Vancouver (May 29, 2019) Solstice Gold Corp. (TSXV: SGC) (“Solstice”, the “Company”, “us”, “we” or “our”) is pleased to announce mobilization has begun in advance of our field program (the “Program”) at our 100% owned 928 km2 Kahuna Gold Project (“Kahuna” or the “Project”), located near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Our claims are immediately adjacent to those controlled by Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd which include the Meliadine Mine*.
We are also pleased to announce the addition of Bruce (Sandy) Barham to our exploration team in the role of Senior Geological Consultant. Sandy has significant expertise in the region with extensive experience in the discovery, exploration, permitting and development of gold deposits. He worked with the team that collected the first samples along the Meliadine trend, on the team that completed the first diamond drill program on Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank deposit, identified the potential of the Amaruq deposit (now 2.9 million oz of gold reserves) and was part of the team that saw the Meliadine project establish a 5 million ounce global resource prior to the Comaplex sale to Agnico Eagle. He mapped the Meliadine property and conducted geological, geophysical and diamond drilling programs within the project area. He has completed numerous reports on the geology and gold occurrences of the Meliadine land package and is an expert in the geology and styles of mineralization in the Meliadine area. It is worth noting that Sandy’s crew discovered the Aqpik target, which lies on Agnico Eagle claims immediately adjacent to our main target area where diamond drilling has returned economically significant results.
Executive Chairman David Adamson stated “Given Sandy’s extensive exploration experience in the immediate vicinity of our Project and his depth of geologic understanding of the region, we are very pleased to have him on board. He is a great complement to our strong, technically-focussed team and we are looking forward to him and the team getting boots on the ground this coming season.”
The following is a brief summary of 2018 Project highlights and Phase I follow-up plans for the upcoming 2019 field season.
2018 Highlights:
Our 2018 field season, which was the first systematic gold focussed exploration program on the property, was pivotal in demonstrating gold potential over a significant portion of our Project area. We collected 2,049 high-resolution till samples, 2,905 boulder and outcrop samples and conducted 1,675-line km of ground magnetic surveying (see Solstice news releases dated June 19, 2018, November 13, 2018 and November 27, 2018 for additional details). As a result, we were able to confirm that much of our property position is underlain by the ‘right’ rocks (iron formations) major structures and widespread occurrences of elevated gold in rocks (see Figure 1 and details below) – all key elements required to form Meliadine-type gold deposits. Highlights include:
- Up to 66 g/t gold in boulders in the Qaiqtuq area (within the QEMS target), part of an extensive (4 km2) boulder field with elevated gold and locally arsenopyrite. Gold and arsenopyrite are associated with many of the Meliadine area gold deposits.
- Gold values up to 5.74 g/t in iron formation occur in outcrop in the same area as the high grade boulders.
- Many of the boulders are interpreted to be locally derived due to their association with gold-bearing outcrop, their large size, angularity and relative abundance.
- Significantly the Qaiqtuq boulder field was discovered late in the 2018 field season and, as such has only been partially explored over its inferred 3 km strike length.
- At least three target areas occur in close proximity to Qaiqtuq based on the presence of gold +/- magnetic and/or EM anomalies which are related to an extensive regional magnetic low which is interpreted to be related to alteration and mineralization in this area. Collectively, we call this 45 km2 area QEMS.
- Beyond QEMS, work to date has identified three areas with significant gold in rocks +/- large gold-in-till anomalies. These are shown in Figure 1, summarized in Table 1 and described below:
- Megafold NWL located on the Northwestern limb of a very large regional fold (see Figure 1). Of a total of 60 boulder and 131 outcrop samples, 21 (11%) contain >0.5 g/t gold) including a maximum value of 24.4 g/t gold from a 1 metre-wide quartz vein in iron formation outcrop. Mapping and magnetic data in the 5 km-long target area suggest the presence of numerous parallel and likely folded iron formation units.1
- South Westeros located on the southern limb of the Westeros fold where highly magnetic units (likely iron formation) are cut by faults. Grab samples include up to 11.66 g/t gold in iron formation (boulder grab sample by RPA, September, 2018) associated with a 3 km2 strong (>90th %ile) gold in till anomaly (see Solstice news release dated November 27, 2018) including highly elevated values of 970 ppb, 703ppb and 562 ppb.1
- North Westeros located along the north limb of the Westeros fold which is interpreted to be coincident with large, regional fault structures. Grab samples include a maximum of 12.7 g/t gold from a boulder of quartz veined metasediments.1
In summary, we have documented gold for the first time over a wide area in rocks which we believe correlate with those in the Meliadine area. Taken together with a major re-evaluation of detailed (15 m gridded) magnetic and electromagnetic data covering our entire property, we have successfully identified target areas which we will aim to advance to the drilling stage, particularly in the QEMS area. We are keen to follow up on these positive results in our upcoming 2019 field program as summarized below.
