• Aurvista now poised to identify gold and base metal potential of Douay with 30,000 meters of core drilling, increased up from the original planned 5,000 meters program
  • Exploration activity objective is to develop higher grade gold zones within the Adam Creek Gold Deposit, and to identify additional gold and/or base metal zones outside of the currently known mineralized centers

Montreal, Quebec: Aurvista Gold Corporation (“Aurvista” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: AVA, OTC: ARVSF; Frankfurt: AV2) is pleased to announce the start of the Phase 2 Core Drilling Program (the “Program”) on the Company’s Douay Gold Project (the “Project”). The exploration activity objective is to demonstrate the continuity and grade of the newly predicted gold corridors linking the known 9 higher and 2 lower grade gold zones within and outside the defined 10 km by 3 km Adam Creek Gold Deposit (the “Deposit”), potentially leading to an increase in the quantity and quality of the mineralization.

Mr. Jean Lafleur, President and CEO of Aurvista stated “After more than 40 years of exploration on Douay, including the last few by Aurvista, we have finally arrived at a major crossroad. The previous path has included nearly 200,000 meters of drilling in more than 700 holes, ground and airborne geophysical surveys, infrastructure construction, all leading to the discovery of higher and lower grades gold lenses. The gold mineralization at Douay occurs within 9 individual E-W shears and 3 subparallel structural domains inside a 10 km by 3 km corridor of a 20 km long segment of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone.

Mr. Lafleur added “Douay has always lacked a single cohesive geological exploration model to explain in part why there is gold mineralization and its distribution. After 6 months of re-evaluating the entire database, Aurvista developed a new geological model and can now proceed with a focussed multi-staged diamond drilling into a number of target shears and structural domains. These domainscould potentially have an impact on the ultimate dimension of the gold system and mineral resources. There is a significant potential of discovering more gold mineralization in addition to our existing multi-million ounces in mineral resource estimates. Aurvista will now begin testing the Adam Creek Gold Deposit with a major 30,000 meter drill campaign.

Phase 2 Diamond Drilling Program

A total of 9 Priority Targets (the “Targets”), identified as T1 to T9, were outlined within the Deposit during the Phase 1 Detailed Targeting Program. These Targets will be tested by more than 70 drill holes totalling 30,000 meters in three sub-phases. The following table summarizes the planned drilling footages for each Targets:

TARGETS

NUMBER

DRILL

HOLES

TOTAL

FOOTAGE

(meters)

PHASE 2A 7 3,700
Douay West North Zones (T1) 4 2,000
Main Porphyry (T2), Douay West North Zones 3 1,700
PHASE 2B 21 8,300
Douay West (T1), Main Porphyry (T2), Adam Porphyry (T3), Central (T4) and NW Zones (T5) 15 5,900
TDEM/UTEM Anomalies “E” (T6), “F” (T7) and “G” (T8) 6 2,400
PHASE 2C 46 18,000
Douay West (T1), Main Porphyry (T2), Adam Porphyry (T3), Central (T4) and NW Zones (T5) 25 10,000
TDEM/UTEM Anomalies “E” (T6), “F” (T7) and “G” (T8) 6 2,400
Extensions of the Adam Creek Gold Deposit (T9) 15 5,600
TOTAL 74 30,000

Completion of the Phase 1 Detailed Targeting Program

The Phase 1 Detailed Targeting Program (the “Phase 1 Program”) has led Aurvista to predict gold and possible massive sulphides occurrences on Douay. The Phase 1 Program’s objective was to define and correlate the known gold mineralization chemistry and alteration mineralogy to the geological and geophysical signatures that could then utilized to predict new gold mineralization. The Phase 1 Program was successful in determining that the nature, distribution and metal history led to one single gold deposit, the Adam Gold Deposit, exhibiting similar host rocks, alteration styles and structural fabric.

