Olympio has an option to acquire up to 80% of the Bousquet Gold Project (Bousquet Option), an advanced high-grade gold project on the Cadillac-Lake Larder Fault Zone, known as the ‘Cadillac Break’, in Quebec, Canada. This terrane bounding structure is associated with world class orogenic gold and copper mineralisation. The Bousquet Project is located 30km east of the Rouyn-Noranda Au-Cu mining centre (Horne and Granada mines) and 15km west of the Bousquet Mining Camp, which includes the >15Moz Au La Ronde and 2.4 Moz Au Westwood working mines. A major highway, railway and hydroelectric power all traverse the centre of the project.
The Bousquet Gold Project is a strategic land acquisition which complements the Dufay Gold-Copper Project 65km to the west along the renowned Cadillac Break. The southern half of the project covers a well-defined, regionally mineralised zone to the south of the Cadillac Break, which hosts numerous gold prospects within Timiskaming Group sediments and possible Piché Complex greenstones, host lithologies highly correlated with gold mineralisation on the Cadillac Break.
The Bousquet Project includes several advanced gold prospects and numerous structural and geophysical targets that remain untested by drilling or modern exploration. The majority of drill holes on the project (67%) are pre-1947, and all prospects remain under-explored.
High grade quartz veins in favourable geological context
Gold mineralisation at Bousquet is structurally controlled, quartz vein-hosted, high-grade gold associated with second and third order structures peripheral to the Cadillac Break, which is typical of the majority of mineralisation on the Cadillac Break.
Gold mineralisation is typically associated with sulphides (arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite and galena), and are potentially suitable for detection by IP or EM geophysical methods.
There are numerous high-grade intersections within the Paquin East prospect. Numerous visible gold intersections have been historically recorded across the project, particularly at Paquin East, including a recent intersection of 9m @ 16.96g/t Au from 178.5m (BO-21-08), including 1m @ 129.25g/t Au (184-185m). Gold is typically observed to be associated with a phase of smoky blue-grey-white quartz across the project. The majority of mineralisation across the project is hosted in greywackes, and to a lesser extent conglomerates of the Timiskaming Group.
Selected drill intercepts from 2021 and 2022 drilling, Paquin East and Decoeur
| Hole ID | From (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | Target |
| B0-21-01 | 180.00 | 10.50 | 0.91 | Decoeur |
| BO-21-02 | 117.00 | 16.30 | 1.09 | Decoeur |
| BO-21-03 | 124.50 | 3.00 | 2.03 | Decoeur |
| BO-21-08 | 178.50 | 9.00 | 16.96 | Paquin East |
| BO-21-09 | 68.30 | 1.75 | 0.82 | Paquin East |
| BO-21-09 | 190.00 | 4.50 | 3.21 | Paquin East |
| BO-21-09 | 220.50 | 3.00 | 0.74 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-10 | 154.50 | 2.50 | 1.94 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-10 | 172.50 | 4.50 | 1.37 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-11 | 118.50 | 10.50 | 1.72 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-11 | 135.00 | 12.00 | 1.23 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-13 | 238.00 | 2.00 | 1.14 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-14 | 217.70 | 2.60 | 1.87 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-15 | 223.00 | 13.00 | 1.33 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-16 | 63.00 | 12.00 | 0.92 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-16 | 114.00 | 7.50 | 0.73 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-16 | 135.00 | 6.00 | 1.62 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-16 | 163.50 | 7.50 | 0.97 | Paquin East |
| BO-22-17 | 191.00 | 2.50 | 6.00 | Paquin East |
The southern prospects (Decoeur and Joannes) occur on a structure associated with ultramafic rocks (defined from drilling) and possibly correlate to Piché Structural Complex greenstones. Gold mineralisation across the Cadillac Break is strongly associated with Piché Structural Complex greenstones, and the southern structure at Bousquet may represent a previously unrecognised structural repetition or splay of the Cadillac Break.
The nearby 1.0Moz Au O’Brien Project (Radisson Mining Resources) occurs 15km to the east, and is hosted in Piché Group greenstones and Timiskaming Group sediments to the south of the Cadillac Break, similar to the mineralisation context observed at Bousquet. The O’Brien Project Mineral Resource was recently upgraded to 1.0Moz and is progressing to development. The mineralisation style at O’Brien and Bousquet appear to be similar, with multiple narrow high grade quartz reefs associated with visible gold, within larger low grade mineralised envelopes. The high-grade ore shoots at O’Brien are steeply plunging and show continuity of grade and mineralisation. Five km to the west on the Cadillac Break is the >1.8Moz Au Heva/Hosco resources (Hecla Mining).
Historical drilling at Bousquet has not adequately tested depth extent of known high grade zones, notably at Paquin East prospect. Further, many of the known prospects remain open along strike. The entire project remains under-explored, particularly by modern drilling or geophysical methods. No IP or EM surveys have been completed in the last 30 years, and high priority historical IP anomalies remain untested. Highly prospective portions of the project have never been covered with IP or EM survey.
Exploration targeting and next steps
The Bousquet Project consists of numerous priority drill ready targets, and permitting is currently underway for drilling at the following prospects:
- Paquin East (strike extension to west)
- Decoeur and Joannes (depth extension)
- Unexplored IP anomalies to the south-west of Paquin that may be an easterly strike extension of the Decoeur/Joannes structure (possible Piché Structural Complex)
Further planned work includes:
- Modelling of IP anomalies from historical geophysical data
- Modelling of numerous magnetic anomalies (magnetic lows) that are not yet resolved
- Structural analysis and drill targeting
