Maple Gold receives $1.9M from Revenu Québec and outlines 2019 drilling plans

The Company has designed a 10,000 metre program and plans to drill a minimum of 5,000 metres this winter focused on the following targets (see Figure 1).

• Extensions of higher-grade mineralised bodies within the Douay resource area, particularly at the geologically similar (intrusive-hosted and contact style) Nika and Porphyry Zones: DO-18-218 (azimuth 002, dip -46) intersected 50m of 1.77 g/t Au starting at 214m in the Nika Zone, which remains open to surface and to depth. In the Porphyry Zone, DO-18-216 (azimuth 341, dip -49) returned 21m of 7.87 g/t Au starting at 303m and DO-18-247 (azimuth 360, dip -65) gave 21m of 3.49 g/t Au starting at 275m; these two holes were collared about 1.3km apart and mineralisation is also open in several directions.
• Depth extensions at Douay West (target depth about 530m vertical), as well as at the geologically similar 531 Zone (target depth about 400m vertical); there has been little drilling since 1993 at the 531 Zone (1992 drill-hole 70531-2 (azimuth 360, dip -65) intersected 55.7m of 2.6 g/t Au from 313m), and only limited drilling since 2014 at Douay West.
• Exploration outside the resource area, where several intervals of high-grade (up to 17.5 g/t Au over 1.5m) contact-style mineralisation similar to that at the Porphyry Zone was intersected in a historical hole (Figure 1).

Click here to watch brief 3D video highlighting proposed drill-holes for the 2019 campaign.

Disclosure notes: Assays listed above are uncut and down-the-hole lengths, with true widths approximately 90% of down-the-hole lengths. Intercept depths are reported as vertical depth from surface.

Matthew Hornor, Maple Gold’s President and CEO, commented: “We have ranked and prioritized all of our drill targets and with more than $4M in the treasury we are now in position to test top priority drill targets, while concurrently working with RPA on our new resource estimate for Douay.”  Hornor added, “With the support of our strong shareholder base and an improving gold environment, we feel that it is of utmost importance to continue building value at the project with a highly-focused drilling campaign. Our winter drilling and other exploration work in 2019 will contribute to the first ever deposit-wide PEA at the project, which we anticipate starting near year-end.”

Plans for winter 2019 include high-priority drilling and geophysics; the Company has outlined ~10,000 metres of top-priority drilling to test numerous targets on the Douay property at Douay West, Nika, Porphyry and 531 Zones. A minimum of 5,000 metres will be drilled during the 2019 winter campaign, with final meterage subject to market and weather conditions. The Company also plans to conduct limited metallurgical work and further refine the 3D model in support of the planned PEA.

Drill bids from prospective contractors are currently being evaluated and the Company anticipates selecting a contractor very shortly. Concurrent with the winter drilling, a ground geophysical program is planned to test one of the targets generated during the summer 2018 mapping program (see press release of November 14, 2018). New mineralised zones defined at Nika, and areas with higher-than-expected grade intercepts at the Porphyry Zone obtained during 2018 drilling, both offer significant opportunities to add to the deposit resource base at higher-than-deposit-average grades. Drilling at the Douay West and 531 zones, where mostly higher-grade intercepts were obtained in historical holes, is meant to test possible depth extensions of the mineralisation as well as to better understand the structural controls for these complex areas.  

Note close spatial association of higher-grade gold zones with syenite bodies in Figure 1, with the syenite bodies forming a dense dyke swarm in the resource area, but also extending well beyond it notably north and south of the Porphyry Zone. One of these areas (Figure 1: Exploration Target) will be tested in winter 2019 drilling; a 2013 drill-hole in the Exploration Target gave several intercepts ranging from 2.1 to 17.5 g/t Au, that have not been followed up. Observations from recent relogging indicate that gold in this hole is associated with a contact style of  mineralisation that is very similar to that observed in the Porphyry Zone – discovery potential in this area is considered excellent.

The above figure shows several high-priority 2019 drill-hole traces designed to test depth extensions of DO-18-218 and DO-12-05. Note subparallel orientation of several segments of higher-grade mineralisation, with the trace of Douay faults – these and other structures as well as syenite intrusion morphology and their contact zones are important mineralisation controls. There is currently no conceptual pit in the Nika Zone, located in the NW Gap area between Douay West, Northwest and Porphyry Zones; the definition of Nika mineralisation is expected to represent a step towards potentially tying these three zones together.

Corporate note

The Company announces that subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company has agreed to issue 568,182 common shares in the capital of the Company at an issue price of $0.11 in settlement of certain outstanding obligations. Upon issuance, such shares will be subject to a four-month hold period.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc, P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration, of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this news release through his direct participation in the work.

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)

Maple Gold implements strict Quality Assurance (“QA”) and Quality Control (“QC”) protocols at Douay covering the planning and placing of drill holes in the field; drilling and retrieving the NQ-sized drill core; drill-hole surveying; core transport to the Douay Camp; core logging by qualified personnel; sampling and bagging of core for analysis; transport of core from site to the analytical laboratory; sample preparation for assaying; and analysis, recording and final statistical vetting of results. For a complete description of protocols, please visit the Company’s QA/QC page on the website at: http://maplegoldmines.com/index.php/en/projects/qa-qc-qp-statement

About Maple Gold

Maple Gold is an advanced gold exploration and development company focused on defining a district-scale gold project in one of the world’s premier mining jurisdictions. The Company’s ~392 km² Douay Gold Project is located along the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone (55 km of strike) within the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec, Canada. The Project benefits from excellent infrastructure and has an established gold resource³ that remains open in multiple directions. For more information please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS PRESS RELEASE.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains “forward-looking information" and “forward-looking statements” (collectively referred to as “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada, including statements about the prospective  mineral potential of the Porphyry Zone, the potential for significant mineralisation from other drilling in the referenced drill program and the completion of the drill program. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, uncertainties and management’s best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company’s expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding timing and completion of the private placement. When used herein, words such as “anticipate”, “will”, “intend” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain estimates, expectations, analysis and opinions that management believed reasonable at the time they were made or in certain cases, on third party expert opinions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, and uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual events, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future events, results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Maple Gold Mines Ltd.’s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company’s website at www.maplegoldmines.com. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.