MMV lost a member of the technical team as Dr. Robert Brozdowski has moved on but we have gained a new member, Jeff Hrncir, as MMV’s Chief Geologist. Jeff brings an in-depth view of the Black Hills geology as his Masters thesis in 2016 was entitled “Tectonic Evolution of the Black Hills, South Dakota” and his father was the former head of the South Dakota School of Mines so the gold in those hills is in his mind’s eye.

Jeff Hrncir, Chief Geologist M.Sc., Mr. Hrncir has over 15 years of diverse mineral exploration experience, with an extensive background in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Jeff’s major focus has been on the Precambrian tectonic history as it relates to mineralization. (The gold in MMV’s projects are all contained within the Precambrian rocks of South Dakota). He has consulted to several mining companies in this gold province and published numerous papers on the gold district of the Black Hills and its controlling geologic features. He is currently furthering his Black Hills work with a PHD thesis. A poster of his doctorate work at the University of New Mexico entitled “Origins of the Black Hills Terrane in the Eastern Wyoming Craton” has been posted on our website. Jeff will work closely with Curt Hogge our Exploration Manager and Kevin Leonard our Operations Officer.

Curt E. Hogge, Exploration Manager M.Sc., CPG. Mr. Hogge has over 40 years of diverse mineral exploration experience, with an extensive background in iron formation-hosted gold deposits including the Proterozoic rocks in the Black Hills, South Dakota and the Archean-type in the Wyoming Province of Montana and Wyoming. Curt was Country manager for East Asia Minerals – Mongolia and Project manager for Starfield Resources – Montana. In South Dakota he managed Noranda’s Rochford Gold District project, and worked later with Naneco Resources Ltd., Genesis Gold Ltd. and BHB Partners. Curt is capable of generating NI 43-101 reports.

Kevin W. Leonard, Operations Officer B.Sc., P. Geo., Kevin has over 43 years diversified mineral exploration experience in gold and base metal projects globally. Royal Oak Mines (US) as manager with global property acquisitions and economic evaluations for: LAC Minerals, American Barrick, St. Joe Canada, HudBay Exploration, and Urangesellschaft Canada. Since 2012, Kevin has been the Project Manager for Mineral Mountain, including in the Keystone Gold District about 35 km south of the Rochford Gold Project, where he managed a US $6.9M drill program for iron formation-hosted gold in the Holy Terror Project. Kevin has dual US and Canadian citizenship and coupled with his leadership skills this makes him an ideal on-site ambassador.

MMV following the collaboration of Jeff, Curt and Kevin now has a much clearer understanding of the Standby project geology and has advanced beyond the exploratory stage to a gold reserves definition stage.

Over the next three (3) weeks, MMV will be populating its website with current updates so it is recommended that shareholders check the site often.

The Mayflower property consists of 64 claims covering the historic Mayflower gold mine workings in the emerging Rainy River – Atikokan gold district. Historic work between 1899 and 1928 resulted in the sinking of a 30 metre shaft and approximately 50 metres of underground workings on two levels. Grab samples collected by the Ontario Department of Mines in 1981 returned values ranging from nil up to 0.95 oz/t gold and 5.17 oz/t silver. Additional historic exploration included about 1,000 metres of near-surface drilling in 12 holes. The Mayflower has seen little modern exploration and has excellent infrastructure, located close to the former iron ore mining town of Atikokan, some 200 km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario as shown in Figure 1 below.

Anthony Roodenburg, CEO of Greencastle commented, “We are excited to add another strategic gold project to our mineral portfolio in Ontario and Nevada. The Mayflower has seen limited modern exploration for a variety of reasons. The Property’s location in the prolific Rainy River {ژ –} Atikokan region suggests there may be tremendous exploration upside.”

Several large gold deposits are located in the Atikokan – Rainy River region. The Hammond Reef gold deposit, situated 55 km northeast of the Mayflower property, contains NI 43-101 Measured and Indicated resources of 4.5 million ounces of gold contained in 208 million tonnes grading 0.67 g/t Au and Inferred resources of 12,000 ounces of gold (0.5 million tonnes grading 0.74 g/t Au.), using a cut-off gold grade of 0.32 g/t, as of December 31, 2019 (as per http://www.agnicoeagle.com). The Rainy River producing mine, located about 140 km to the west of the Mayflower property, has NI 43-101 Reserves of 2.6 million ounces gold and 6.3 million ounces silver, and Resources of 1.9 million ounces gold and 5.1 million ounces silver (as per http://www.newgold.com)

The terms of the agreement call for Greencastle to pay the vendors a total of $100,000 cash, issue a total of 600,000 shares of Greencastle subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, and complete a total of $250,000 in Exploration Expenditures to earn a 100% interest in the Property, subject to a 2% Net Smelter Return (NSR) Royalty. Greencastle retains the option to purchase sole rights to half of the 2% NSR Royalty from the vendors for a payment of $1,000,000.

The offering is being conducted in connection with the previously announced merger transaction between Serengeti and Sun Metals to create a premier Canadian multiasset copper-gold developer, whereby Serengeti will acquire all of the shares of Sun Metals on the basis of 0.43 common share of Serengeti (on a preconsolidation basis) for each share of Sun Metals held.

In addition, Sun Metals has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 10.8 million subscription receipts at the issue price for additional gross proceeds of up to $1.35-million, exercisable in whole or in part at any time prior to the closing date of the offering.

The subscription receipts will be issued pursuant to a subscription receipt agreement to be entered into by Sun Metals, the underwriters, and a licensed Canadian trust company as subscription receipt agent to be agreed upon. Pursuant to the subscription receipt agreement, the gross proceeds of the offering (less 50 per cent of the underwriters’ cash commission and all of the underwriters’ expenses) will be held in escrow pending satisfaction of certain conditions, including, amongst others: (a) the satisfaction or waiver of each of the conditions precedent to the transaction; and (b) the receipt of all required shareholder and regulatory approvals in connection with the transaction and the offering, including the condition approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. If the escrow release conditions have not been satisfied on or prior to March 31, 2021, the holders of subscription receipts will be returned a cash amount equal to the issue price of the subscription receipts and any interest that has been earned on the escrowed funds.

Upon the satisfaction of the escrow release conditions, each subscription receipt will automatically convert into one unit of Sun Metals, which shall be exchanged or adjusted into securities of Serengeti at the exchange ratio upon completion of the transaction (on a postconsolidation basis as previously announced). Each unit will consist of one common share of Sun Metals and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will be exercisable to acquire one common share of Sun Metals for a period of 24 months from the closing of the offering, at an exercise price of 18 cents, subject to acceleration in the event that the volume-weighted average trading price of the common shares of Sun Metals on the TSX-V is equal to or greater than 30 cents for 20 consecutive trading days, all as to be adjusted by the exchange ratio upon completion of the transaction.

Proceeds from the issue and sale of the subscription receipts will be used by Sun Metals and Serengeti to advance their collective portfolio of copper-gold exploration and development assets in British Columbia and for general working capital purposes. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or around Dec. 17, 2020.

The subscription receipts to be issued under the offering will be offered by way of a private placement in all the provinces of Canada and in the United States on a private placement basis pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The subscription receipts and the common shares, warrants and warrant shares underlying the subscription receipts will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with Canadian securities legislation or until such securities are exchanged or adjusted pursuant to the arrangement. The offering is subject to approval of the TSX-V.

Highlights of the Acquisition Include:Defiance’s Zacatecas District landholding interests increased from 1,600 Ha to over 4,300 Ha, including more than 10 known veins that returned drill results including 3.25m of 325 g/t Ag and 1.25m of 775 g/t Ag (Figure 1).Acquired the on-strike extension of Zacatecas Silver Corporation’s 19 million ounce Ag-Equivalent Panuco Deposit (see full disclosure below).Lucita hosts the undrilled Palenque vein structure, a 12 metre wide structure that has a 4km strike length and has return historical in situ grab and dump samples ranging from 25g/t Ag to over 700g/t Ag (Figure 2). Other priority high-grade vein structures also exist on the southern license area.

