Pony Creek is comprised of 1,157 unpatented mining claims covering 95.4 square kilometres on the Carlin Trend between Kinross's Bald Mountain mine, Gold Standard Ventures’ Railroad/Pinion District and Newmont Mining’s Rain and Emigrant mines. No drilling had been conducted at Pony Creek in 10 years. All of the first 10 holes completed by Contact Gold returned anomalous to high grade gold intersections.

Drill Highlights:

  • 2.82 g/t Au over 45.72 metres from 103.6 to 149.4 m in drill hole PC17-010

          – Including 5.45 g/t Au over 21.34 m from 111.3 to 132.6 m

          – Including 10.53 g/t Au over 6.10 metres from 111.25 to 117.35 m

  • 0.78 g/t Au over 79.25 metres from 44.2 to 123.4 m in drill hole PC17-007

          – Including 1.26 g/t over 15.24 metres from 44.2 to 59.4 m, and

          – Including 1.72 g/t over 9.14 metres from 71.6 to 80.8 m, and

          – Including 1.76 g/t over 4.57 metres from 94.5 to 99.1 m

  • 0.82 g/t Au over 19.81 metres from 4.6 to 24.4 m in drill hole PC17-014

          – Including 2.1 g/t over 4.57 metres from 7.6 to 12.2 m

  • 0.92 g/t Au over 15.24 metres from 114.3 to 129.54 m in drill hole PC17-09

“We are very encouraged by the initial results from Contact Gold’s drilling at Pony Creek. These results confirm the excellent potential and pervasive mineralization at Pony Creek which are some of the key factors that drove the acquisition, while presenting clear opportunities to expand mineralized zones,” stated Matt Lennox-King, President & CEO of Contact Gold, “We believe that Pony Creek forms a prospective and strategic section of the southern Carlin Trend, and these initial results bolster that belief.”

These drill holes are from the ongoing 2017 diamond and RC drill program at Pony Creek, designed to confirm and offset gold mineralization intersected by previous operators. To date, Contact Gold has completed over 4,000 metres of RC and core drilling in 19 holes. The drill program forms part of a comprehensive property wide exploration program comprising over 4,000 soil samples, geological mapping, claim staking, gravity and CSAMT geophysical surveys. Assays are pending for 13 holes, with a core drill rig and RC drill rig currently operating at Pony Creek. Release sequence of drill results reflects scheduling and receipt of results from assay lab.

Phase 1 Drill Program

The comprehensive exploration program, initially focused on the “Bowl” area, and “Pony Creek North”, is designed to generate future exploration targets, and to build on the existing mineralized zones at Pony Creek, initially through confirming, understanding and expanding mineralization reported in historic drilling. The program integrates multiple techniques, including: oriented core drilling, detailed surface mapping, biostratigraphic age dating, along with gravity and CSAMT geophysical surveys to gain the necessary stratigraphic and structural information to develop high potential drill targets along strike of the Pony/Dark Star/Emigrant structural corridor and elsewhere on the project where the regional host horizons and structural controls are present.

Drill holes were designed as infill to confirm mineralized areas in historic drilling and also as step outs, generally within 50 metres of historic holes, but up to 100 meters for two holes: drill holes PC17-07 and 017

High grades have been intersected adjacent to and along strike from historic holes in the Bowl area, the area in which hosts the historic resource estimate.

Long intervals of low grade mineralization were intersected in several holes.

Recent drilling has intersected mineralization in newly recognized Pennsylvanian-Permian host lithologies conglomerates and sandstones – interpreted to be same host strata as Gold Standard Venture’s nearby North Dark Star deposit.