The Property covers 16,335 hectares (40,000 acres) in the White Gold District of the Yukon Territory, bringing the Company’s total holdings in the White Gold District to 439,000 hectares (1,080,000 acres). The Property is contiguous to the Company’s White Gold property which hosts its Golden Saddle and Arc deposits (960,970 oz indicated and 282,490 oz inferred), 20 km southwest of the Company’s new Vertigo Discovery on its JP Ross property and 44 kilometres northwest of Goldcorp Inc.’s (TSX: G, NYSE: GG) Coffee project. The Company plans to incorporate the Property in its 2019 exploration plan which will be announced in due course. 2019 marks the third year of the Company’s systematic and data driven regional exploration program backed by it partners Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX: AEM, NYSE: AEM) and Kinross Gold Corp (TSX: K, NYSE: KGC).
“This was a very strategic acquisition for us that immediately increases our global resources with a 230,000 oz Inferred gold deposit which is open along strike and at depth, and has similar mineralization and structural control to our nearby Golden Saddle deposit. The property also has a number of very compelling exploration targets with many similarities to our recent Vertigo discovery, as well as the Golden Saddle deposit,” said David D’Onofrio, Chief Executive Officer. “We are very excited with the potential for near term resource expansion and new discoveries on this property based on our extensive experience in the District.”
To learn more about White Gold’s recent developments and plans for 2019, please join us at our 2019 PDAC corporate presentation on Tuesday, March 5 at 3:00PM in Room 802 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre or visit us at Booth 3248.
The QV Gold Project
The Vendor optioned the QV Property from Shawn Ryan in 2010 and discovered the VG Zone deposit (the “VG”) in 2012 on the southern end of the Property where most of the historic work has been focused. Approximately 4,300 metres of diamond drilling over 23 holes have been conducted on the VG to date. Of these, 17 diamond drill holes formed the basis of a 2014 maiden resource estimate(1) of 230,000 ounces of gold (4.4 million tonnes grading 1.65 g/t gold) in the Inferred category at a cut-off of 0.5 g/t gold.
The mineralization is hosted along a NE trending, gently south dipping structural zone that has been traced for over 700m at surface and consists of disseminated to vein-controlled pyrite with brecciation, stockwork quartz-carbonate veining, and sericite alteration. The VG shares strong similarities to the Golden Saddle deposit both in structural setting as well as mineralization style and is open along strike and at depth. Highlights from historic drilling includes, QV12-001(1): 1.03 g/t Au over 78m; incl. 6.15 g/t Au over 5.6m, QV12-004(1): 2.23 g/t Au over 42m, QV12-006(1): 1.45 g/t Au over 60m, QV13-011(1): 1.36 g/t Au over 42.6m, QV13-012(1): 1.76 g/t Au over 42.3m, QV17-018(2): 1.42 g/t Au over 45.5m, QV17-019(2): 1.48 g/t Au over 51.2m.
The most recent work on the Property occurred in 2017 and included six diamond drill holes on the VG which expanded the footprint of known mineralization beyond the limits of the historic resource calculation. Significant results from the 2017 program included 1.42 g/t gold over 45.5m from 67.5m down hole in hole QV17-018, which expanded the mineralization 125 metres down dip from previous drilling, and 1.48 g/t gold over 51.2m from 98m down hole in hole QV17-019, which expanded the mineralization 45m west of previous drilling.
Additional work on the Property has included soil sampling, GT Probe sampling, trenching, IP-Resistivity surveys, airborne magnetic-radiometric surveys, geological mapping/prospecting and minor RAB drilling. This work has defined other compelling targets with similarities to the Company’s Golden Saddle deposit and recently discovered Vertigo zone warranting follow up exploration including the Stewart, Tetra and Shadow zones.
Stewart Zone: Located 5km N-NW of the VG and consists of a 1.5km, E-W, trending gold in soil anomaly, with values from trace to 274.1 ppb Au and anomalous Bi-Ag-Te-Mo. The target occurs adjacent to a Jurassic intrusive that may be associated with mineralization in the area.
Tetra Zone: Located 8km N of the VG and consists of a 1.5km, E-W, trending gold in soil anomaly, with values from trace to 151.5 ppb Au. The target occurs along an interpreted E-W oriented fault based on magnetic data for the area and is open and unexplored to the west.
Shadow Zone: Located 12 km north of the VG zone and consists of multiple gold in soil anomalies, ranging from trace to 514ppb Au and up to 2.7km long, associated with a series of NW and ENE trending structures. Strongly anomalous Ag-Pb-Bi+/-As+/-Mo also occur in the area, and the overall geochemical and structural setting is similar to the Company’s Vertigo discovery 23km to the west.
Large portions of the Property also remain unexplored with strong potential for the discovery of additional zones of structurally-controlled and/or intrusion-related mineralization.
The Property is subject to a 2.0% underlying net smelter return royalty (NSR), of which 1.0% may be purchased for $2,500,000. Annual cash advance payments of $25,000, deductible against the royalty, are payable until commencement of commercial production.
As determined in accordance with NI 43-101 the Property is not considered “material” to the Company relative to the size and stage of development of the Company’s existing portfolio of properties, and accordingly the disclosure in section 2.4 of NI 43-101 is not required.
Terms of the Acquisition
In order to acquire the Property, the Company made a cash payment of $375,000 and issued an aggregate of 1,500,000 common shares (the “Subject Shares”) and 375,000 share purchase warrants (“Warrants”) in accordance with the instructions of the Vendor. Each Warrant is exercisable to acquire one additional common share of the Company for a period of three years from the closing date of the Acquisition (the “Closing Date”) at an exercise price of $1.50. All securities issued and issuable in connection with the Acquisition are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on June 29, 2019. In addition, the Subject Shares are subject to a voluntary hold period pursuant to which (i) 35% of the Subject Shares shall be released on the date which is four months following the Closing Date; (ii) 35% of the Subject Shares shall be released on the date which is eight months following the Closing Date; and (iii) the balance of the Subject Shares shall be released on the date which is twelve months following the Closing Date.
Source: Company Press Release