Figure 1:
Solstice Primary Rights include all mineral rights for non-diamond and gemstones excluding minerals found in kimberlite. Dunnedin Ventures holds Secondary Rights on this ground. Secondary Rights give the holder the right to propose exploration programs on the property related to their mineral rights. Such programs are granted at the discretion of the Primary Rights holder. Agreement allows exclusive right for the parties to exchange rights on their respective claims. For additional details please see the Solstice Gold 2017 NI 43-101 Technical Report available on www.sedar.com.
Table 1
| Area | Type | Number of samples | Range g/t gold | 80th%ile | 90th %ile | 95th %ile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Project | Boulder (grab) | 1946 | 0.005-54.9 | 0.15 | 0.44 | 1.0 |
| Outcrop (grab) | 1536 | 0.005-24.4 | 0.04 | 0.11 | 0.29 |
Qaiqluq Target | Boulder (grab) | 613 | 0.005-54.9 | 0.44 | 1.01 | 1.89 |
| Outcrop (grab) | 18 | 0.005-5.47 | na | na | na |
Megafold NWL | Boulder (grab) | 60 | 0.005-5.79 | 0.11 | 0.36 | 1.73 |
| Outcrop (grab) | 131 | 0.005-24.4 | 0.20 | 0.55 | 0.95 |
Westeros North | Boulder (grab) | 98 | 0.005-6.47 | 0.08 | 0.16 | 1.03 |
| Outcrop (grab) | 73 | 0.005-12.7 | 0.02 | 0.06 | 0.18 |
Westeros South | Boulder (grab) | 63 | 0.005-0.816 | 0.04 | 0.14 | 0.42 |
| Outcrop (grab) | 77 | 0.005-3.6 | 0.08 | 0.29 | 1.32 |
Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine mine, which is scheduled to reach commercial production this month, is only seven km from Solstice’s claims in the Rankin Gold Belt. We believe, by analogy to other producing districts, that there is significant potential for new discoveries in what we consider to be an emerging gold district. As large land holders in the region (our property would contain three core Timmins-size districts) and having demonstrated we have the right rocks, structures and widespread gold in many areas, we are excited to join the hunt for the next potential gold discovery.
1 Assay results from grab samples (boulders and outcrop) are selected samples and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. Grab sample weights range from 0.75 kg to 3 kg. See Solstice news release dated November 13, 2018 for additional information and disclosure.
*This news release contains information with respect to the Meliadine, Amaruq and Meadowbank gold deposits along with other gold targets owned by Agnico Eagle Mines, in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company’s properties and there is no certainty of the same or similar deposits on the Company’s properties.
About Solstice
Solstice is a new gold-focussed exploration company engaged in the exploration of its 928 km2 (100%) district scale Kahuna Project and certain other rights covering an adjacent 805 km2, all with no underlying option or earn in payments. Kahuna is located in Nunavut, Canada only 26 km from Rankin Inlet and approximately seven km from the Meliadine gold deposits owned by Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. Solstice has 69.5 million shares outstanding.
Solstice is committed to responsible exploration and development in the communities in which we work. For more details on Solstice Gold and the Kahuna Project please see our Corporate Presentation available at www.solsticegold.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Ian Russell, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration, is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 standards responsible for reviewing and approving the technical content of this news release.
On Behalf of Solstice Gold Corp.
David Adamson, PhD
Executive Chairman
For further information please visit our website at www.solsticegold.com or contact:
Marty Tunney, PEng
President
info@solsticegold.com
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements (“FLS”) relating but not limited to the Company’s expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs. FLS can often be identified by forward-looking words such as “emerging”, “goal”, “plan”, “intent”, “estimate”, “expects”, “scheduled”, “may” and “will” or similar words suggesting future outcomes or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. FLS in this news release also include, but are not limited to, the extent and timing of described programs and ground work, such as rock sampling, drilling, geophysics, mapping, till sampling and analysis. FLS in this news release include comparison with certain geological features at an adjacent development property. There can be no guarantee that continued exploration at Kahuna, which is at an early stage of exploration, will lead to the discovery of an economic gold deposit. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any FLS include, but are not limited to, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, inability to locate source rocks, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, regulatory approvals and other factors. While the Company believes the boulders are sourced locally for the reasons outlined in this news release, there can be no certainty that their source is local, or that it will be located on Solstice claims. FLS are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results.
Potential shareholders and prospective investors should be aware that these statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the FLS. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on FLS. By their nature FLS involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and various future events will not occur. Solstice undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any FLS whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law.
This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company’s properties. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance and all investors are urged to consult their investment professionals before making an investment decision. Investors are further cautioned that past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
