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Larder Lake junior miner using AI to find gold targets

Gatling Exploration contracts Windfall Geotek to dig through the data
Gatling Exploration Larder core shack
Drill core at the Gatling Exploration's Larder Lake Gold Project near Kirkland Lake (Company photo)

Artificial intelligence (AI) will play a role in helping Gatling Exploration chase down some gold targets near the established mining camp of Kirkland Lake.

The Vancouver junior miner has engaged AI experts, Windfall Geotek, to use its advanced Computer Aided Resource Detection System (CARDS) to identify targets at the company's Larder Gold project, 35 kilometres east of Kirkland Lake in McVittie and McGarry Townships.

Gatling said in a July 30 release that the targets will be evaluated and then explored using more traditional exploration techniques.

The company's Larder Lake Project occupies 3,370 hectares on a prolific gold trend called the Cadillac Larder Lake Break. The entire area has a rich history of hosting productive past producing gold mines, including the former Kerr Addison Mine, an 11-million-ounce producer, seven kilometres to the east.

The property hosts three high-grade deposits along the main break, as well as two more recently discovered and underexplored gold trends, six kilometres to the north.

One of Gatling's three high-grade deposits on the property is the Cheminis, a former mine with an 1,085-metre shaft with six levels of underground development.

The CARDS AI system uses to be virtually deployed at the Larder Project uses AI uses pattern recognition and machine learning to make predictions based off compiled datasets. The company has a vast database of the project of hundreds and thousands of drill holes, assays, rock and sample samples, as well as geophysics, Lidar and bedrock geology.

The company said the property's three gold deposits of Fernland, Cheminis and Bear will instrumental in guiding the AI, the goal being the geology at Larder may be geologically similar to that of other gold deposits in the district.

Gatling also announced last week that it's resuming all exploration activity at Gatling in August, including running a 13,000-metre drill program on all three deposits, as well as hitting an outlying prospect.