Maple Gold mobilizes drill rig to NW Zone and provides drill campaign update

531 Zone Update

The Company has completed two drill-holes at the 531 Zone, which included the deepening of last year’s drill-hole (DO-19-262: 51 metres at 2.81 g/t Au and 28 m at 2.55 g/t) and a southern step-out hole to test down dip continuity (see press release January 20, 2020). Drill core for these two drill holes has been shipped to ALS Laboratories with assays pending. The Company also believes there is significant potential to add higher grade ounces along trend to the southeast and has several additional sites permitted there for subsequent drilling. Maple Gold recently completed IP work (see press release January 29, 2020), which included three (3) test lines also covering the potential south-southeast extensions at the 531 Zone. If results provide further support for the Company’s existing expanded target concept, additional drilling at the 531 Zone will receive elevated priority and will be planned accordingly.

NW Zone – Drilling underway

Not unlike at the 531 Zone, there has been no recent drilling within the NW Zone resource area, except for a few step-out holes collared outside the resource area in 2017 and 2018. As demonstrated by Maple Gold’s 3D-model-guided drill-hole at the 531 Zone last year, the potential for new ideas and updated interpretations to lead to the discovery of significantly broader and higher grade mineralisation is high at the Douay Project. The hole to be drilled here is a step-out hole meant to expand the NW zone resource area to the west, by testing the western continuity of an adjacent near-surface high grade intercept averaging 3.15 g/t Au over 8.9m from 41m downhole, significantly higher grade than the current resource at the NW Zone of 2.6 mt @ 1.14 g/t Au for 96,000oz Au (RPA 2019).

Maple Gold’s VP, Exploration, Fred Speidel, commented: “We are intrigued by the potential of the NW Zone, particularly by analogy with our 2019 success at the 531 Zone. The NW zone has the advantage of near-surface higher grade mineralisation which we will seek to expand. Our objectives with our resource area drilling remain focused on areas we believe provide the greatest potential to add higher grade ounces and impact future economic studies. We are also looking forward to new IP results that could support new discovery drilling beyond the resource area later this winter.”

Nika Zone – targeting the up-dip expression of 2018 discovery

The Nika Zone was established with the Company’s 2018 discovery hole (DO-18-217), which intersected 51m of 1.77 g/t Au. In 2019, the Company completed two very aggressive 200 metre step-out holes, which both cut broad, lower grader halo mineralisation. Drilling at the Nika Zone to-date, supported a new conceptual pit in the latest resource estimate, contributing over 100,000 inferred ounces at deposit-average grades (RPA 2019). Drilling at the Nika Zone in 2020 will include additional in-fill holes aimed at better defining the up-dip, or near-surface expression of the higher grade mineralisation previously discovered, as well as to continue filling in some of the drilling gaps on the eastern side of Nika, in order to expand the resource in that direction. Significant mineralisation continues over 300m beyond the current Nika pit limits, so successful drilling within current gap areas has the potential to bring significantly more mineralisation in-pit, and/or to expand the dimensions of the current pit.

Porphyry Zone – targeting higher grade extensions to the west

The Porphyry Zone represents one of the more recent discoveries (2004) and while significant drilling has been done, with several areas having sufficient drill density to form part of the indicated resource category, there are several areas with broad drill spacing, particularly in the northwest part of the Zone, where higher-than-deposit-average grades are also present near-surface. Therefore a total of 8-9 drill-holes are planned in this area. In addition to the planned step-out and gap area drilling with the current drill-rig, the Company is planning to mobilize an additional rig in the coming weeks to ramp up the program during the second half of the winter season; an additional 5 holes are planned in the SE part of the Porphyry Zone. 

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. Click the following link to review the Company’s QA-QC standards and protocols: 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 ~355 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 resource 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.