Chris Wright, Executive Chairman & CEO, commented: “Our exploration team has continued to advance our district exploration model, as it has yielded favorable targets throughout the Zacatecas Camp. The Lucita option represents a key milestone for Defiance Silver in establishing a district-scale land package at our Zacatecas projects and furthering our exploration thesis and strategy in the district. Not only does this project contain historical high-grade drill results with demonstrable exploration targets at depth and on-strike, it also has discovery potential at the multi-kilometre long Palenque structure.”Figure 1 – Defiance’s Zacatecas District Land PositionTo view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2950/69340_9c3b210f6468286e_001full.jpg

Property Overview

The 2,674 Ha Lucita project is characterized as a low to intermediate sulphidation Ag-Au vein, breccia and stockwork system with historical high-grade drill results and drill ready exploration targets. There are at least 10 known mineralized structures over a strike length of more than 4km, including the on-strike extension of the Panuco Deposit, currently being explored by Zacatecas Silver Corp. The veins in the northern license area have a continuous length of 4km and have widths from 0.20 m to 4 m. Historical drilling of these veins from 20 holes completed by Pan American in 2011-2012 returned encouraging results, including 3.35m of 325 g/t Ag from hole LU11-16 and 1.25m of 775 g/t Ag from hole LU11-9 (Figure 3). The composition of the epithermal veins at Lucita is quartz, calcite and occasionally minor barite, where colloform and crustiform banded textures can be seen, belonging to various mineralization events. The company believes the previously drilled structures intersected high-level epithermal mineralization, as mineral zonation at surface suggests that the top of the hydrothermal system is still present at the on-strike Panuco deposit.

Pan American Silver has carried out geological mapping, sampling, and two drilling campaigns in the northern license area (Figure 3). Phase I drilling in 1996 comprised 10 holes and 1,409.85 metres of drilling. Phase II drilling was carried out in late 2011 and early 2012, comprising 20 drill holes with 3,693.41 metres drilled. Both drill campaigns intersected mineralized veining typical of a high-level epithermal system.

Central and Southern License Areas (Palenque)

A key undrilled structure located on these licenses, adjacent to portion of the Defiance licenses that host the Tahures Vein, is the Palenque vein system. The Palenque system has an alteration zone up to 12 m wide at surface and numerous, high-grade rock chip, grab, and dump samples over a 4km strike length with historical chip, grab, and dump samples ranging from 25g/t Ag to >700 g/t Ag (Figure 2). The structure is characterized by high-level alteration assemblages that may be related to deeper “boiling zone” epithermal mineralization. The Palenque vein is a near-term drill target, and Defiance will be actively advancing the understanding of the mineral system in order to drill Palenque in 2021. Figure 2 – Central Area with rock samples taken from Palenque and other unnamed structures. Recently acquired licenses in Blue and current Defiance Licenses in White. Third-party licenses are in Grey.To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2950/69340_9c3b210f6468286e_002full.jpg

Northern Licenses (Panuco/Los Tajos)

The northern claim block hosts the on-strike extension, most specifically the Panuco Central and the Tres Cruces veins, of the Panuco deposit under option to Zacatecas Silver Corp. Using a cut-off value of 100.0 g/t AgEq for the Panuco deposit, the current Inferred mineral resource estimate results in 3,954,729 tonnes grading 136.00 g/t Ag, 0.14 g/t Au, 0.012% Pb and 0.110% Zn or 153.20 g/t AgEq. This equates to 19,472,901 ounces of AgEq (2016 Mineral Resource Estimate, Panuco Deposit, Zacatecas Mexico for SantaCruz Silver Mining by V. Bui and G. Giroux). Defiance Silver’s qualified person and technical team have been unable to verify this information, and that the information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Lucita property.Figure 3 – Historical Drilling in Northern (Panuco) AreaTo view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2950/69340_9c3b210f6468286e_003full.jpg

Hole      From   To  Interval (m)Ag g/tAu g/tPb %Zn %Cu %Vein          
LU11-3   136.2 133.1     0.5      289   1.2  0.010.010.01San Fransisco 
         181.8 182.55    0.75      93   0.47  0  0.010.01Los Tajos     
LU11-4   125.35126.55    1.2      213   0.1  0.190.590.02Penafiel      
including125.35125.9     0.55     264   0.11 0.210.780.02              
         129.75131.1     1.35     219   0.31 0.582.140.03Penafiel      
including129.75130.1     0.35     455   0.6  2.1 7.930.1               
LU11-6    130  130.8     0.8      248   0.69 0.872.470.1 Santa Rosa    
LU11-7   124.85126.1     1.25     208   0.12 0.210.470.01Lucero        
including124.85125.45    0.6      369   0.23 0.4 0.890.01              
LU11-8   109.4 109.85    0.45     469   0.39 0.310.450.02Lucero        
         112.15112.85    0.7       97   0.6  0.280.270.01Lucero        
         114.2 114.9     0.7      444   0.08 1.251.210.05Lucero        
         132.8 133.3     0.5      154   0.07 1.1 1.090.03Unnamed Vein  
LU11-9   180.1 181.35    1.25     779   0.08 0.770.8 0.07San Andres    
LU11-11   30.6 30.75     0.15     240   0.42 0.010.040.01San Fransisco 
LU11-12   18.3 18.75     0.45      98   0.02 0.010.010.01San Fransisco 
LU11-14  170.8 172.85    2.05     123   0.12 0.060.460.03Penafiel      
including171.8 172.85    1.05     200   0.15 0.130.890.06              
LU11-16  125.2 128.55    3.35     325   0.07 0.352.750.06Lucero splay ?
including125.2 125.7     0.5      668   0.23 0.732.190.08              
         127.5 128.55    1.05     548   0.07 0.555.150.1               
         148.9 149.45    0.55     143   0.1  0.080.050.01Lucero        
         164.2 164.7     0.5      155   0.15 0.240.07 0  Unnamed Vein  
LU11-20  152.2 152.6     0.4      655   0.07 0.410.740.04San Andres    

Table 1 – 2011-2012 historical results at the Northern (Panuco) License

Exploration Strategy

Defiance is planning an aggressive exploration program to adequately test the mineral potential at Lucita. The upcoming exploration program is being planned as detailed surface mapping, surface geochemistry, surface geophysics (Mag, IP, CSAMT), and surface drilling. The company anticipates starting this exploration program immediately and in conjunction with the ongoing surface and underground exploration programs at San Acacio and Lagartos.

“The next few months are going to be exciting. Artificial intelligence technology has brought us to the point where we’ve got a highly detailed 3-D model of the different lobes of sediments that were stacked together to create the CDS deposit. Our team of site geologists and external consultants has begun working with this model, refining it with new drilling information so that we can use it to confidently target well-mineralized lobes,” said Nick Appleyard, Tristar’s president and chief executive officer. “When drilling resumed, the first holes we were able to drill were in Esperanca East to extend the known resource there. Since then, we’ve been drilling new targets, including the areas identified as part of the CDS Deeps program that focuses on remobilized gold at depth. The results will now be flowing consistently well into next year.”

Results from the first holes are in line with expectations, with all holes that reached target depth encountering significant intersections of gold mineralization. Drill hole RC-20-534, located adjacent to Esperanca South in the valley area, had to be abandoned at only 49 m and will be completed at a later date. This then required that the RC rig be moved to drier ground at Esperanca East until a larger compressor can be mobilized to site.

Hole RC-20-534 had to be abandoned at 49 m. No significant intersections were encountered, and the target depth of 120 m was not reached.

Artificial intelligence and exploration targeting

Evaluation of the multielement geochemistry has led to a breakthrough in stratigraphic mapping at Castelo de Sonhos. Artificial intelligence algorithms have been able to identify stratigraphically continuous clusters that appear to represent distinct depositional phases of the original alluvial fan that brought the gold into the deposit. The complete 3-D model for Esperanca South will be used for both additional exploration and completing the prefeasibility study. The map and the 3-D interpretation will be continually improved with information from new holes.

All drill holes are analyzed for gold, and then every second sample is analyzed for multielement geochemistry, allowing each new drill hole to be used as a vector to the most-promising reefs in the system. The multielement geochemistry from these five completed holes will be analyzed to refine the next round of drill targets.

In addition, the company has granted the underwriter an option to purchase up to an additional number of FT shares equal to 15 per cent of the FT shares sold pursuant to the offering, at a price per additional FT share equal to the issue price, by providing notice to the company at any time up to 48 hours prior to the closing date (as defined herein).

The gross proceeds received by the company from the sale of the FT shares will be used to incur Canadian exploration expenses that are flow-through mining expenditures (as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)) on the company’s properties in Saskatchewan. The qualifying expenditures will be renounced to the subscribers with an effective date no later than Dec. 31, 2020, in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of the gross proceeds raised from the issue of FT shares.

The closing of the offering is anticipated to occur on or about Dec. 22, 2020, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The FT shares will be offered by way of a private placement pursuant to exemptions from the prospectus requirements to residents of all of the provinces of Canada and such other jurisdictions as may be agreed to by the company and the underwriter.

All securities issued under the offering will be subject to a statutory hold period in Canada expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance.

The proceeds of the private placement will be used for the acquisition of feedstock for Enviroleach’s printed circuit board assembly processing facility and general working capital. The company may pay fees and issue share purchase warrants to certain finders equal to 7 per cent of the gross proceeds. The securities issued in connection with the private placement will be subject to a hold period of four months from the date of issuance. The private placement is expected to close on or before Dec. 15, 2020, and is subject to certain closing conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals by the applicable securities regulatory authorities, including the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Certain directors and officers of the company intend to purchase units under the private placement.

The gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the FT Shares will be used to incur Canadian exploration expenses that are “flow-through mining expenditures” (as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)) on the Company’s properties in Saskatchewan (the “Qualifying Expenditures”). The Qualifying Expenditures will be renounced to the subscribers with an effective date no later than December 31, 2020, in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of the gross proceeds raised from the issue of FT Shares.

The closing of the Offering is anticipated to occur on or about December 22, 2020 (the “Closing Date”) and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The FT Shares will be offered by way of a private placement pursuant to exemptions from the prospectus requirements to residents of all of the provinces of Canada and such other jurisdictions as may be agreed to by the Company and the Underwriter.

All securities issued under the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period in Canada expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Metallurgical testing conducted by Expert Process Solutions (XPS), a Glencore company, demonstrated very good overall metallurgical performance of the Eagle’s Nest ore with strong indications of the production of high-quality marketable copper and nickel concentrates, low in magnesium oxide (MgO) at high metal recoveries. Locked-cycle tests on a representative sample produced a bulk concentrate followed by separate nickel and copper concentrates with results shown in the attached summary results of bulk and separate nickel and copper concentrates table.

 
                         SUMMARY RESULTS OF BULK AND SEPARATE NI AND CU CONCENTRATES
                                                              
Stream           Mass (g)   Mass (%)                      Assay (%)                             Assay (ppm)  
                                        Cu     Ni      Co     Fe      S    MgO   SiO2     Ag     Au     Pd     Pt

Bulk concentrate   1,185      100.0    5.5    9.9   0.285   39.5   31.1    4.2    5.5   11.0   0.64   17.8    4.0
Cu concentrate       201       16.9   28.7    1.5   0.045   30.5   32.0    2.6    3.3   36.8   3.03   24.8    5.6
Ni concentrate       984       83.1    0.8   11.6   0.334   41.3   31.0    4.5    5.9    5.7   0.15   16.3    3.7

XPS modelling indicated further enhancement of the separate concentrates is possible, including reduction of nickel content in the copper concentrate. Noront plans to conduct continuous pilot plant testing work on recently drilled core samples to confirm this modelling.

“These are important results as they enable us to pursue multiple marketing options for our concentrates,” said Noront president and chief executive officer Alan Coutts. “Not only can Noront sell high-quality products to traditional Canadian and international refining companies, but we can also provide dedicated nickel concentrates to the emerging battery metals sector.”

2020 metallurgical drilling

In early 2020, Noront executed a metallurgical drilling campaign to collect additional sample material from the Eagle’s Nest deposit for future variability testing. Four holes totalling 642 metres were drilled, including two holes into the upper domain and two wedge holes into the lower domain. The upper domain holes were continuously assayed to better inform the resource model. The lower domain holes were only sporadically assayed to preserve sufficient material for future metallurgical testing. The attached assay highlights from the 2020 upper domain metallurgical drilling at Eagle’s Nest table summarizes assay results of the upper domain holes and showcases the incredible metal tenor of the Eagle’s Nest sulphide ores.

               ASSAY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2020 UPPER DOMAIN METALLURGICAL DRILLING AT EAGLE'S NEST 

Hole       From (m)    To (m)   Width (m)    Ni (%)    Cu (%)    Co (%)   Pt (ppm)   Pd (ppm)   Au (ppm)   Ag (ppm)

NOT-20-001   44.00    143.35       99.35      4.06      1.91      0.09       0.99       5.67       0.22       5.22
Including    44.00     57.50       13.50      0.56      0.45      0.02       0.64       1.83       0.18       2.53
Including    57.50     107.3       49.80      2.01      0.82      0.05       1.10       3.29       0.14       3.19
Including   107.30    143.35       36.05      8.20      3.97      0.17       0.98      10.39       0.34       9.04
NOT-20-002   35.00     86.00       51.00      1.89      0.84      0.05       1.19       3.48       0.36       3.38
Including    35.00     60.50       25.50      0.60      0.48      0.02       0.69       1.89       0.18       2.19
Including     60.5     86.00       25.50      3.18      1.21      0.08       1.70       5.07       0.54       4.57

Ring of Fire nickel prospectivity

The grade of known nickel-copper-platinum-group-element sulphides in the Ring of Fire is comparable with some of the richest nickel deposits in the world. The high-tenor nature of magmatic sulphides at Eagle’s Nest, coupled with the proven conditions for formation of a sizable nickel deposit, presents a compelling case for continued nickel exploration in the region.

In 2019, the company completed a nickel-targeting exercise, which identified over 70 early-stage nickel targets in the Ring of Fire. The Victory target, staked in early 2020, was a product of this work. A recently completed VTEM-plus (versatile time domain electromagnetic-plus) survey over the Victory property identified several mid-time EM (electromagnetic) conductors associated with magnetic targets of possible ultramafic source. Noront is examining follow-up ground EM surveys to better resolve these targets ahead of drilling.

In addition, a thorough, independent review of the extensive geophysical database will be commissioned to identify previously overlooked or undertested priority EM anomalies with nickel potential. It is worth noting that the company’s geophysical database in the Ring of Fire consists of over 130 airborne EM surveys and over 250 ground EM surveys, as well as numerous other surveys of different types (for example, gravity and induced polarization). Most of these surveys were completed by previous operators in the early days of Ring of Fire exploration prior to the company’s current understanding of the geology in the region. A re-evaluation of this extensive data set is timely and may yield a significant number of quality untested targets.

