The Project is located 30 kilometers northeast of the town of Amos, Quebec.  Infrastructure in the vicinity is excellent with a road network throughout the Project area providing easy access. Power transmission lines and a railway also transect the property.

The Chicobi Deformation Zone spans over 400 kilometers across the Abitibi greenstone belt.  Reflection seismic and magnetotelluric (MT) studies suggest the CDZ represents a crustal-scale to trans-lithospheric structure. The stratigraphy along the CDZ consists of volcanic rocks of the Kidd-Munro and Stoughton-Roquemaure Assemblages, which have been structurally juxtaposed against clastic sediments and iron formations of the Porcupine Assemblage. Extensive polymictic conglomerates occur along the structural corridor of the CDZ. These conglomerates are analogous to other late-basin sedimentary rocks spatially associated with mineralised systems elsewhere in the Abitibi (i.e. Timiskaming, Opemisca). The geological setting and crustal architecture of the CDZ make the Chicobi Project prospective for significant orogenic gold and volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralisation.

In general, the CDZ has seen far less exploration than the other major deformation zones throughout the Abitibi.  Most of the historical exploration conducted throughout Kenorland’s claim package consisted of targeting conductive anomalies identified from airborne electromagnetic surveys (INPUT) flown in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Although gold and base-metal mineralisation had been discovered during these early campaigns, the area has seen very little follow-up exploration largely due to the challenges related to extensive and thick quaternary cover such as glacial till and glacial lake sediments which blanket the region.  Significant mineral occurrences associated with the CDZ include the Destiny gold deposit, which occurs a few kilometers north of the Chicobi Project, the past producing Normetal VMS deposit near the Quebec-Ontario border, and AMEX Exploration’s flagship Perron Gold Project.

The Chicobi Project was acquired by Kenorland through map staking in October 2016 and was optioned to NX Gold in April 2017.  NX Gold completed an airborne VTEM-magnetic survey in 2017-2018, along with a 2D crustal-scale reflection and refraction seismic survey.  NX Gold terminated the option agreement in May 2018 and Kenorland retained 100% ownership of the property.

In 2019 Sumitomo Metal Mining entered into an option agreement on the Chicobi Project and began funding the Phase 1 regional sonic drilling program in the summer of 2019. The objective of the sonic drill-for-till program was to systematically sample the glacial till beneath, on average, 10 meters of glaciolacustrine clay. Sonic holes were drilled along existing access corridors at a spacing of 500m and averaged 16m depth to bedrock. A complete section of the glacial stratigraphy was collected as well as a top of bedrock sample.  Glacial till samples were sent for several different analyses:  fine-fraction geochemistry, gold grain counts, heavy mineral concentrate assays.  Top of bedrock samples were sent for lithogeochemical and assay analyses.

The Phase 2 exploration program begin in 2020 and included an additional 143 sonic holes following up on the initial Phase 1 regional program.  Subsequently, the Phase 3 sonic drill-for-till program was completed during the winter of 2020-2021, further infilling till sampling over 5 target areas within the Chicobi Project.

To date, 441 sonic drill holes have been completed across the Project producing ~1,500 samples for gold grain counts, heavy mineral concentrate analysis, and till geochemistry assays.  These drill campaigns have systematically screened the property from the regional scale, covering over 50,000 hectares.

Follow-up exploration in the fall of 2021 included high-resolution drone magnetics, induced polarization (IP), and ground electromagnetics (EM), was completed in the fall of 2021. A reconnaissance diamond drill program was completed in spring of 2022 totalling 1,908m over four holes. Wide intervals of strong deformation and sericite-carbonate ± chloritoid alteration, associated with localised zones of quartz-carbonate veining and pyrite mineralisation were encountered.

Land access and permitting was completed for the next phase of sonic drilling (drill-for-till geochemical sampling) along the Roch-Can trend. The Roch-Can trend is located along a major first order structure within the Chicobi Deformation Zone (CDZ) which transects the Abitibi greenstone belt. Limited historical drilling and previously completed sonic drill holes have identified an alteration corridor spanning 17 kilometers in strike length and broadly associated with Au-Zn-Ag anomalism within the bedrock and glacial overburden. The two phase (summer and winter) sonic drill-for-till program has been completed, with 121 infill sonic holes drilled in 2023 and 2024.