- The main gold target is the largely untested northwestern section of the Porphyry Zone; the southern portion of which contains lower grade Mineral Resources estimates* of 55.1 million tonnes at 1 g/t (at a 0.5 g/t cut-off) in the Inferred category
- Overall potential of the northwestern section of the Porphyry is significant, additional drilling could potentially add to the current Mineral Resource estimates*
- Priority Targeting Program planned with airborne geophysical survey, core re-logging and eventual drilling
Montreal, Quebec: Aurvista Gold Corporation (“Aurvista” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: AVA, OTC: ARVSF; Frankfurt: AV2/A1JL1Z ) is pleased to announce that following the closing of a C$1.1 million financing (refer to the Company news releases dated May 3 and May 30, 2016), the Company plans a two-staged exploration program on the Douay Gold Project (the “Project”) for the period June to September 2016 with the prime objective of determining the best of the 25 defined targets (as outlined in the Company news releases dated December 17, 2014, and April 8, 2015) with a view of significantly increasing the current Mineral Resource estimates*.
The first stage work will complete the Priority Targeting Program in two areas where management is confident additional gold mineralization will be uncovered. The areas include the:
(1) 10 km by 3 km wide (at its longest and widest points) SE-tilted parallelogram-shaped Douay-Style Mineralization (“DSM”) containing all the known gold zones (“Douay West”, “10”, “20”, “531”, “Central”, “Main”, “NW”, “Porphyry” and the “South Porphyry”) and current Mineral Resource estimates*; and the
(2) 6 km by 1 km wide cluster of EM INPUTTM anomalies or conduit ctors running along the southeast boundary of the DSM that have affinities to Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide or VMS mineralization associated with gold.
The second stage will consist of a 4,000 meters of drilling to delineate additional gold and/or copper-gold mineralization on the best targets.
Priority Targeting Program
Now with funding in place, the Company intends on completing the Priority Targeting Program. This will involve:
- Completing an airborne geophysical Magnetic, Electromagnetic and Radiometric survey of the central portion of the Douay Project to define key contacts, faults and porphyry linked to the gold and any potential base metal bearing massive sulphide lenses within the 6 km by 1 km Copper-Gold corridor to a depth of -150 metres;
- Re-logging selective previous and historical drill core for litho-geochemical and thin section work along key gold mineralized and non-mineralized sections across the Douay Project, all to define the chemical signatures and alteration mineralogy of the known gold and/or base metal mineralization, helping with the airborne geophysical survey in the vectoring towards additional mineralization; and
- Drilling of the best priority targets that could potentially lead to the expansion of, and better quality, mineral resources.
The main gold target at this time is the Porphyry Target that extends some 8 km in length, of which 3 km to the NW of the Adam Porphyry Zone, bordered by the Douay West Zone and the NW Zone, is largely untested. The Porphyry Target, encompassing the Adams Porphyry contains lower grade Mineral Resources estimates* of 55.1 million tonnes at 1 g/t (at a 0.5 g/t cut-off) in the Inferred category; whereas the NW Zone contains one million tonnes grading 2.71 g/t (at a 0.5 g/t cut-off) in the Inferred category.
The overall gold potential of the Porphyry Target is significant and Aurvista is committed to drilling this sector potentially adding to the current Mineral Resource estimates*. Drilling success could potentially increase the size and quality of the Mineral Resources and subsequently the new DWGP production profile, this could result in a higher Net Present Value and extended mine life.
The Douay Gold Project Mineral Claims and Location
Aurvista’s only asset is the Douay Gold Project (“Douay” or the “Project”), consisting of a 100% owned interest in 250 contiguous claims totaling 13,310 hectares or 133.1 km2, plus a 90% interest in 5 contiguous claims totaling 23 hectares or 0.2 km2 and a 75% interest in 32 contiguous claims totaling 1,194 hectares or 11.9 km2. In total there are 287 claims covering 14,527 hectares or 145.3 km2 located along a 20 km segment of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone (“CBDZ”) in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt of northern Quebec. The 32 joint venture claims are with SOQUEM and occupy the central northern portion of Douay. Such ownership is subject to Aurvista completing a further $175,000 of approved work with no time limitation on this work.
Douay is located approximately 40 km SW of Matagami and 110 km N of Amos, Quebec. It is accessible by paved Provincial Highway #109, which is the major N-S regional road linking the towns of Amos (Val-d’Or) and Matagami (James Bay). Access to the Project is via the public road network that extends to the Douay West Zone. This network could be used to haul mineralized material off-site to nearby toll processing facilities. Utilities are available on site including electricity provided directly from Hydro-Quebec’s power grid to the Company’s on-site substation.
The Host Abitibi Greenstone Belt – the Land of Large Gold Deposits
Gold mines of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt have already produced close to 200 million ounces of gold (6,000 tonnes of gold) since the early 1900’s. The more recently developed gold mines include Yamana’s and Agnico-Eagle’s Malartic Gold Mine estimated at 11.1 million ounces of reserves, is located 155 km S of the Project, and Detour Gold’s Detour Lake Gold Mine with an estimated 15 million ounces of gold in reserves is located 120 km NW of the Project. Hecla Mining’s Casa Berardi Mine (4 million ounces of combined production, reserves and resources) sits on the same CBDZ as Douay, 70 km to the NW.
