- Survey Penetrated 3x Deeper Than Planned: Originally designed to image down to 400m, the ANT survey successfully mapped to over 1,200m, unlocking previously unseen subsurface structures.
- District-Scale Geology Uncovered: Results point to a vertically continuous mineral system, resembling known VMS and Broken Hill-type camps—suggesting Montauban may be far more than a single-deposit story.
- Exploration Roadmap Expanded: The contrast in high- and low-velocity zones has provided a clearer structural model to target deeper, stacked, and potentially repeating mineralized lenses.
- Modern Data, Historic Opportunity: This marks the first time modern deep geophysics has been applied to Montauban since its early 20th-century production—signaling a new era of systematic exploration.
Heavy metal resource developer ESGold (CSE: ESAU) (OTCQB: ESAUF) is busy readying the launch of its revenue-generation strategy, which engages tailings cleanup operations and mineral reuse plan at the historic Montauban mine site. At the same time, the company continues its long-term vision for gold and silver exploration at the Canadian mine.
ESGold announced the results of its recent Ambient Noise Tomography (“ANT”) survey July 11, highlighting the potential for metals discovery at the historic Montauban gold and silver mine site covering 13,116 hectares (about 32,410 acres) of abandoned exploration 80 kilometers (49.7 miles) west of Quebec’s capital city.
“We now believe Montauban may be far more than a single deposit — it is emerging as a deep, district-scale system with possible structural and geological continuity,” André Gauthier, director of exploration, stated in the news release (https://ibn.fm/7uScs). “Where previous generations saw a series of shallow pods, we now see the signature of a vertically integrated mineral system — potentially with stacked, repeating lenses akin to those in VMS (Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide) system or Broken Hill-style districts.”
“The continuity, depth, and scale of the structures we’re seeing suggest that the original mine was just the tip of the iceberg,” CEO Gordon Robb added. “As we build toward production from the tailings, we’re simultaneously unlocking the blue-sky potential beneath. This data confirms Montauban may be just the first chapter in a much larger district-scale opportunity, and we’re excited to share that story with the world.”
ESGold’s focus has been on starting a profitable gold, silver and mica recovery operation later this year, which will mostly rely on gravity separation in a Humphrey spiral concentrator to obtain any leftover precious metals. It will also prepare the mica for a concentrated mixture that will be stronger than concrete and marketable as a reuse product in parking columns, highway Jersey barriers, bricks, cinder blocks, and paving stones.
The company’s strategy focuses on integrating clean technology into the recovery process, reducing site pollution and eliminating the need for harmful extraction methods. The additional search for untapped gold and silver at the site remains ESGold’s long game.
More than 2.6 million short tons of gold, silver, lead and zinc were mined at the site under previous exploration between 1910 and the 1970s before the site was abandoned. Until now, most geological data for the site has come from tailings and a few shallow boreholes, with virtually no deep-penetrating geophysical data.
The new ANT survey was a non-invasive geophysical technique using ambient seismic noise analyzed by 105 triaxial sensors continuously recording data to image deep crustal structures for 49 days across a segment of the property.
It was originally scoped to map subsurface structures to 400 meters but exceeded expectations by imaging to depths of 1,200 meters. Such imaging can reveal features beyond the reach of historic exploration and guide new drilling.
The ANT survey reaffirms that Montauban’s mineral system remains open at depth — both vertically and laterally, according to the company. Multiple zones across the property remain completely untested.
ESGold has secured the necessary permits and infrastructure installation for the reuse operation is underway.
For more information, visit the company’s website at https://esgold.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ESAUF are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ESAUF