XPS metallurgical testwork detail

Eagle’s Nest is a high-grade nickel-copper-platinum-group-element deposit, located in the emerging mining region known as the Ring of Fire in Northwestern Ontario. Noront filed a National Instrument 43-101-compliant technical report for this project in 2012, applying mineralogical and metallurgical testwork by SGS Lakefield.

The 2020 mineralogical and metallurgical work was commissioned to verify that marketable, separate nickel and copper concentrates could be prepared with representative sulphide samples from the deposit. Open-circuit tests were used to define and tune the processes to produce a bulk concentrate, consistent with previous SGS work and to split it into two concentrates through a separation process. Locked-cycle tests were run to examine the final process performance, based on a sample prepared by XPS. Since bench tests do not fully yield the results that can be attained in a full-scale plant with columns and recirculating loads, XPS developed simulation software to estimate the expected final products to be produced at the full-scale plant.

XPS used material and composite samples that had been stored in SGS Lakefield’s freezer for the initial work. The condition of this material was verified by replicating the SGS process using the same historic blend ratios of net textured to massive sulphide used by SGS to produce bulk concentrates with similar properties as the SGS work. XPS then used material from the composites to prepare a new representative composite blend of 83 to 17 (net textured to massive sulphide) to test the revised process steps.

Testwork with open circuits on the 83 to 17 blend was done to refine the flow sheet and produce an improved bulk concentrate process. XPS then moved on to locked-cycle tests with the new 83 to 17 composite to produce a bulk concentrate and then separate nickel and copper concentrates. The bulk concentrate circuit produced stable results and yielded recoveries of 91.8 per cent copper, 83.1 per cent nickel, 81.8 per cent cobalt, 72.6 per cent silver, 86.1 per cent gold, 85.0 per cent palladium and 76.8 per cent platinum into a bulk concentrate with 5.1 per cent Cu, 9.7 per cent Ni and 31.1 per cent sulphur (attached results of 83 to 17 composite blend bulk circuit testwork table). Importantly, the magnesium level of the bulk concentrate was 4.3 per cent magnesium oxide.

 
                          RESULTS OF 83 TO 17 COMPOSITE BLEND BULK CIRCUIT TESTWORK
 
Stream           Mass (g)   Mass (%)                          Assay (%)                        Assay (ppm)     
                                        Cu     Ni     Co     Fe      S    MgO   SiO2     Ag     Au     Pd     Pt

Rougher feed       5,905      100.0    1.3    2.8   0.08   23.3   13.2   21.6   25.1    3.5    0.2    4.8    1.3
Total tails        4,475       75.8    0.1    0.6   0.02   18.1    7.4   27.1   31.3    1.3    0.0    0.9    0.4
Total bulk conc.   1,430       24.2    5.1    9.7   0.28   39.6   31.1    4.3    5.6   10.5    0.7   16.7    4.2

Stream       Mass (g)   Mass (%)                         Distribution (%)                         Distribution (%) 
                                     Cu      Ni      Co      Fe       S     MgO    SiO2      Ag      Au      Pd      Pt

Rougher feed   5,905      100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0
Total tails    4,475       75.8     8.2    16.9    18.2    58.9    42.8    95.2    94.6    27.4    13.9    15.0    23.2
Total bulk 
conc.          1,430       24.2    91.8    83.1    81.8    41.1    57.2     4.8     5.4    72.6    86.1    85.0    76.8

Test results of the copper-nickel separation are shown in the attached results of copper-nickel separation (formal balance) table. They indicate substantial copper-nickel separation is achievable. The observed level of nickel in the copper concentrate exceeds the assumed commercial target; however, this is a common feature of most copper-nickel separation bench-scale testing. To overcome this, XPS developed a proprietary modelling program to predict metallurgical performance at the plant scale based on bench-scale testwork. The attached results of copper-nickel separation (XPS modelled) table summarizes the modelled copper-nickel separation results for the Eagle’s Nest 83 to 17 composite blend and indicates nickel values below 1 per cent in the copper concentrate, a key objective for marketable copper concentrates worldwide.

  
                           RESULTS OF COPPER-NICKEL SEPARATION (FORMAL BALANCE)
 
Stream           Mass (g)   Mass (%)                       Assay (%)                            Assay (ppm)     
                                        Cu     Ni      Co     Fe      S    MgO   SiO2     Ag     Au     Pd     Pt

Bulk concentrate   1,185      100.0    5.5    9.9   0.285   39.5   31.1    4.2    5.5   11.0   0.64   17.8    4.0
Cu concentrate       201       16.9   28.7    1.5   0.045   30.5   32.0    2.6    3.3   36.8   3.03   24.8    5.6
Ni concentrate       984       83.1    0.8   11.6   0.334   41.3   31.0    4.5    5.9    5.7   0.15   16.3    3.7

Stream        Mass (g)   Mass (%)                         Distribution (%)                         Distribution (%)
                                      Cu      Ni      Co      Fe       S     MgO    SiO2      Ag      Au      Pd      Pt
Bulk 
concentrate     1,185      100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0
Cu concentrate    201       16.9    88.2     2.5     2.7    13.1    17.4    10.5    10.2    56.7    80.0    23.7    23.5
Ni concentrate    984       83.1    11.8    97.5    97.3    86.9    82.6    89.5    89.8    43.3    20.0    76.3    76.5

 
                                RESULTS OF COPPER-NICKEL SEPARATION (XPS MODELLED)
 
Stream           Mass (%)                               Assay (%)                                    Assay (ppm)     
                              Cu     Ni       Co       Fe        S      MgO     SiO2       Ag       Au       Pd       Pt

Bulk concentrate   100.0%    5.1    9.7     0.28     39.6     31.1      4.3      5.6     10.5      0.7     16.7      4.2
Cu concentrate      14.1%   29.9    0.5     0.02     22.1     33.9      0.9      1.1     32.6      3.4     18.6      4.5
Ni concentrate      85.9%    1.0   11.2     0.32     42.5     30.7      4.8      6.2      6.9      0.2     16.4      4.1

Stream           Mass (%)                           Distribution (%)                             Distribution (%)  
                               Cu      Ni       Co       Fe        S      MgO     SiO2      Ag      Au      Pd      Pt

Bulk concentrate   100.0%   100.0   100.0    100.0    100.0    100.0    100.0    100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0
Cu concentrate      14.1%    83.1     0.7      0.8      7.8     15.3      2.8      2.8    43.4    71.6    15.7    15.1
Ni concentrate      85.9%    16.9    99.3     99.2     92.2     84.7     95.8     95.2    56.6    28.4    84.3    84.9

The attached results of copper-nickel separation tables clearly show that the majority of the recovered nickel reports to the nickel concentrate (99.3 per cent) and the majority of the recovered copper reports to the copper concentrate (83.1 per cent), indicating successful copper-nickel separation from the bulk concentrate. The testwork also indicates the majority (84 per cent) of platinum and palladium reports to the nickel concentrate.

In summary, the XPS testwork demonstrates that Eagle’s Nest ore is amenable to separate copper-nickel concentrates, which shows early indications of being a high-quality product with good overall recoveries and concentrate specifications. To confirm these results for a plant scale, Noront is planning to perform continuous pilot plant testing work with XPS using core samples collected from the 2020 metallurgical drilling program.

Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program

Noront maintains a strict QA/QC protocol for all its drilling programs. Core logging and sampling are performed on site under the supervision of geologists licensed by the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO). Reference standards, field blanks and duplicates are inserted into the sample stream at regular intervals. Once cut, drill core samples are labelled and sealed in individual bags and then grouped into batches for shipping to Thunder Bay through Nakina under chain-of-custody documentation.