The Douay Gold Project Current Mineral Resources*
In August, 2012, independent consultant Cliff Duke, P. Eng., of Riverbend Geological Services, completed a NI 43-101 technical report on Mineral Resources estimates for Douay. The updated Mineral Resources estimates* included all drilling completed to the end of March 2012, and comprised results from 657 holes in more than 185,000 metres drilled on Douay since its discovery (refer to the Company news release dated July 3, 2012, and the filing of the Company’s technical report dated August 16, 2012, on www.sedar.com).
Riverbend estimated that 8 gold zones on Douay contained 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 3,458,000 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).
The bulk of the lower grade gold mineralization is contained in the Main Porphyry area encompassing the Adam-Porphyry zone containing Mineral Resources estimates* of 55.1 million tonnes at 1 g/t (at a 0.5 g/t cut-off) in the Inferred category. Whereas at the 3 g/t gold cut-off, Douay contained an estimated 855,000 tonnes at 5.82 g/t gold of Indicated Resources for 160,000 ounces, and additional 1,317,000 tonnes at 10.55 g/t gold for 446,700 ounces, really demonstrating once and for all the presence of both higher grade and lower gold zones at Douay, unlike the other bulk gold deposits in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, such as the Dome, Canadian-Malartic and Detour Lake mines, which dealt and have to deal exclusively with lower grade gold closer to 1 g/t gold since all the higher grade gold zones were historically mined out via underground mining.
There has never been any underground mining at Douay and hence the Company jewelry box of higher grade gold lenses remains intact.
The Higher Grade Douay West Gold Zone and the New Douay West Gold Project
According to a 2014 NI 43-101 technical report on a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “PEA”) of the Douay West Zone (refer to the Company news release dated December 14, 2014, and the filing of the Company’s technical report dated January 22, 2015, on www.sedar.com) by P&E Mining Consultants, both open pit and underground production options were used for a production profile of the Douay West Zone. Both options were considered viable.
Some 419,000 tonnes of mineralized material would be mined from the open pit at an average grade of 3.16 g/t gold (using a cut-off of 1.17 g/t gold), mineralized material is contained within the mineral resources estimated to be hosted on the Project. The PEA economics showed a pre-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”) of C$ 25 million at a discount rate of 5% and post-tax NPV (5%) of C$ 16.6 million using an approximate two-year average gold price of US$ 1,350 per ounce (as of the date of this news release the gold price is US$ 1,260 per ounce) at an exchange rate of $C 1 = US$ 0.95 or a Canadian equivalent of $C 1,421 (the current exchange rate is $C1 = US$ 0.7840, for an equivalent Canadian gold price of $C 1,607). The pre-tax internal rate of return (“IRR”) for the project is 55%. The initial preproduction expenditures were estimated at C$ 12.2 million to achieve first production from the open pit. The project life was 3.7 years, after approximately one-year of open pit pre-stripping. The Life of Mine (“LOM”) cash operating cost was estimated at C$ 800 per ounce of gold, and the LOM all-in sustaining cost is C$ 1,195 per ounce of gold.
In 2014-2105, Aurvista recognized the possibility of combining two higher grade gold zones, the Douay West and Adam-Porphyry zones (the “new DWGP”), situated along the same geologic corridor over 1.5 km length (refer to the Company news release dated June 17, 2015). The net effect of combining both zones into the new DWGP could potentially have a positive impact on the economics of a potential mining project due to the higher grades of the Adam-Porphyry Zone. The combined new DWGP has current Mineral Resource estimates* of 828,000 tonnes @ 5.78 g/t gold for 153,890 ounces in the Indicated category, with an additional 564,000 tonnes @ 16.69 g/t gold for 302,620 ounces in the Inferred category, all at a 3 g/t cut-off (refer to the Company news release dated August 16, 2012). The mineralization is open at depth beyond -300 meters vertical at Douay West and -400 meters vertical at the Adam-Porphyry. Combining both zones offers an immediate upside by demonstrating a larger higher grade mineral resource base for any future underground selective and/or bulk open pit mining scenarios.
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.
* Mineral Resource estimates reported in this news release were previously estimated in accordance with the definitions contained in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves Definitions and Guidelines that were prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council on November 27, 2010. Of note, tonnes and ounces have been rounded as per NI 43-101 standards.
About Aurvista Gold Corp.
Aurvista Gold Corporation is a junior gold exploration and development company with 85,689,121 shares shares outstanding trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and OTC Pink Sheets in the U.S. Aurvista's only asset is the Douay Gold Project totaling 287 claims for 145.3 km2. The project is located along the gold-bearing Casa Berardi Deformation Zone in northern Quebec. Details can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.aurvistagold.com.
For further information please contact:
Mr. Jean Lafleur, P. Geo.
President and CEO, Director
Cell +1 514 927 3633
Mr. Bryan Keeler
Chief Financial Officer
+1 416 504 4126
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.