A combination of iron-rich rocks with iron carbonate and sulphide alterations produced higher and lower grade gold mineralization in association with E-W shear zones and cross-structures. But more importantly, there is a link of the known mineralization to specific shears, potentially predicting where to find additional gold mineralization. In terms of the overall potential, there are two distinct but overlapping metal signatures at Douay, the first is a primary Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide or VMS of Copper-Zinc affinities crosscut by a secondary shear-hosted gold system. This interpretation is very similar to the Doyon-Bousquet-Laronde mining camp located 100 km S-SW of Douay, along the Cadillac Larder Lake Deformation Zone.

Regional deformation at Douay produced and enhanced the crisscrossing network of NW-SE, NE-SW and E-W structural fabric which led to the eventual emplacement of porphyries and subsequent gold mineralization within the known 10 km by 3 km Adam Gold Deposit and possibly beyond towards the E and W. There are several subparallel shears hosting the 8 higher grade and 2 lower gold zones with a significant potential of discovering more gold mineralization in addition to our existing mineral resources based on the number of shears, structural domains and junctions.

The table below summarizes the Phase 1 Program work between June and December 2016, and previously reported in Company news releases.

ACTIVITY

NUMBER OF

DRILL HOLES

DRILL

FOOTAGE (m)

NUMBER OF

SAMPLES TAKEN

NUMBER OF

READINGS TAKEN

Drill core re-logging 300

98,135

28 sections

--- ---

Drill core sampled

in 1.5 meters lengths

--- --- 4,000* ---
Portable XRF --- --- --- 27,000
XRF check analyses -  WR’S, traces, metals --- --- 895 ---
Portable MPP* --- --- --- 178,000
Thin sections --- --- 205 ---
Field mapping --- --- 58 ---

* Assays for Gold-Copper-Zinc, Whole Rock and Trace Element geochemistry being done at the ALS Group Laboratory in Val-d’Or (QC) and Vancouver (BC).
** Instrument measures magnetic susceptibility and conductivity of rocks as part of the field validation of EM-INPUTTM and airborne Total Domain Electromagnetic or TDEM conductors.

Douay Gold Project and Company Profile

Aurvista Gold Corporation is a junior gold exploration and development Company with 131,162,407 shares outstanding trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and OTC Pink Sheets in the United States. Aurvista’s only asset is the Douay Gold Project, consisting of a 100% owned interest in 250 contiguous claims totaling 133.1 km2, plus a 90% interest in 5 contiguous claims totaling 0.2 km2 and a 75% interest (25% held by SOQUEM) in 32 contiguous claims totaling 11.9 km2. In total there are 287 claims covering 145.3 km2 located along a 20 km segment of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone in the prolific Abitibi Belt of northern Quebec. Douay is located 40 km SW of the Matagami Zinc Base Metal Camp and 150 km N of the Val-d’Or-Malartic gold Camp (both in Quebec).

In August, 2012, Aurvista updated the Mineral Resources estimates that included 657 holes in more than 185,000 metres drilled on Douay since its discovery to the end of March 2012. Douay contains Mineral Resources estimates of 2.7 million tonnes of Indicated Resources at 2.76 g/t gold for 238,000 ounces (above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade) or 2.5 million tonnes grading 2.98 g/t gold (at a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off grade) for 235,500 ounces. There were additional Inferred Resources of 115 million tonnes at 0.75 g/t gold for 2.75 million ounces (above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade) or 62 million tonnes grading 1.06 g/t gold for 2.1 million ounces (above a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade). Details can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.aurvistagold.com.

Qualified Person

The technical contents in this news release have approved by Mr. Jean Lafleur, M. Sc., P. Geo., President and CEO for Aurvista Gold Corporation, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

For further information please contact:

Mr. Jean Lafleur, P. Geo., MSc
President and CEO, Director
Cell: +1 514 927 3633

Mr. Keith C Minty, P. Eng., MBA

Chief Operating Officer
Phone: +1 416 682 2671

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 may contain forward-looking statements 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. When used herein, words such as “anticipate”, “will”, “intend” and similar expressions are intended to identify 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 Aurvista Gold Corporation’s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company’s website at www.aurvistaGold.com