate additional zones of conductive, semi-massive to massive, high-grade Ni-Cu-Co sulphide breccias.
The Mal Lake Ni-occurrence approximately 10km southeast of the Gochager Lake deposit, drilled in 1967 returned drillhole intercepts up to 1.11% Ni, 0.24% Cu / 7.9m2. The host rock and Ni:Cu ratio is analogous to the Gochager Lake deposit and review of available historic drill core revealed Co is associated with the Ni-Cu mineralization.
The Borys Lake deposit / zone (SMDI#0848) is defined by 39 drillholes. The zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) mineralization (sphalerite-galena) has been mapped along a strike of 3,800m. Work in 2018-2019 consisting of trenching and drilling confirmed the Zn-Pb mineralization associated with the historic mineral reserve defined in 1972 (1.34 M tons at 1.91% combined Zn-Pb)1.
Fathom Exploration
Fathom Exploration
Fathom’s approach at the Gochager Lake deposit has been concentrated in understanding the geological controls, confirming the historic mineralization, determining the geometry of the high-grade Ni-Cu-Co mineralization within the historic deposit, understanding the geophysical response to the mineralization, and the geochemistry signal of the chaotic, complex mafic-ultramafic intrusive suite. This has been accomplished by drilling, performing BHEM and surface EM (electromagnetic) surveys, along with a focused approach to define the litho-geochemical signature of the chaotic, complex Gochager Lake deposit intrusive rocks. Fathom has successfully expanded the geological, geophysical and geochemical footprint 25x that of the historic deposit with surface mapping, prospecting, soil geochemistry and by a detailed, high-resolution DroneMAG survey. To date the Company has drilled 16 drillholes amounting to 5,549 meters at the Gochager Lake project.
Exploration Highlights
The historic Gochager Lake deposit consists of disseminated, interstitial, vein and semi-massive to massive sulphide breccia Ni-Cu-Co mineralization within a variable-texture gabbro. High-grade Ni-Cu-Co mineralization is confined to very steeply oriented veins or chutes within a much broader halo of disseminated to interstitial sulphide mineralization. Examples of the mineralized intervals2:
- GL23003; 107.20m – 0.91% Ni, 0.23% Cu, 0.07% Co
- Including 55.45m – 1.54% Ni, 0.39% Cu, 0.12% Co
- Including 21.85m – 2.26% Ni, 0.50% Cu, 0.17% Co
- GL24013; 14.06m – 0.88% Ni, 0.28% Cu, 0.07% Co
- Including 3.96m – 2.28% Ni. 0.51% Cu, 0.18% Co
- GL24016; 61.72m – 0.57% Ni, 0.17% Cu, 0.05% Co
- Including 7.39m – 1.43% Ni, 0.38% Cu, 0.11% Co
- Including 2.94m – 2.43% Ni, 0.55% Cu, 0.19% Co
The high-grade Ni-Cu-Co mineralization intersected in drillhole GL23003, and length of the drillhole intercept, reflects the steep orientation of the high-grade Ni-Cu-Co mineralized chutes occurring within the historic deposit. The drillhole is interpreted to have been drilled semi-parallel and within a steeply oriented mineralized chute. In comparison, drillhole GL23016 was drilled perpendicular to the host chaotic intrusive rocks and the mineralization intersected in GL23016 better reflects the widths of the disseminated halo and the chutes containing higher-grade semi-massive to massive Ni-Cu-Co sulphide breccias. The historic deposit has been extended to a minimum of 100m below the historic mineral reserve boundary and remains open to depth and along strike. The high-grade massive sulphide vein and semi-massive to massive sulphide breccia styles of Ni-Cu-Co mineralization are extremely conductive and very detectable by BHEM. To date every BHEM target drilled by Fathom resulted in an intersection of semi-massive to massive sulphide breccia mineralization. Numerous untested BHEM conductors along strike, and to depth within the historic Gochager Lake deposit are high-priority drilling targets. Surface EM conductivity responses have been defined associated with the Gochager deposit (weak) and stronger responses were detected by EM surveys performed along strike east-northeast and west-southwest of the historic deposit. Areas of strong surface EM conductivity are also high priority drill targets.
The host mineralized variable-texture gabbro has a unique and very distinguishable geochemical signature. Unique to the Gochager host variable-texture gabbro, is a higher chrome (Cr) and magnesium (Mg) geochemical signature than the norite and clotted gabbro that sandwiches the variable-texture gabbro. The norite – variable-texture gabbro – clotted gabbro is visually difficult to define but easily detectable by the varied geochemical signals. The unique geochemical contrasts define very sharp and very steep lithological contacts.
The high Cr-Mg variable-texture gabbro has been recognized in field mapping and prospecting and extends east-northeast of the historic deposit a minimum of 600m. The high Cr-Mg gabbro is mineralized, and the mineralization styles and Ni-tenor (3-4%) are similar to the Gochager Lake deposit. Mineralized ultramafic rock (pyroxenite) has been mapped immediately northwest of the historic deposit. Magmatic Ni-Cu-Co mineralization in pyroxenite and similar Ni-tenor suggests that pyroxenite is also a potential host to magmatic Ni sulphide mineralization in the Gochager Lake deposit area.
Soil geochemistry covering approximately an 8 square km area centred over the historic Gochager Lake deposit has defined multiple, multi-element (Ni-Cu-Co-Cr-Mg) soil anomalies indicative of subsurface mineralized mafic-ultramafic rock occurring within the soil geochemistry survey area. Several very robust soil anomalies have been defined up to 1.5km east-northeast and west-southwest along strike of the historic Gochager Lake deposit. A DroneMAG survey that covered the same area as the soil geochemistry program has defined a magnetic corridor that coincides with the multiple multi-element soil anomalies. The Gochager Lake deposit has a distinct positive magnetic signal association. The combined, mapping, prospecting, soil geochemistry and results of the DroneMAG survey, map a geochemical, geophysical footprint that is 25x the geochemical, geophysical footprint associated with the historic Gochager Lake deposit.
Exploration Summary
Fathom has a very good understanding of the geological controls, the geophysical and geochemical signals associated with the historic Gochager Lake deposit. Surface mapping, soil geochemistry and airborne magnetics suggest a very prospective corridor along strike northeast and southwest of the deposit area. To date limited surface EM surveys have defined zones of elevated conductivity east-northeast, southeast and west, west-southwest of the deposit area. The Company is integrating the EM results with soil geochemistry and DroneMAG and will be doing more EM surveys to blanket the area covered by soil geochemistry and DroneMAG results. What has not been discovered to date at the Gochager Lake project is a significant zone(s) of massive Ni-Cu-Co sulphide mineralization. Observations at, and the Company’s understanding of Gochager and how it fits into the magmatic nickel sulphide model, suggest that bodies of massive sulphide Ni-Cu-Co should and can be part of the mineralization identified to date. The expanded geological footprint has significantly expanded the prospectivity of the project and the property remains very prospective. The Mal Lake Ni-occurrence 10km to the southeast is analogous to the Gochager Lake deposit which is suggestive of a common magmatic source. VMS potential as evidenced by the Borys Lake deposit is also a very intriguing exploration target and model.
