VANCOUVER, CANADA – March 3, 2023: Sitka Gold Corp. (“Sitka” or the “Company”) (CSE:SIG) (FSE:1RF) (OTCQB:SITKF) is
pleased to announce it has filed the Technical Report to support the 1,340,000 gold ounce Initial Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (“CIM”) Definition Standards incorporated by reference in National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) for the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits located on the Company’s RC Gold Project (“RC Gold” or the “Project”). The road accessible, contiguous 376 square kilometre RC Gold Project is located in the Yukon’s prolific Tombstone Gold Belt (TGB) approximately 100 kilometres east of Dawson City. The Technical Report, titled Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory is dated January 19, 2023 and was prepared by Ronald G. Simpson, P.Geo., GeoSim Services Inc. The Report may be found on the Company’s website or under the Company’s profile on www.sedar.com.
“Filing of this Technical Report marks a major milestone for both the RC Gold Project and Sitka”, stated Cor Coe, P.Geo, Director and CEO of Sitka Gold. “This 1,340,000 gold resource at RC Gold will provide Sitka with an important new benchmark for valuation which we intend to leverage as we work toward growing this Mineral Resource. With our 2023 winter diamond drilling program beginning soon, we expect to see meaningful advancement at RC Gold over the coming months with drilling primarily focused on expanding both the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits, which remain open in all directions (see Figure 1). A 1.5 kilometre long mineralized corridor still remains between these deposits with the potential for gold mineralization to link the Blackjack and Eiger zones together (see Figures 1 and 2). With an average grade similar to that of Victoria Gold’s nearby producing Eagle Gold Mine, metallurgical testing that shows the gold is amenable to heap leaching, with recoveries of up to 94%, year-round road access and proximity to other key infrastructure such as powerlines, highway and Dawson City proper, the potential for future mine development at RC Gold is quite attractive.”
Figure 1: Blackjack and Eiger Gold Deposits
As announced on January 19, 2023 the pit-constrained Mineral Resource is classified as inferred and contained in two near/on-surface zones: The Blackjack and Eiger deposits. The Mineral Resource estimate is presented in the following table at a base case cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au:
Notes
- Mineral resource estimate prepared by Ronald G. Simpson of GeoSim Services Inc. with an effective date of January 19, 2023. Mineral Resources are classified using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards.
- The cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au is believed to provide a reasonable margin over operating and sustaining costs for open-pit mining and processing
- Mineral resources are constrained by an optimized pit shell using the following assumptions: US$1800/oz Au price; a 45° pit slope; assumed metallurgical recovery of 85%; mining costs of US$2.00 per tonne; processing costs of US$8.00 per tonne; G&A of US$1.50/t.
- Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
- Totals may not sum due to rounding.
The resource estimate is based on analytical data from 34 drill holes representing 11,630m of drilling.
Figure 2: Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger zones at the RC Gold Project
The Blackjack and Eiger zones are typified by intrusion-hosted mineralization within the 2 km x 500 metre extensional corridor (see news release dated June 13, 2022) that provides a structural and genetic link between the Blackjack zone and Eiger zone intrusions (see Figure 2). The Blackjack and Eiger deposits remain open in all directions and have excellent potential for resource expansion. The Saddle zone, located midway between the Blackjack and Eiger is characterised by metasedimentary rocks intruded by dykes and sills. This zone remains relatively untested but contains significant mineralization with the potential to add additional resources as demonstrated by drill hole DDRCCC20-01 which returned 0.52 g/t gold over 84.8 m from surface and DDRCCC21-19 which intersected 80.0 m grading 0.59 g/t gold from 48.0 m depth that included 16.0 m grading 2.18 g/t gold (see news releases dated November 23, 2020 and January 20, 2022 respectively).
Drilling at the RC Gold project has been planned to provide Sitka geologists with a solid database of drilling data to understand controls on mineralization observed in both intrusive and metasedimentary host rocks while also providing the necessary spatial density to generate the initial resource estimate. Assay results from drilling along with structural information obtained from oriented core, data from detailed core logging, geological mapping, reprocessed Lidar data and interpretation of an airborne magnetic geophysical survey have been instrumental in forming the basis for targeting high priority areas within the RC Gold Project, including the discovery of the Backjack and Eiger deposits. This methodology will continue to form the basis for future exploration work on the RC Gold Project. The 2023 drilling program will be focused on expansion drilling at the Blackjack and Eiger deposits and will consist of both a winter and summer phase with up to 10,000 metres of drilling planned. Mobilization is currently underway at RC Gold and winter diamond drilling is planned to commence in the next couple of weeks.
