Kirkland Lake Discoveries looks beyond high-grade hits to chase Abitibi-scale gold potential Proactive Wed, November 11, 2026 at 11:45 AM EST 5 min read KLDC.V 0.00% GC=F -0.79% KLKLF +1.58% W7M.F +0.60% Kirkland Lake Discoveries looks beyond high-grade hits to chase Abitibi-scale gold potential Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock For Kirkland Lake Discoveries Corp (TSX-V:KLDC, OTCQB:KLKLF, FRA:W7M) CEO Stefan Sklepowicz, the most important question isn't how many grams of gold the company's latest drill hole has returned, but how large the mineralized system around it could ultimately become.
The company's growing Mirado West discovery in Ontario's Abitibi region is returning both high-grade gold intercepts and broader zones of lower-grade mineralization, a combination Sklepowicz believes could point to a much larger system than historical exploration suggested.
A recent 200-metre step-out from earlier discovery holes at Mirado West returned 10.53 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 9.2 metres, alongside a separate interval of 0.64 g/t over 68 metres.
The results are significant not only for the grades involved, but for what they suggest about the scale and continuity of the mineralization.
"The best part about this hole is that it was mineralized essentially from top to bottom," Sklepowicz told Proactive.
The company is seeing two styles of mineralization: higher-grade zones surrounded by broader halos of lower-grade gold. Rather than focusing exclusively on following narrow, high-grade veins, it is testing how far the larger mineralized envelope extends.
"That's exactly the style of mineralization we're seeing across the Mirado project," he said.
The distinction is central to the company's exploration strategy.
A historical resource estimate completed in 2013 outlined 442,000 ounces of gold using a price assumption of US$1,300 per ounce. Sklepowicz said the previous operators were looking to establish a resource that could make the property attractive to a potential buyer, but exploration activity subsequently slowed during a difficult period for junior miners.
When Kirkland Lake Discoveries acquired the property, it saw opportunities to expand on the historical work and test areas that had not been adequately explored.
Continued step-out drilling has since extended the Mirado West mineralized footprint to more than one kilometre of strike, with the latest results suggesting there is still room to expand.
The company is now looking at a broader footprint measuring approximately 1.4 to 1.6 kilometres east to west by one kilometre north to south across multiple areas.
Sklepowicz believes the scale could eventually become comparable, in terms of footprint and exploration ambition, to some of the larger deposits in the Abitibi.
He pointed to Canadian Malartic, Côté Gold and the Tower project near Timmins as examples of substantial mineralized systems, while acknowledging that their geological characteristics are not necessarily identical.
The objective is not to suggest Mirado is already comparable in size or resource to those operations, but to establish whether continued drilling can demonstrate a similarly extensive mineralized footprint.
"If you even take 10% of that as mineralization, you're getting into the multi-million ounces," Sklepowicz said, referring to the potential scale of the area under investigation.
That remains an exploration thesis rather than an established resource, but it explains why the company is prioritizing step-out drilling and regional exploration.
The opportunity may also extend beyond Mirado West.
Drilling farther north has continued to return mineralization, while regional work has identified a one-kilometre trend of till anomalies approximately 2.5 kilometres away from Mirado.
The company is also interested in its Gold Hill and Bank zones to the south, where it sees evidence of additional mineralization.
Sklepowicz said the goal is to determine whether the property package hosts multiple deposits rather than a single isolated discovery.
Even if the different mineralized areas do not connect directly, several satellite deposits within a five- to six-kilometre area could collectively represent a significant gold endowment.
"To build a project of significance, there need to be multiple discoveries attached to it," he said.
That discovery-led approach is reflected in the company's name and its plans for exploration. Sklepowicz said the team's focus is finding additional gold, copper, zinc and silver, although gold remains the primary target.
Kirkland Lake Discoveries has approximately $20 million in the bank following a financing that closed in October, providing capital for an initial 25,000-metre drill program.
Sklepowicz expects the program could expand as results help prioritize the growing list of targets. He suggested the company could potentially complete as much as 75,000 metres of drilling.
Mirado West remains a high priority, although the company has temporarily moved its drills north to continue testing mineralization there. Once that work is complete, it plans to return to Mirado West and move another rig south to test the Gold Hill and Bank zones.
The objective is to establish the boundaries of the mineralization and gain a clearer understanding of the overall scale of the system.
Sklepowicz also emphasized the company's approach to exploration, which combines high-resolution geophysics, geochemistry, artificial intelligence and core-scanning technology.
The company has made its three-dimensional geological models available online, allowing investors to examine drill holes and follow the exploration work. Its Treasure Hunter YouTube series also features members of the geological team explaining results and the geology behind them.
Sklepowicz said the approach reflects a desire to give investors more insight into the exploration process, rather than leaving them waiting months between updates.
"We're not just putting random drill holes across the property," he said. "These are very much guided by science."
For now, the focus remains on demonstrating the extent of the mineralized system and determining whether the growing footprint can support multiple discoveries.
The latest results have added another piece to that picture, but the larger test will be whether continued drilling can establish the scale Sklepowicz believes may be there.
As he puts it, the objective is to keep pushing the boundaries of the system. If those boundaries continue to expand, the potential opportunity could grow with them.
