Manhattan Corporation reports exceptional 173.5 g/t gold assay from its maiden sampling at Hook Lake, Nunavut, alongside strong polymetallic results that highlight the project's vast exploration upside.
- 173.5 g/t gold sample from Defender prospect
- Polymetallic assays include high silver, zinc, copper, and lead
- Maiden rock chip program confirms multiple untested targets
- Historic drilling data indicates significant gold mineralisation
- Plans underway for airborne geophysics and diamond drilling
Exceptional Early Results at Hook Lake
Manhattan Corporation Limited (ASX, MHC) has unveiled striking assay results from its maiden fieldwork at the Hook Lake Project in Nunavut, Canada. The standout highlight is a remarkable 173.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold sample from the Defender prospect, collected from a quartz carbonate vein intersecting a sulphide banded iron formation. This discovery signals a robust hydrothermal system and underlines the project's high-grade gold potential.
Beyond gold, the sampling campaign revealed significant polymetallic mineralisation across several prospects. The Moonraker prospect, for instance, returned notable silver (up to 625 g/t), zinc (2.75%), copper (0.45%), lead (1.12%), and antimony (0.33%) values, suggesting a complex and fertile mineral system beyond the classic greenstone-hosted gold targets.
Expanding the Exploration Pipeline
The maiden rock chip program extended across multiple targets including Jaws, Vesper, Quantum, and Lotus, confirming widespread gold mineralisation with assays up to 16 g/t gold and exceptional silver grades reaching 2,600 g/t. Additionally, volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) targets like Skyfall, Silva, and Spectre showed high base metal grades, including zinc concentrations nearing 30% and copper exceeding 1.8%.
These results complement historic drilling data from the late 1980s and 1990s, which identified multiple gold and base metal zones within a 2 km by 2 km area at the Thunderball target, yet to be revisited by Manhattan. The company is now poised to integrate these historic datasets with modern geophysical surveys, including a high-resolution airborne magnetic survey currently underway, to refine drill targets.
Strategic Location and Future Plans
Hook Lake sits within the Rankin-Ennadai greenstone belt, a prolific Archean terrain known for hosting significant gold deposits such as Agnico Eagle’s nearby Meladine Mine and the Back River Gold District. Manhattan’s Technical Manager, Eric Sondergaard, emphasised the scale of undrilled, high-grade potential and the diversity of mineralising systems evident across the project.
Looking ahead, Manhattan plans to advance exploration with diamond drilling once land use permits and water licenses are secured. The company also intends to continue digitising and integrating historic data, alongside confirmatory ground sampling and structural mapping, to build a comprehensive geological model. Metallurgical test work from historic programs indicates promising gold recoveries exceeding 94%, supporting the economic potential of the mineralisation.
While the historic resource estimates are non-JORC compliant and require verification, Manhattan’s systematic approach and strong assay results position Hook Lake as a compelling exploration story in Canada’s north.
Bottom Line?
Manhattan’s Hook Lake project is rapidly evolving from promising assays to a multi-target exploration hub, with upcoming drilling set to define its true scale.
Questions in the middle?
- How will Manhattan prioritize targets for upcoming diamond drilling?
- What impact will the airborne magnetic survey have on refining exploration models?
- Can historic non-JORC estimates be converted into compliant resources with new data?