The South Uchi Project is located within the Red Lake District of northwestern Ontario and the property is located roughly 20km to the northeast of the town of Ear Falls and is accessible through an extensive forestry road network north of provincial highway 657.

The South Uchi Project was first identified and staked by Kenorland based on the prospectivity to host significant gold mineralised systems. The Project covers a portion of Confederation Assemblage volcanic rocks, as well as the boundary between the volcanic-dominated Uchi geological subprovince to the north and the sedimentary-dominated English River geological subprovince to the south. Multiple major east-west striking shear zones associated with the subprovince boundary transect the Project along its 90km strike-length. Deformation associated with these structures has resulted in zones of strong shearing, alteration, and folding of the metavolcanic-clastic and metasedimentary-iron formation stratigraphy, which are favorable settings for orogenic gold mineralisation.

The majority of gold deposits in the Red Lake District (Red Lake, Madsen, Hasaga, and others) are located on the northern margin of the Confederation Assemblage, however, recent discoveries such as the LP Fault Zone on the Dixie Project by Great Bear Resources Ltd. (renamed the Great Bear Project by Kinross Gold) highlight the prospectivity of the entire Confederation Assemblage along the southern margin of the Uchi subprovince.

The Project occurs in the western Superior Craton which hosts numerous magmatic Ni-Cu ± PGE deposits such as the world class Eagle’s Nest Deposit (11.1 Mt @1.68% Ni, 1.14% Cu; Ring of Fire Metals). Magmatic Ni-Cu ± PGE deposits of the western Superior typically occur in Archean aged mafic to ultramafic greenstone rocks, such as those mapped within the Project. At the broad regional scale there is a spatial correlation between Ni-Cu ± PGE deposits of the western Superior and a prominent gravity trend identified by Kenorland geoscientists as a plausible paleo-rift axis within the Superior Craton. Rift axes within Archean cratons represent a 1st order control on magmatic Ni-Cu camps globally (e.g. Kambalda Camp of Western Australia). This gravity trend transects the Project further highlighting the prospectivity of the area for magmatic Ni-Cu ± PGE potential.

The Project also meets many of the criteria for potential lithium pegmatite deposits, including the presence of the large Alison Lake batholith (a fertile peraluminous granite), which is partly covered by the Project. Numerous lithium pegmatite occurrences are located in the region, including the McCombe and Root Lake deposits (Green Technology Metals) located immediately to the east of the Project.

Historical exploration within the vicinity of the South Uchi Project dates to the 1950’s, during which time iron deposits (iron formation) and pegmatite lithium and beryl deposits were the focus. Advanced exploration identified several iron deposits, as well as pegmatite lithium deposits including the Root Lake and McCombe lithium deposits located immediately along strike to the east of the Project. Between 1980 and 2010, localized exploration for gold and base metals occurred through prospecting, mapping, limited geochemical surveys, and geophysical surveys. In total 29 drill holes have been completed within the Project area primarily targeting gold and/or base metal potential. Extensive glacial till and glaciolacustrine deposits covering the Project has historically hindered regional exploration.

The Project was acquired through staking and option in 2021, and a LIDAR survey was flown by Kenorland to aid in surficial geological interpretation and planning for systematic geochemical surveys. The Project was optioned to Barrick Gold Corporation in 2021, and completed a property-wide glacial till geochemical survey including the collection of 1902 till samples.  In 2022, detailed follow-up exploration included a drill-for-till program which resulted in the collection of 459 overburden samples and 56 top of bedrock samples. In addition, detailed mapping was carried out over multiple target areas along with the collection 1069 rock samples. Barrick’s exploration campaigns confirmed that in addition to the gold prospectivity, the Project also hosted a large, coherent, and highly anomalous area of coincident nickel and copper in glacial overburden, with nickel values returning up to 674 ppm and copper up to 306 ppm in till, potentially indicating a bedrock source of mineralisation below cover. The results also highlighted multiple lithium-cesium anomalies, which could indicate potential sources of lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite systems along the geological sub-province boundary and margin of the Alison Lake batholith. The high grade McCombe lithium deposit, occurs along this margin, directly to the east of the Project, illustrating the potential for LCT pegmatite mineralisation within the Project area.

In 2023, additional staking was completed and a LIDAR survey was flown over newly staked areas to increase DEM coverage for surficial interpretation. All regional data was digitized and infill till sampling and prospecting over multiple target areas was completed in 2023.

In February 2024, Kenorland announced results at the Paponga Target Area (Gold) after completing a large-scale geochemical sampling survey including approximately 2,800 fine fraction till samples, 700 heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) till samples, and 630 rock samples. The survey focused on a number of different mineral system targets (Au, Ni-Cu, Li) across the 83,385-hectare property. Results from the fine fraction till sampling identified the Papaonga target, defined by a large-scale, coherent gold-in-till anomaly and a strong multi-element signature of Au-Ag-Te-W±As-Sb. The Papaonga gold-in-till anomaly covers approximately five kilometers striking east-west and eight kilometers northeast-southwest following the prominent ice flow direction. There has been very limited historical exploration, and no historical drilling has occurred within the geochemical source target area. 

Kenorland is planning a detailed mapping and prospecting campaign within the Papaonga target area for the 2024 summer field season, focusing on the identified ‘head’ (source) of the gold-in-till glacial dispersal plumes. In addition, 10kg HMC till samples will be collected across the target area for gold grain counts and analysis. Kenorland also recently completed a high resolution airborne magnetic survey covering the Papaonga target area. The goal of the 2024 exploration campaign is to develop drill targets for testing in 2025.