Samples are submitted to Activation Laboratories (Actlabs), an ISO-17025-certified laboratory in Thunder Bay, for sample preparation and multielement analysis. This includes fire assay for precious metals and total digestion ICP-OES for base metals (exclusive of chromium, which is analyzed by XRF). Samples exceeding analytical upper limits are automatically run for overlimit analysis. Analytical results are sent electronically by Actlabs to a database manager at Noront, whereupon the company’s internal standards, duplicates and blanks are reviewed for accuracy, precision and the presence of possible contamination. QA/QC results for each batch are reviewed by a Noront qualified professional prior to accepting and importing new assays into the database. All assays reported in this press release passed the Noront QA/QC program.

Pursuant to the option agreement, in order to earn a 100-per-cent interest in the property, the company is required to: (i) pay the vendors a total of $95,000 cash; (ii) issue to the vendors an aggregate of 600,000 common shares; and (iii) complete a total of $350,000 in exploration expenditures in respect of the property over a three-year period. Furthermore, the option agreement is subject to a 1.5-per-cent net smelter return royalty granted to the vendors.

For further details, please refer to the company’s news release dated Nov. 5, 2020.

Pursuant to the agreement, the Regulus group granted to Osisko: (i) 0.75-per-cent and 1.5-per-cent net smelter return (NSR) royalties on the company’s Mina Volare mineral concession in Peru (which concession forms a portion of the company’s AntaKori project); (ii) an option to purchase 50 per cent of certain future royalties acquired by the Regulus group within the mining property and the area of interest; (iii) rights of first refusal on certain future royalty and stream transactions acquired or proposed to be granted by the Regulus group; and (iv) 5.5 million warrants to purchase common shares in the capital of Regulus with an exercise price of $2.25 (Canadian) for a period of three years — all in consideration of an upfront cash payment of $12.5-million (U.S.) from Osisko to Regulus.
For further information, refer to the company’s news release dated Oct. 1, 2020.

Summary

Gold Mineralization Confirmed at Launi East Hinge Zone

Widely spaced drill holes intersected zones of gold mineralization up to 13.45 m wide at shallow depths over a strike length of over 550 m along a 1.0 km long magnetic anomaly trend. Gold mineralized intervals average from 0.30 g/t to 3.05 g/t, with individual samples of up to 7.77 g/t, including 3.05 g/t over 5.30 m (LN20050 from 106.50 m down hole).

Encouraging Results from Aurion’s Maiden Drill Program at Kaaresselka

Drill intercepts including 1.52 g/t Au over 2.85 m (KS20001 from 306.50 m down hole) and 1.85 g/t Au over 5.40 m (KS20002 from 199.00 m down hole) extend the gold mineralized zone to ~200 m depth and to ~600 m strike length at Vanha target on the Kaaresselka prospect.

Comments

“We are excited to confirm the Hinge Zone target on the Launi East Property is emerging as our second significant drilling discovery,” commented Matti Talikka, Aurion’s CEO. “Aurion’s first discovery at Aamurusko was proven by drilling during the third campaign and approximately 20 months after surface sampling provided evidence of a large gold system. Launi is following a similar trajectory. Since 2017, our Aamurusko and Launi discoveries, in addition to the Ikkari discovery by Rupert, along our mutual boundary, have demonstrated the area near the Sirrka Shear in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt to be amongst the most promising new gold camps in the world. We are excited to be continuing to advance our many prospective targets in this area”

Gold Mineralization Confirmed at Launi East Hinge Zone

Aurion completed a 7-hole, 1,007.60 m diamond core drilling program at the Hinge Zone target at the Launi East property. The program was designed to follow up on the scout drill program completed during the Spring of 2020 (see news release July 27, 2020) where gold values were intersected in an interpreted shear zone.

Widely spaced drilling tested over 550 m of strike of an over 1.0 km long magnetic anomaly and intersected zones of gold mineralization up to 13.45 m wide at shallow depths. The gold mineralization is mainly hosted within silicified, chloritized, magnetite-bearing, sheared and quartz veined intervals of volcanogenic sediments close to the contact zone to an intermediate volcanic unit. The location and dimensions of the magnetite-bearing unit correlates with the magnetic anomaly trend and provides guidance on the orientation and geometry of the potentially gold mineralized trend. The locations of drill holes are shown in Figure 1 and a list of results is provided in Table 1.

The till covered Hinge Zone target is located between the Christmas Deformation Zone and Midsommer targets on the northwestern portion of the Launi East property. Past exploration activities have returned a large number of significant gold values in boulders, outcrops and drilling in the Christmas Deformation Zone and Midsommer targets since the discovery of gold indications in 2018. The presence of gold mineralization in various lithologies and structures within an area of 1.3 km by 1.0 km suggests potential for a robust gold mineralization event of which the Hinge Zone target may represent one of the key structural components. The Launi East property totals 4,276 ha of which only a minor portion has been tested by mapping, trenching or drilling.

Table 1: Launi East Hinge Zone drilling summary
  
  
Hole ID     From (m)   To (m)   Width (m)  Au (g/t)

LN20050     36.40      37.10    0.70       1.61
AND         100.30     112.25   11.95      1.60
incl        106.50     111.80   5.30       3.05
AND incl    107.50     108.45   0.95       7.77
LN20051     86.90      88.00    1.10       1.36
AND         123.35     124.35   1.00       4.11
LN20052     69.75      70.25               NSV
LN20053     38.10      38.55    0.45       1.43
LN20054                                    NSV
LN20055     26.90      27.70    0.80       2.56
AND         73.30      74.15    0.85       2.99
AND         140.85     141.60   0.75       1.34
LN20056     109.30     114.60   5.30       1.31
incl        110.30     112.10   1.80       2.83
LN20057     138.40     142.60   4.20       0.99
LN20058     18.55      19.45    0.90       5.87
AND         51.80      52.25    0.45       2.61
AND         55.35      56.80    1.45       1.77

All widths are core widths.  
True width is not known at this time. 
All assay values are uncut. NSV = No Significant Value


  

LN20050 was drilled along the same profile with the scout drill hole LN20042, which intersected a highly weathered and broken fault zone and returned elevated gold values from an interval with 92% core loss (see new release July 27, 2020). LN20050 intersected 3.05 g/t Au over 5.30 m from 106.50 m down hole within a broader zone of 1.60 g/t Au over 11.95 m from 100.30 m down hole. In addition, a narrow gold intercept of 1.61 g/t Au over 0.70 m from 36.40 m down hole was encountered within saprolitic material containing fragments of quartz veins. This gold bearing saprolitic zone may indicate the presence of a gold mineralized zone spatially associated with another additional geophysical anomaly trend. In addition, the drill hole intersected intervals with anomalous (>0.1 g/t) gold values.

LN20051 was collared 50 m to NW from LN20050 and intersected 4.11 g/t Au over 1.00 m from 123.35 m and 1.36 g/t Au over 1.10 m. In addition, the drill hole intersected intervals with anomalous (>0.1 g/t) gold values.

LN20052 was collared 110 m to SE from LN20050 to the tip of the magnetic anomaly and intercepted a narrow, lower grade zone of 0.67 g/t Au over 0.50 m. In addition, the drill hole intersected intervals with anomalous (>0.1 g/t) gold values.

LN20055 was collared 50 m to SE from LN20050 and 60 m to NW from LN20052 and returned gold intercepts of 2.99 g/t Au over 0.85 m from 73.30 m down hole and 1.34 g/t Au over 0.75 m from 140.85 m down hole within a wider zone of elevated gold of 0.29 g/t Au over 11.25 m from 133.35 m down hole. In addition, the drill hole intersected intervals with anomalous (>0.1 g/t) gold values.

LN20056 was collared 50 m to NW from LN20051 and returned gold intercepts of 1.31 g/t Au over 5.30 m from 109.30 m down hole including 2.83 g/t Au over 1.80 m from 110.30 m down hole. In addition, the drill hole intersected intervals with anomalous (>0.1 g/t) gold values.

