BTU FINDS VISIBLE GOLD IN DRILL CORE AT DIXIE HALO BY TRACING GOLD IN TILL
December 7, 2020, Vancouver, BC, Canada – BTU METALS CORP. ("BTU" or the "Company") (BTU-TSX:V; BTUMF-OTC) today announces that recent drilling intersected fine visible gold at a location northeast and ‘up ice’ of an area where till sampling results over the past year have identified numerous gold grains at many locations. This first discovery of visible gold in bedrock was just drilled and has yet to be assayed. The discovery is located in the northern part of the Company’s extensive Red Lake property holdings known as the Dixie Halo property.
Highlights
- The visible gold mineralization in very recent drill hole BTU-20-53 is not near any outcrop or historic drilling and constitutes a new gold discovery in this rapidly developing, Dixie Creek area of the prolific Red Lake Gold Camp.
- Finding visible gold in drill core is rare and its discovery clearly validates the exploration work carried out over the past year that was aimed at discovering gold in bedrock in the north-central part of the 100% controlled, 200 square kilometre Dixie Halo property.
- The gold mineralization is approximately 100 meters below surface, near the bottom of drill hole BTU-20-53 and spatially close to the location of a topographic low feature and a creek bed that may mark the location of a significant ‘D2’ structural trend. The lack of outcrop and historical data nearby supports the potential for the presence of additional mineralization in the area.
- Assays have been received for holes BTU 20-43 to 20-49, the early holes of the current drill program. Details of results may be accessed here: www.btumetals.com/DH43_49. The highest gold mineralized intersection is 1.45 metre at 0.503 g/t Au in BTU-20-44 (193-194.45m down hole).
Figure 1: Total # of gold grains from BTU till sampling programs, drill hole locations and showing the surface projection of Visible Gold in drill hole BTU-20-53.
Paul Wood, BTU CEO, said, “As recently as a couple of weeks ago we announced additional positive gold in till results and indicated we were zeroing in on promising target areas on our very large Dixie Halo property. To now discover visible gold in a drill hole clearly validates our exploration methodology and is an exciting development. This discovery of gold in drill core sets the stage for us to continue to work towards discovering other areas of gold mineralization. Drilling, core logging and core sampling as well as geophysics will continue until at least mid-month before a short break into early January after which we will re-start field operations and when we’ll immediately continue to follow up on promising results on our now 15km SW-NE structural trend.”
Gold in Till Sampling
Tracing of anomalous gold in till sample results back to their source as a methodology to locate new areas of gold mineralization under overburden has been proven to be a valid, unique and powerful way to discover new gold deposits. Learn more about till surveying at https://www.btumetals.com/?tillsurvey.
The most recent till results are consistent with past results in showing high total gold in till counts across the SW-NE geological trend which mirrors the Great Bear ‘LP-fault’ sequence.
The till results are notable for having a high proportion of gold grain morphology classified as ‘pristine’ or ‘modified’ relative to the ‘reshaped’ grains, indicating that the malleable gold grains have not travelled far from their bedrock source, most likely within a few hundred metres.
Figure 2: Picture of drill core from near the end of drill hole BTU-20-53 showing fine ‘Visible Gold’ adjacent to pyrite.
Exploration Program Update and Recent Assay Results
The Company has now received assay results for the sampled intervals from drill holes BTU-20-43 up to drill hole BTU-20-49. The most significant gold mineralized interval came from BTU-20-44 (1.45 metre of 0.503 g/t Au). Holes 43, 46 and 48 had 1 metre intersections between 0.1 and 0.2 g/t Au. No other significant gold mineralization was encountered in these holes. More detailed information on results from drill holes BTU-20-43 to BTU-20-49 can be found on our website at www.btumetals.com/DH43_49.
The gold discovered in drill hole BTU-20-53 is fine grained (Figure 2) and is located very close to the bottom of the drill hole, only 100 meters below surface. The broader area of this drill hole has had very little exploration to date, so there are no other geological datapoints such as outcrops or drill hole information for at least 1.2 kilometres in either direction along the interpreted strike extent of the target structure. This new discovery is an extensive, under-explored area that is considered to be highly prospective and is located along BTU’s 15km SW-NE structural trend.
Strong gold-in-till gold grain counts obtained over the past year identified an overall SW-NE geological and structural trend, and increased sample density has helped vector towards several bedrock targets that the Company will be continuing to evaluate.
Drill core samples for holes from BTU-20-50 to BTU-20-54 will be soon shipped to the assay lab for analysis. Next results, including assays for the interval containing the visible gold will be reported as they become available. Drilling is ongoing and we remain on track to complete at least 2,000 metres before year end. Grid construction, geophysical surveys and processing of till samples is also ongoing.
QA/QC
BTU staff collected and processed samples and securely sealed and shipped them to SGS Canada Inc. (“SGS”) in Red Lake, Ontario for sample preparation that includes drying, crushing until 80% passes a 2 mm sieve, then riffle splitting (250 g) and pulverizing (mild steel) to 95% passing 105 µm. The resulting pulps are analysed for gold by fire assay in Red Lake, and for geochemistry by a multi-element aqua regia ICP-OES technique in Burnaby, British Columbia. All assay data have undergone internal validation of QAQC; noting there is an established sampling control program with blind insertion of assay blanks, certified industry standards and sample duplicates. A QAQC program is also in place at SGS and includes insertion of blanks, standards, and duplicate reanalysis of selected samples. SGS is a Canadian assay laboratory and is accredited under ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 9001. Overlimit protocols are in place for gold, silver, and copper. Intervals in this release are drilled intervals. True widths could not be determined at this early stage of target evaluation.
COVID-19
The Company’s exploration work at its Red Lake, Ontario projects remains largely on schedule with no major disruption due to the COVID-19 government guidelines. The Company continues to monitor this situation, continues to be careful to conduct all work in compliance with COVID-19 guidelines and will adjust its activities and timelines as deemed appropriate.
Bruce Durham, P. Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Paul Wood”
Paul Wood, CEO, Director
pwood@btumetals.com
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Andreas Curkovic, Investor Relations
+1 416-577-9927
BTU Metals Corp.
Telephone: 1-604-683-3995
Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management’s current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and using information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and they are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM).