No one expected to find so much gold in the Abitibi belt

Two newly mapped gold zones, called Miroir and Aiguille, have been identified at the Duparquet Gold Project in western Quebec. 

The project already hosts 3.44 million ounces in the Measured and Indicated resource categories, a scale that sets a high bar for any new addition, according to the project’s 2023 technical assessment.

The zones sit near the town of Duparquet, about 31 miles north of Rouyn-Noranda in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.

They were found during expansion drilling led by First Mining Gold, the project owner, as the team stepped out from known targets to test fresh structures.

Duparquet Gold Project

Marina Iund of InnovExplo, the principal author of the project’s most recent mineral resource study, is the scientific lead highlighted here.

Miroir lies just north of the Valentre target and Aiguille lies to its south, which gives geologists two new footholds across a corridor already known for gold. That corridor follows the Destor-Porcupine fault zone (DPF), a long, deep fracture that channels mineralizing fluids.

The host rocks at Duparquet include syenite, a coarse igneous rock with low quartz content. This rock, altered and cut by veins, often provides the spaces and chemistry gold needs to concentrate.

The company’s 2025 field updates show active step-outs around both zones as well as continued drilling in the CVD area. Miroir and Aiguille became priority targets as the season progressed.

How much is there?

Gold grade is commonly expressed as g/t, grams of gold per metric tonne. Grades are paired with the length of mineralized rock in a drill core to describe how much gold sits over a given distance.

Another key idea is structural position. The footwall, rock positioned below a tilted fault surface, can host different styles of veins and alteration than the hanging wall above, and each position might guide where the next hole goes.

Mineralized intervals are logged by trained geologists, then sent to a laboratory for assay, which turns field observations into hard numbers.

Those numbers, stitched across many holes, show whether the gold sits in a continuous body or in scattered pockets.

Duparquet’s resources are publicly documented under Canada’s disclosure code, NI 43-101, rules that set how mining companies must report technical information. The code distinguishes confidence levels, which matters when a company decides where to drill next.

Measured and Indicated resources total 3.44 million ounces at Duparquet as of the latest assessment. Preliminary estimates based on limited sampling (inferred resources) add 2.64 million ounces and point to room for growth if additional drilling upgrades the data.

The mineral camp here is not new. Historical records show the Beattie and Donchester mines produced for decades in the mid 20th century, with average grades consistent with classic Abitibi deposits.

Duparquet Gold Project data

Samples go through quality assurance and quality control checks, which include blanks, duplicates, and certified reference materials. Gold is measured by fire assay, a method that melts and separates metals for high accuracy at low concentrations.

First Mining’s samples are analyzed at AGAT Laboratories, which holds accreditation to the international testing standard ISO 17025 for fire assay of geological materials. The accreditation confirms competence for specific methods listed in the lab’s public scope.

“Geological and gold-grade continuity has been demonstrated for all 72 mineralized zones,” wrote Marina Iund, the principal author of the 2022 NI 43-101 technical report. Confidence in the geologic model also comes from earlier technical work. 

The same report details how the syenite host, surrounding volcanic rocks, and a network of steep, east to west faults create structural traps that favor gold. Those traps align with today’s drill fences that are defining Miroir and Aiguille.

What comes next in 2025

The company has kept two rigs active at Duparquet this year as part of a broader push to link new zones with existing resources. 

Field updates describe step-outs along strike and at depth at both new targets, with a focus on adding ounces where the model supports continuity.

The Abitibi belt is one of the world’s most prolific Archean greenstone belts, and the Destor-Porcupine structure is its backbone. That regional context matters because deposits here often extend for long distances along faults and continue to depth beyond early drilling.

If Miroir and Aiguille link into the central resource area, the project could convert more Inferred material to Indicated status under NI 43-101 rules. That move would reflect improved data density and tighter geologic constraints rather than an assumption about grade.

Duparquet also benefits from location. The site sits near roads, rail, and grid power, and the region has a large mining workforce that is used for underground and open pit operations.

Lessons from Duparquet Gold

New zones are not just names on a map. They are tests of a geologic idea that the same fault-controlled system continues beyond the edges of the last model.

A resource number is not permanent. It grows or shrinks as drilling confirms or challenges what the model predicts.

“Geological and gold-grade continuity has been demonstrated for all 72 mineralized zones,” wrote Iund, underscoring the philosophy of this campaign. 

That line explains why the team keeps drilling along strike and down dip. The model says the system holds together, so the next holes test where it should continue.

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