LN20057 was collared 125 m to NW from LN20056 and returned 0.99 g/t Au over 4.20 m from 138.40 m down hole within a wider zone of 0.42 g/t Au over 13.45 m from 130.60 m down hole. In addition, the drill hole intersected intervals with anomalous (>0.1 g/t) gold values.

LN20058 was collared 340 m to WNW from LN20057 and targeted extension of the magnetic anomaly further to west following a bend of the magnetic anomaly trend. The drill hole intersected several gold mineralized intervals including 5.87 g/t Au over 0.90 m from 18.55 m down hole, 2.61 g/t Au over 0.45 m from 51.80 m down hole and 1.77 g/t Au over 1.45 m from 55.35 m down hole. In addition, the drill hole intersected intervals with anomalous (>0.1 g/t) gold values such as 0.29 g/t over 13.05 m from 22.30 m down hole.

The distance between the southeasternmost (LN20052) and northwesternmost (LN20058) drill holes is ~625 m and the prospective geophysical anomaly trend continues for a further 500 m to NW from drill hole LN20058.

Two drill holes (LN20053 and LN20054) were drilled to test the Stubley Zone target, which is located ~2.7 km south of the Hinge Zone target and contains angular blocks of quartz veins exhibiting crack-seal and breccia textures. Both drill holes intercepted 0.3 to 3.35 m wide (down hole length) quartz veins and drill hole LN20053 returned a narrow intercept of 0.45 m @ 1.43 g/t Au from 38.10 m downhole length. LN20054 did not return significant gold values.

Encouraging Initial Results from Kaaresselka Maiden Drill Program

Aurion completed a maiden 12-hole, 2,401.3 m diamond core drilling program testing four targets (Vanha, Lampi South, Lampi North, Tienvarsi) within the Kaaresselka prospect area (2.0 km by 1.0 km). The program was designed to test the potential strike and depth extensions of previously identified mineralized zones, which were largely limited to 50-150 m from surface, as well as targets identified from re-interpretation of historic exploration data. The locations of drill holes are shown in Figure 2 and a list of results is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: Kaaresselka drilling summary.
  
  
   Hole ID    Azimuth    Dip      From (m)   To (m)   Width (m)  Au (g/t)  Target Area  Comments 
KS20001    179.8      -50.0    40.70      41.35    0.65       0.93      Vanha        1.08 % Cu
AND                            85.85      88.95    3.10       0.26                   1.20 % Cu
AND                            296.40     297.55   1.15       1.71                            
AND                            306.50     309.35   2.85       1.52                            
incl                           307.70     309.35   1.65       2.36                            
KS20002    359.9      -49.4    199.00     204.50   5.50       1.85      Vanha                 
incl                           199.00     199.95   0.95       8.91                            
KS20003    180.4      -45.2    45.75      49.75    4.00       1.27      Vanha                 
KS20004    335.1      -55.2    101.95     102.90   0.95       1.28      Lampi S               
KS20005    24.7       -50.4                                   NSV       Lampi N               
KS20006    30.3       -45.0                                   NSV       Tienvarsi             
KS20007    30.4       -54.7    81.95      82.80    0.85       3.22      Tienvarsi    0.8 % Cu 
KS20008    224.7      -45.2                                   NSV       Lampi N               
KS20009    220.7      -44.8                                   NSV       Lampi N               
KS20010    224.4      -44.7                                   NSV       Tienvarsi             
KS20011    220.9      -44.6                                   NSV       Lampi N               
KS20012    14.2       -48.0                                   NSV       Lampi S               
Intercepts reported at 1 g/t gold or 1 % Cu cut-off. All assay values are uncut.              
All widths are core widths.  True width is not known at this time.  NSV = No Significant Value


  

Vanha target

KS20001 targeted the depth extensions of historic gold intercepts (4.88 g/t Au over 2.0 m, 1.2 g/t Au over 1.0 m and 1.21 g/t Au over 4.0 m) at shallow depths (max 50 m). The drill hole intersected a wide (~200-300 m down hole length) zone of strongly altered (silicification and carbonatization) and sheared mafic volcanic rocks and graphitic sediments returning gold intercepts of 1.71 g/t Au over 1.15 m from 296.40 m down hole, 1.52 g/t Au over 2.85 m, and several intervals with elevated (>0.1 g/t) gold values. The mineralized zone is interpreted to be subvertical and continue to at least 230 m vertical depth. The drill hole also intersected previously unknown parallel zones of alteration and deformation that returned 0.93 g/t Au and 1.08% Cu over 0.65 m from 40.70 m down hole and 0.26 g/t Au and 1.20 % Cu over 3.10 m from 85.85 m down hole.

KS20002 was collared along a profile ~60 m to W from KS20001 and targeted the depth extension of gold mineralized zones identified in historic exploration. The drill hole intersected 1.85 g/t Au over 5.50 m from 199.00 m down hole including 8.91 g/t Au over 0.95 m from 199.00 m down hole within a wider zone of strongly deformed and altered mafic volcanic rocks and graphitic schists.

KS20003 was collared ~300 m to E from KS20001 to test the strike extension of the EW trending structural trend. The drill hole returned an intercept of 1.27 g/t Au over 4.00 m within a wider zone of strongly deformed and altered mafic volcanic rocks and graphitic schists. The gold mineralized trend is open and untested towards east.

The three drill holes extended the gold mineralized zones to 200 m depth and 600 m strike length along the east-west trending structural corridor coinciding with the Sirkka Shear Zone. The mineralization at Vanha is open to depth and towards east.

Lampi South, Lampi North, and Tienvarsi

Drill holes KS20004-KS20012 tested several gold indications in the western part of the Kaaresselka prospect area. Several drill holes intersected zones of altered and deformed mafic volcanic and sedimentary rock units with varying levels of gold ranging from nil to ~3 g/t Au over narrow widths.

In all, over 34,000 metres of new drilling has been completed in the last three drill seasons. This will be included in a mineral resource update that is planned for early 2021.

Highlights:Salbora Deposit:In-fill drill results for 10 diamond drill holes totalling 1,613 metres are reported below.In-fill drilling has confirmed the continuity of mineralization at Salbora, including the high-grade structures. Salbora covers a surface area of approximately 100 x 300 metres.The Salbora deposit, discovered in 2018, will be included in the updated mineral resource estimate.Eagle Mountain Gold Deposit:In-fill diamond drill results for 13 core holes totalling 822 metres are reported below. In-fill drilling supports the historical results and the Eagle Mountain geological model. Additional in-fill drilling is planned for December 2020 and H1, 2021. Hole positioning has been designed to re-categorize Inferred mineral resources to Indicated mineral resources for pre-feasibility work in 2021.Montgomery Prospect:Exploration results for 16 diamond drill holes totalling 3,298 metres are reported below.Montgomery represents a new discovery approximately 1.5 kilometres north of Salbora along the important 170 degrees trending structural corridor that is defined by Salbora and Powis.Ann Prospect (Minnehaha area):A recent low cost option-to-purchase acquisition of the strategically significant Ann small scale claim Licence (“SSC”, 10 hectares) or Prospect, is within the Company’s Eagle Mountain Prospecting Licence of 4,786 hectares. Initial drilling is underway on this new prospect. The Ann Prospect is also located along the Salbora-Powis structural trend with indications of shallow gold mineralized saprolite.

Yannis Tsitos, President, commented, “The continued positive drilling results at both Salbora and Eagle Mountain deposits are expanding our gold mineralized footprint and verify the previous geological models for these areas. In addition, we have expanded the north-south trending Salbora-Powis structural corridor with the discovery of gold mineralization at Montgomery, which is located an estimated 1.5 kilometres north of Salbora. The recent acquisition of the Ann Prospect opens further potential for expansion of gold mineralization within the southern part of this corridor in Minnehaha Creek area. We continue to compile all information, including over 34,000 metres of additional drilling, to complete an updated mineral resource estimation in early 2021.”

