Kinross Gold Corporation (TSE: K) (NYSE: KGC) put drills in the ground at Dixie Halo property close to its Great Bear gold deposit, southeast of Red Lake, Ontario.
The Dixie Halo property is owned by Canadian gold junior, BTU METALS CORP. (CVE: BTU) (OTCMKTS: BTUMF), and the deal is part of an option agreement between the two parties. BTU Metals made the announcement on Wednesday.
Kinross is also starting work on its Hubcap property next to the south boundary of the Red Pine Exploration Inc. (CVE: RPX) Wawa Gold Project.
BTU finished several drilling campaigns on the Dixie Halo project while Great Bear Resources was successfully outlining extensive gold mineralization on the Dixie Project. And long before Kinross acquired Great Bear Resources for CAD$1.8 billion in 2022.
Subsequently, the BTU signed an option agreement with Kinross, closing the transaction in Q2 of 2023. Since then, Kinross has evaluated all available data on the Dixie Halo option property to prepare for follow-up drill testing of potential gold targets.
As part of this work, Kinross re-logged drill core from the BTU’s previous programs on the Dixie Halo property. Additionally, the company completed a full reinterpretation of all available geological data.
BTU is preparing to follow up on strong shearing, sulphide mineralization, and quartz veining identified during late 2024 work programs on the northern part of the Hubcap Project, located just south of the Red Pine Wawa Project.
Encouraging results from prospecting, geological mapping, and a review of historic data enabled BTU to plan further exploration. The company is now preparing to execute additional work programs.
Read more: Calibre Mining understands the balance between economic performance and sustainability
Read more: Calibre Mining reports solid Q1 results; receives court approval for Equinox Gold merger
BTU anticipates further exploratory drilling
Red Pine recently released results from 18 grab samples collected just a few hundred metres from the boundary it shares with BTU. This area will be a priority for initial prospecting in the early part of BTU’s program.
On November 27, Red Pine reported assay results from the War Eagle area, located about 3 km south-southeast of its 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate zone announced on September 30, 2024. The samples returned gold values ranging from 0.72 g/t to 17.10 g/t. Furthermore, the trend of shearing and mineralization appears to extend south-southwest toward the shared boundary, approximately 750 metres farther southwest.
Late in the 2024 field season, BTU collected prospecting samples near this common boundary. These samples came from scattered surface exposures of sheared, quartz-veined, and carbonate-altered outcrop containing disseminated pyrite.
In its March 31, 2025 MD&A, Kinross provided an update on the Great Bear Project. It indicated it had shifted focus from drilling the LP Zone to regional exploration, citing a substantial existing inventory in the economic assessment and high drilling costs at depth.
In addition, Kinross began regional drilling in Q1 2025, targeting both near-surface and underground zones identified through lithostratigraphic models and geophysical surveys. The program is ongoing. Kinross expects to complete over 50,000 metres of drilling by year-end.
.