Quality assurance/quality control
On receipt from the drill site, the HQ-sized drill core was systematically logged for geological attributes, photographed and sampled at Sitka’s 2022 field camp. Sample lengths as small as 0.3 m were used to isolate features of interest, otherwise a default 2 m downhole sample length was used. Core was cut in half lengthwise along a predetermined line, with one-half (same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one-half stored as a record. Standard reference materials, blanks and duplicate samples were inserted by Sitka personnel at regular intervals into the sample stream. Bagged samples were placed in secure bins to ensure integrity during transport. They were delivered by Sitka personnel or a contract expeditor to ALS Laboratories’ preparatory facility in Whitehorse, Yukon, with analyses completed in North Vancouver.
- ALS is accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref. 4028 for its laboratory analysis. Samples were crushed by ALS to over 70 per cent passing below two millimetres and split using a riffle splitter. One-thousand-gram splits were pulverized to over 85 per cent passing below 75 microns. Gold determinations are by fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish on 50 g subsamples of the prepared pulp (ALS code: Au-ICP-22). Any sample returning over 10 g/t Au was re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on a 50 g subsample (ALS code: Au-GRA21). In addition, a 51-element analysis was performed on a 0.5 g subsample of the prepared pulps by an aqua regia digestion followed by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish (ALS code: ME-MS41).
About the RC Gold Project
The RC Gold Project (RC Gold) consists of a 376 square kilometre contiguous district-scale land package located in the newly road accessible Clear Creek, Big Creek, and Sprague Creek districts in the heart of Yukon’s Tombstone Gold Belt. It is the largest consolidated land package strategically positioned mid-way between Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine – Yukon’s newest gold mine which reached commercial production in the summer of 2020 – and Sabre Gold Mine’s Brewery Creek Gold Mine. The RC Gold Project land package comprises five underlying properties, namely, the RC, Bee Bop, Mahtin, Clear Creek, and Barney Ridge properties*.
Several high priority intrusion related gold targets exist at RC Gold with nine outcropped intrusions identified to date over the 376 sq km property, however Sitka’s main focus at the RC Gold Project has been on the underlying Clear Creek Property where a large 500 metre by 2000 metre intrusion related gold system covering the area over the Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger zones was identified. To date the Company has drilled 38 diamond drill holes into this system for a total of approximately 13,000 metres. This drilling culminated in the discovery of the Blackjack and Eiger deposits with an initial inferred mineral resource estimate of 1,340,000 gold ounces(1).
The Company has the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Clear Creek Property which hosts the Blackjack and Eiger deposits by paying $230,000 ($75,000 paid to date), issuing 600,000 shares (150,000 shares issued to date) and completing $1,250,000 in exploration over 5 years (~$6,500,000 exploration expenditures have been incurred to date). An additional $200,000 cash is payable and 1,000,000 shares issuable upon Sitka publicly disclosing an Inferred Mineral Resource or greater category of 750,000 ounces of gold or greater (as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). This cash payment of $200,000 has been made and 1,000,000 shares have been issued pursuant to the public announcement of an initial inferred mineral resource of 1,340,000 gold ounces (see news release dated January 19, 2023). The property is subject to a 2% NSR, one-half of which can be purchased for $1,500,000 at any time prior to commencement of commercial production (see news release dated July 6, 2020).
Sitka Gold inherited a wealth of historical and current data from these properties from work spanning the last 40 years. Recent exploration work and the compilation of historical data have defined several mineralized zones with both bulk tonnage, intrusion-related gold deposit targets and high-grade, vein- and breccia-hosted gold targets. The RC Gold Project also has a common border with Victoria Gold’s Clear Creek property at its western boundary and Florin Resources’ Florin Gold property at its northern boundary.
(1) Simpson, R. January 19, 2023. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory.
*For more detailed information on the underlying properties please visit our website at www.sitkagoldcorp.com.