The most significant results for this release are in in-fill hole EME20-058 with 28.5 metres grading 2.03 grams per tonne (“gpt”) gold (or “Au”) at Salbora, in-fill hole EME20-074 which intersected 39.0 metres grading 1.55 gpt Au at Eagle Mountain and in-fill hole EME20-078 which intersected 36.5 metres grading 1.83 gpt Au at Eagle Mountain. In addition, discovery holes EMD20-110 with 6.0 metres grading 3.81 gpt Au and EME20-054 with 34.5 metres grading 0.66 gpt Au, including 10.5 metres grading 1.49 gpt Au at Montgomery. The following table shows the most significant results (uncut, undiluted):

Eagle Mountain Deposit Intercepts:
Hole ID (1)From (m)To (m)Drilled Interval (m)(2)Au (gpt)(3)
EME20-074      48.0  87.0                   39.0       1.55
      Incl.    52.5  61.2                    8.7       1.14
               70.5  87.0                   16.5       2.93
      Incl.    72.0  73.5                    1.5      27.16
EME20-075      23.5  25.0                    1.5       0.80
               39.0  42.0                    3.0       0.40
EME20-076      43.5  45.0                    1.5       1.13
               55.5  57.5                    2.0       0.64
EME20-077      10.0  55.5                   45.5       0.88
      Incl.    10.0  28.5                   18.5       1.55
               48.0  55.5                    7.5       1.08
EME20-078      10.0  46.5                   36.5       1.83
EMD20-138      22.5  31.5                    9.0       0.41
EMD20-139      42.0  45.0                    3.0       9.88
EMD20-140       0.0   4.5                    4.5       1.70
               46.5  48.0                    1.5       1.07
EMD20-141       0.0   6.0                    6.0       0.43
               55.5  66.0                   10.5       1.45
EMD20-142       0.0   4.5                    4.5       0.44
               21.0  31.5                   10.5       0.60
EMD20-143       0.0   1.5                    1.5       0.60
EMD20-144       0.0   1.5                    1.5       0.77
                6.0  13.5                    7.5       0.59
EMD20-145      12.0  15.0                    3.0       0.62

Salbora Deposit Intercepts:
Hole ID (1)From (m)To (m)Drilled Interval (m)(2)Au (gpt)(3)
EME20-057      22.0  57.0                   35.0       1.10
      Incl.    22.0  38.5                   16.5       1.86
               66.0  70.5                    4.5       0.57
              124.5 126.0                    1.5       4.41
EME20-058       0.0   4.0                    4.0       1.42
               13.0  41.5                   28.5       2.03
               61.5  63.0                    1.5       0.56
               88.5  93.0                    4.5       0.57
              113.0 114.5                    1.5       0.61
              123.0 124.5                    1.5       0.62
              137.0 156.0                   19.0       1.44
EME20-059      64.5  66.0                    1.5       0.52
               69.0  70.5                    1.5       0.64
EME20-060      99.0 123.0                   24.0       1.60
EME20-062      90.0  94.5                    4.5       0.40
EME20-063      37.5  39.0                    1.5       0.40
               54.0  55.5                    1.5       0.48
              153.0 154.5                    1.5       0.90
EME20-064      23.5  25.0                    1.5       0.56
               31.0  34.0                    3.0       1.08
               64.5  67.5                    3.0       1.34
EME20-065      87.0 106.5                   19.5       0.74
              119.0 126.0                    7.0       0.68
              132.0 135.0                    3.0       0.47
              149.0 150.5                    1.5       0.60
              153.0 157.5                    4.5       0.44
              167.0 171.0                    4.0       0.43
EME20-066      82.5 106.5                   24.0       0.45
      Incl.    82.5  88.5                    6.0       0.53
      Incl.    97.5 106.5                    9.0       0.69
              114.0 115.5                    1.5       0.87
              150.0 153.0                    3.0       8.71

Montgomery Prospect Intercepts:
Hole ID (1)From (m)To (m)Drilled Interval (m)(2)Au (gpt)(3)
EMD20-109     166.5 171.0                    4.5       0.91
EMD20-110      67.5  73.5                    6.0       3.81
EME20-043      19.0  20.5                    1.5       0.59
               26.5  28.0                    1.5       0.50
              108.0 111.0                    3.0       3.69
              144.0 145.5                    1.5       1.08
EME20-048      94.0  95.5                    1.5       0.69
EME20-051      32.5  34.0                    1.5       0.51
               55.0  57.5                    1.5       1.77
EME20-053      23.5  25.0                    1.5       0.47
               61.5  63.0                    1.5       0.41
EME20-054      25.0  26.5                    1.5       20.5
               66.0  72.0                    6.0       0.53
               84.0 118.5                   34.5       0.66
      Incl.    84.0  94.5                   10.5       1.49
              115.5 118.5                    3.0       1.46
EME20-056       5.5   7.0                    1.5       0.54
              108.0 109.5                    1.5       0.49

Note: All numbers rounded.(1) EMD defines diamond core holes drilled in-house.EME defines diamond core holes drilled by drilling contractor.(2) True widths are 70 to 100% of drilled widths.(3) Cutoff grade of 0.3 gpt Au.

All sample preparation and geochemical analyses were completed by Actlabs Guyana Inc. in Georgetown, Guyana.

EME20-044 to 047, EME20-049, 050, 052 and 055 in Montgomery and EME20-061 (abandoned hole due to drilling issues) in Salbora intersected mineralization below the Company’s cut off grade of 0.3 gpt Au.

Geologically, the Salbora drilling supports the current geological model of mineralized breccias within mafic and granitoid units along a North-South trend, approximately 100 metres wide and 300 metres along strike. Drilling shows the deposit narrowing to the south but continuing for at least an estimated 250 metres.

Drilling in the Montgomery deposit shows narrow gold mineralized breccias approximately 1.5 kilometres north of Salbora along the Salbora-Powis structural corridor. Several targets have been selected for further drilling within the Montgomery area where geological structures transect with potential for Salbora-style mineralization. Further drilling is proposed in 2021.

Drilling at the Eagle Mountain deposit has confirmed the continuity of mineralization in the subhorizontal (near-surface dip-slope) shear zones. Ongoing expansion drilling in several areas suggests potential for resource expansion for the ongoing updated estimate.

The Company plans to complete an additional 800 to 1,000 metres of drilling before a holiday break. In January, the program will continue in-fill, expansion, and potential discovery drilling as follows:Salbora deposit (expansion & in-fill), Eagle Mountain deposit (in-fill),No. 1 Hill and Baboon zones (expansion & in-fill), and,Minnehaha and Ann prospects (exploration).

The cut-off date for drill results to be included in the ongoing updated mineral resource estimate was November 7, 2020. Further drilling in 2021 will prioritize in-fill holes to be used to re-categorize Inferred mineral resources to Indicated mineral resources for pre-feasibility work in 2021.

The Option to Purchase (“Option”) the Ann SSC consists of two payments to a local Guyanese owner, of US$20,000 each, on signing (paid) and on first anniversary, and a further $250,000 payment, if and when Goldsource would like to exercise its option to fully purchase the SSC by October 2022. The Option can be terminated at any time by the Company at no further cost.

The Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for this news release is N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, Executive Chairman and Vice President Finance for Goldsource, who has reviewed and approved its contents.

Almaden’s key 100% owned mineral concessions, that cover the Ixtaca project, and which are the subject of the Feasibility Study announced in 2018, are not adversely affected by the denial of Almaden’s appeal noted in the December 1, 2020 news release.

