Manhattan Gold Corporation (ASX:MHC) expands Hook Lake footprint with high-grade gold indicators in Nunavut

Manhattan Gold Corporation has expanded its landholding at the Hook Lake Project in Nunavut, Canada, securing additional mineral claims that extend its footprint into a prospective portion of the Kaminak greenstone belt.

The move reflects a continuation of the company’s regional consolidation strategy, targeting underexplored ground supported by historical geochemical anomalies and surface sampling results.

Highlights

• 81km² of additional greenstone belt secured, located 30km west of the existing Hook Lake Project
• Gold-arsenic till anomaly described as the “most extensive in the entire Kaminak Greenstone Belt” and untested by drilling
• Historical channel sampling returned 5.75g/t Au over 1.5m within a broader 7.7m anomalous zone
• Rock chip sampling recorded up to 16.6g/t Au, located 650m from the original discovery zone
• High resolution airborne magnetic survey to resume
• 2026 work programme designed to define drill-ready targets across the expanded tenure

The newly acquired claims increase Manhattan’s exposure within Canada’s second largest greenstone belt and were secured following internal review and compilation of historical datasets.

These datasets include Geological Survey of Canada work that identified extensive gold and arsenic anomalies in till sampling, with the anomaly described as the largest within the belt and notably untested by drilling.

Historical surface work provides the primary geological context, with channel sampling conducted in 1990 defining a 7.7m zone of gold anomalism at the contact between mafic volcanic rocks and gabbro, where extensive quartz veining is associated with elevated grades.

Within this zone, results included 5.75g/t Au over 1.5m and peak values of 17.14g/t Au over 0.3m.

Follow-up rock chip sampling in 2000 extended the mineralised footprint, returning values up to 16.6g/t Au from a sulphide-bearing schist located 650m from the original discovery zone, alongside additional anomalous results along strike.

The prospect is positioned on a trend parallel to the Turquetil Shear Zone, which hosts the company’s Jaws gold deposit.

Mineralisation is interpreted as orogenic gold associated with mafic rock sequences including pillow basalts and gabbros, with quartz veining and sulphide assemblages comprising pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite observed in surface exposures.

The association of mineralisation with magnetic lows has been noted in historical work, suggesting potential for geophysical datasets to assist in identifying concealed targets beneath glacial cover.

To support this, Manhattan has expanded its high resolution airborne magnetic survey to include the newly acquired claims, with survey activities expected to resume shortly, generating a dataset intended to correlate mineral occurrences with structural features and assist in prioritising targets for drilling.

The company’s 2026 work programme is structured around progressing both the existing Hook Lake Project and the expanded tenure toward drill-ready status.

Planned activities include geological mapping, surface rock and channel sampling, and integration of airborne magnetic data to refine target generation.

These efforts are aligned with the commencement of a maiden reverse circulation drilling programme at Hook Lake scheduled for April 2026.

As Manhattan Gold‘s Technical Advisor Eric Sondergaard stated,

“Initial sampling results, highlighting anomalous gold values over 7m of outcrop, are highly encouraging. Assay results up to 16.6g/t on surface, over 650m from the discovery zone highlights the broader scale potential of the system.”

While the dataset remains largely historical and requires validation through modern exploration, the expanded land position provides increased coverage along a structurally prospective corridor within an underexplored greenstone belt.

The upcoming drilling programme and integration of new geophysical data represent the next steps in testing the scale and continuity of mineralisation across the broader Hook Lake system.

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