Deposit Model
Exploration on the Property has mainly focused on identifying an intrusion-related gold system (“IRGS”). The property is part of the Tombstone Gold Belt which is the prominent host to IRGS deposits within the Tintina Gold Province in Yukon and Alaska. Notable deposits from the belt include: Fort Knox Mine in Alaska with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 230 million tonnes at 0.3 g/t Au (2.471 million ounces; Sims 2018)(1); Eagle Gold Mine with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 155 million tonnes at a diluted grade of 0.65 g/t Au at the Eagle and Olive deposits (3.261 million ounces; Goodwin et al. 2019)(2); the Brewery Creek deposit with current Indicated Mineral Resource of 22.2 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.11 g/t (0.789 million ounces; Hulse et al. 2020)(3); the Florin Gold deposit, located adjacent to Sitka’s RC Gold project, with a current Inferred Mineral Resource of 170.99 million tonnes grading 0.45 g/t (2.47 million ounces; Simpson 2021)(4) and the AurMac Project with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 207.0 million tonnes grading 0.60 gram per tonne gold (3.99 million ounces; Jutras 2022)(5).
(1) Sims J. Fort Knox Mine Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USA National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report. June 11, 2018. https://s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/doc_downloads/2018/Fort-Knox-June-2018-Technical-Report.pdf
(2) Goodwin R, Gray P, Jutras M, Tang S, Wilbur S. Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Mine, Yukon Territory, Canada. JDS Energy & Mining Inc. December 6, 2019. https://vitgoldcorp.com/site/assets/files/6480/jds-vit-eagle-gold-ni-43-101-fs-report-20191206.pdf
(3) Hulse D, Emanuel C, Cook C. NI43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources. Gustavson Associates. May 31, 2020.
https://www.goldenpredator.com/_resources/Brewery-Creek_NI-43-101-05OCT2020-File.pdf
(4) Simpson R. Florin Gold Project NI43-101 Technical Report. Geosim Services Inc. April 21, 2021. https://sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00005795&issuerType=03&projectNo=03236138&docId=4984158
(5) Banyan Gold News Release Dated May 17, 2022 (Technical Report to be filed within 45 days of news release) https://www.banyangold.com/news-releases/2022/banyan-announces-4-million-ounce-gold-mineral-resource-estimate-for-the-aurmac-property-yukon-canada
About Sitka Gold Corp.
Sitka Gold Corp. is a well-funded mineral exploration company headquartered in Canada. The Company is managed by a team of experienced industry professionals and is focused on exploring for economically viable mineral deposits with its primary emphasis on gold, silver and copper mineral properties of merit. Sitka currently has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the RC, Barney Ridge, Clear Creek and OGI properties in the Yukon and the Burro Creek Gold property in Arizona. Sitka owns a 100% interest in its Alpha Gold property in Nevada, its Mahtin Gold property in the Yukon and its Coppermine River project in Nunavut.
Sitka has received all assay results from its 2022 diamond drill program at its RC Gold Project in the Yukon and announced an NI 43-101 compliant Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,340,000 ounces of gold(1) beginning at surface and grading 0.68 g/t (see news release dated January 19, 2023). A resource expansion diamond drilling program is scheduled to commence this month (March, 2023).
Results from 2022 drilling at the Company’s Alpha Gold Property in Nevada where a new Carlin-type gold system was recently discovered have all been received. The Company is focused on vectoring towards the high-grade core of this newly discovered system, which is located in the Cortez Trend just 40 km southeast of the Cortez Mine Complex of Barrick/Newmont, and plans for a 2023 drilling program at Alpha are currently underway.
(1) Simpson, R. January 19, 2023. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory.
Upcoming Events
Sitka Gold will be attending and/or presenting at the following events:
- PDAC, Toronto: March 5 – 8, 2023
- Investor’s Exchange Booth #2346
- Core Shack Booth #3110A
- Swiss Mining Institute Conference, Zurich: March 21 – 22, 2023
- Dawson Gold Show, Dawson City, Yukon: May 19 – 20, 2023
- TakeStock Calgary Capital Event, Calgary, AB: July 5, 2023
- YMA Property Tours, Dawson City, Yukon: July 16-22, 2023
- Precious Metals Summit, Beaver Creek, Colorado: September 12 – 15, 2023
All events are subject to change.
The Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, was prepared by Ronald G. Simpson, P.Geo., GeoSim Services Inc., an independent Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Cor Coe, P.Geo., Director and CEO of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
SITKA GOLD CORP.
“Donald Penner”
President and Director
For more information contact:
Donald Penner
President & Director
778-212-1950
dpenner@sitkagoldcorp.com
or
Cor Coe
CEO & Director
604-817-4753
ccoe@sitkagoldcorp.com
Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “appear”, “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “continue”, “estimate”, “approximate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “predict”, “potential”, “targeting”, “intend”, “could”, “might”, “should”, “believe”, “would” and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the expected timing and terms of the private placement, use of proceeds, anticipated work program, required approvals in connection with the work program and the ability to obtain such approvals. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.
The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws or the CSE. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