While a Mexican court has denied the appeal filed by the Company regarding the Company’s voluntary reduction of its mineral concessions, the Company wishes to reiterate the following:

• The court decision upholds the original, 14,000 Ha larger concessions, which the Company originally held;
• The original concessions provide Almaden with the same exploration and mining rights over the Company’s Ixtaca project as would the reduced concessions;
• Almaden continues to have full access to the Ixtaca project for its ongoing exploration programs;
• As disclosed in the Company’s press release of September 9, 2020, a Court has confirmed that the existence of the Amparo lawsuit involving these original concessions does not prevent the environmental authority (“SEMARNAT”) from resolving the environmental permit (“MIA”) application and that SEMARNAT is free to act within its jurisdiction and authority in respect of the MIA review.

Further background on this matter is available in the Company’s recent disclosure including that of February 27, 2020, September 9, 2020 and December 1, 2020.

The three Mining Rights collectively called the Kowa Project comprise 389 hectares and will be included into the Barrick Alliance. The Mining Rights host numerous gold-bearing epithermal quartz veins with shallow historic underground mine workings developed on them. With the signing of this agreement the Company has complete coverage over strike extensions to the Ohra-Takamine mineralization corridor, along with the numerous under-explored veins contained within the Properties, Figure 1.

Highlights of the Joint Venture include:

• The Company has an exclusive right to explore the Properties in return for the Company’s commitment to fund the exploration and development and pay Mining Right taxes.
• The Company has the right to acquire 100% equity in the Mining Rights in return for funding through to pre-feasibility,
• Consideration for the transfer of the Mining Rights to the Company will be a 10% net profits interest “NPI”
• A joint technical committee will oversee exploration and development activities within the properties and the Company will act as Manager

John Proust, Chairman & CEO commented, “We’re very pleased to sign this joint venture agreement with the Koatsu Kogyo Corporation. The joint venture covers a strategic and under-explored gap in the Company’s extensive portfolio in the very prospective Southern Kyushu Epithermal Gold Province.”

The Koatsu Kogyo Mining Licenses

Gravity-high anomalies are a key feature associated with the development of high-grade epithermal gold deposits in the Hokusatsu Region. Within the Properties gold-bearing epithermal veins occur along a 2-kilometer long north trending corridor situated on the western flank of a major gravity-high anomaly, refer to Figure 2. The numerous shallow historic workings developed on these veins have been grouped under the collective name of the Kowa Mine Workings¹. Production occurred sporadically from 1916 until 1943 within the mining rights, however no production data is available. Quartz veins are mapped in various orientations, within broad clay alteration zones developed along north and northeast orientations. Large tabular sinter boulders are also reported around the workings, potentially indicating as at the Ohra mine area, the system may not be deeply eroded.

In the northern part of the Kowa workings, three significant quartz veins named the Miyashiro veins, have reported strike lengths between 100 to 450 meters, with widths between 0.3 to 0.9 meters. Sampling of these veins in the late 1960’s gave grades between 3 to 28 g/t gold and 25 to 60 g/t silver². Anomalous soil data reported by the Company in a news release dated 11^th June, 2020, indicate these veins probably form part of the Ohra – Aira Yamada Mine vein trend, a gold and pathfinder element in-soil anomaly that extends northeast for greater than 2 kilometers beyond the Ohra Mine workings. Ten samples taken across the Tenshin veins in the central part of the Kowa workings, reported gold grades between 3.3 to 40.3 g/t from veins between 0.1 to 0.6 meters wide¹.

As part of the Alliance regional assessment programs the Company will commence investigations of the Properties early in 2021 to evaluate prospectivity and definition of drill targets. The Mining Right status will facilitate more rapid permitting to support drilling and other more advanced exploration activities.

Yoquivo covers a large, low-sulfidation epithermal vein system with limited historic production. The Company has identified four separate vein systems in which surface sampling has returned grades up to 4,050 g/t silver and 27.7 g/t gold from surface. See Golden Minerals’ press release dated Oct. 31, 2018 for details: AUMN Identifies High-Grade Veins at Yoqu i vo.

Golden Minerals drilled approximately 3,400 meters in 15 core holes exploring the principal veins at Yoquivo. The drilling targeted the silver-gold Pertenencia, San Francisco and Esperanza vein systems to better understand the nature and distribution of the high-grade mineralization. The Company expects to be able to announce results from the drilling program within the next few months.

Warren Rehn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Minerals, noted, “Yoquivo represents one piece of our longer-term strategy; namely, increasing shareholder value through continued exploration success that will build long-term company profitability. Meanwhile, we remain focused on achieving profitable near-term gold and silver production at Rodeo and Velardena, with Rodeo slated to begin production in early 2021. We have been waiting for the right time to complete a drill program at Yoquivo to test its potential to host high-grade silver and gold mineralization, and we look forward to announcing results from this program.”

Additionally, the Company has compiled historic drilling data from a program drilled in 2007 by West Timmins Resources that intersected multiple mineralized structures, including the following:

 Hole ID Core length (m)Au (g/t)Ag (g/t)
YO-07-010.7            2.18    289.0   
YO-07-031.0            3.01    565.5   
YO-07-030.6            1.61    262.0   
YO-07-030.5            1.33    210.0   
YO-07-051.15           2.66    101.0   
YO-07-050.5            2.08    345.0   

Table I: Summary drill results from 2007 Yoquivo drill program (compiled from West Timmins 2007 Internal summary report). Superscript

1 About Yoquivo

Golden holds an option to purchase seven concessions that comprise the Yoquivo property, totalling 1,974.8 hectares located in western Chihuahua State in northern Mexico, for payments totalling $0.75 million over four years and subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty on production capped at $2 million. The claims cover an underexplored epithermal precious metals district that shows similar mineralization to the adjacent Ocampo mining district, and the Company, through systematic exploration, hopes to identify significant high-grade mineralization.

Superscript 1 References: West Timmins {ዠ –} Proyecto Yoquivo Informe Geologico y de Barrenacion {ጟ –} 2007 Internal Summary report. Disclaimer: The West Timmins drill results are historical in nature. The data has been compiled from summary drill reports and has not been confirmed or verified by Golden Minerals. However, Golden Minerals has been able to rescue approximately 90% of the historic drill-core that was stored at site and has recently relogged it.

Dr. Chuck Fipke reports

HIGHLIGHTS

• Drilling from pad MZ 51 at the north eastern end of the Main Zone intersects sulphide mineralization extending the strike length of the mineralization to over 2 kilometres
• Drilling at the new GZ zone also intersects strong massive sulphides.
• Road building at the GZ zone exposes in situ mineralization

MAIN ZONE

Drilling has now extended the strike length of the Main Zone to over 2 kilometres.  A drill testing the northeastern extent of the Main Zone has intersected 4.5 metres of massive to disseminated sulphides between 68.0 and 78.2 metres depth.  This hole was drilled at a -45 degree inclination from pad MZ 51, which is located 1.95 kilometres from pad MZ 5 (see Figure 1).  

GZ ZONE

A vertical hole was undertaken to assist in determining the orientation of the mineralization.  This hole intersected massive sulphide mineralization (46.1 to 52.8 metres).

While constructing access to a forthcoming drill pad the mineralization was exposed.  At surface, the mineralization is 6.35 metres wide (true width) and is dominantly intensely oxidized but does contain two one metre wide massive galena sections. 

A map showing the location of the current drilling and GZ Zone exposure is shown in Figure 1.   We are expecting the next batches of drill results for the project within the next week.  They will be reported when received.

Figure 1.  Massive Sulphide Area Plan View

The technical information and results reported here have been reviewed by Mr. Chad Ulansky P.Geol., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, who is responsible for the technical content of this release.