Le Lézard
Classified in: Mining industry, Business
Subject: MINING DRILLING RESULTS

MacDonald Mines Assays of the Oxide Sands results in Significant Increase in Gold Content - Individual Samples Contain up to 6 g/t Gold


TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 16, 2017) - MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BMK) ("MacDonald Mines", "MacDonald" or the "Company") has received results for its initial sampling program of the Oxide Sands at the Wawa-Holdsworth Project ("Holdsworth"), located near Hawk Junction, 25 kilometres northeast of Wawa, Ontario.

Highlights include:

Quentin Yarie, MacDonald's President and CEO commented: "Results obtained using robust assay methods suggest that the grade of the Oxide Sands may have been historically underestimated. This supports Sears' 1989 observation that elevated sulfur in some of the material may result in the underestimation of the gold grade by standard fire assay methods if no mitigation methods are implemented2. MacDonald's results are promising and we look forward to advancing the Wawa-Holdsworth project further."

Figure 1. Oxide Sands sample location

Results from the Oxide Sands Sampling

During the spring of 2017, to validate their historically reported gold content, the Company started a targeted sampling program of the Oxide Sands. Two locations were selected for this testing program and sampling at each locations was done by taking >75 kg representative samples of the exposed Oxide Sand material at the historic excavations. Representative fractions of these sands were then sent for analyses.

Results indicate that the gold content of the Oxide Sands may have been underestimated by the previous operators as MacDonald's sampling indicates significant increases of the gold content compared to the historic results and grade estimations from the same locations reported by Noble Minerals in 2009 and Hawk Junction Capital Corp. in 2002.

Table 1 - Results from the Oxide Sands sampling compared with historic results

BMK Sample
number
Sample   Gold
(g/t)
  Average
Grade (g/t)
  Grade (Hawk
Junction - 2002)
1
  Grade (Noble
Minerals - 2009)
17261 A   3.09   2.95   1.2   1.19
17262 2.71  
17263 3.05  
17264 BE   6   5.45   0.85   N/A
17265 4.9  

Wawa-Holdsworth Project Details

The Project is comprised of 19 contiguous patented mining claims covering approximately 304 hectares. Sixteen of these are located in the extreme southern part of Corbiere Township and the remaining three extend into the northern part of Esquega Township, in the Wawa Area of Northern Ontario.

Project Overview

Historic work by previous operators defined three gold targets on the Wawa-Holdsworth Project:

MacDonald Mines has identified the Oxide Sands as a short-term target for gold production. The Oxide Sands are interpreted to be derived from the weathering of an auriferous and pyritized Algoma-type iron formation that, so far, has been traced on the property over a 2 km-long strike length. The mineralized sands appear to reach a depth of at least 8 metres. 

The soft and relatively unconsolidated oxide sands material appears to be amenable to being extracted like an aggregate. The area's shallow overburden, the proximity to labour and equipment and the easy access to the site should result in very inexpensive mining costs should the Company delineate a large enough deposit.

Preliminary metallurgical testing conducted by previous operators on composite samples recovered, without crushing, between 69% and 98.7 % gold and the Company has already initiated metallurgical testing of the Oxide Sands to achieve the highest possible gold and silver recovery. Results should be made available this summer.

The Company is currently ramping up its sampling program to better define the Oxide Sands and will continue to prepare for their potential extraction. The near-term exploitation of the Oxide Sands will provide the Company with good cash flow to further advance exploration of the other gold targets on the property. 

On-site Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") Measures

Grab and channel samples are transported in security-sealed bags for Fire Assay/Atomic Absorption (Au 50gm) analyses at TSL Laboratories in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Individual samples are labeled, placed in plastic sample bags and sealed. Groups of samples are then placed into durable rice bags that are then shipped. The remaining coarse reject portions of the samples remain in storage at TSL Laboratories in Saskatoon if further work or verification is needed. One Certified Reference Material was included with the samples.

Qualified Person

Quentin Yarie, P Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd.

MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario focused on gold and silica exploration in Canada. The Company has built a portfolio of safe-jurisdiction, infrastructure-rich projects that demonstrate the greatest market potential for return. The Company is aggressively advancing its highly prospective Wawa-Holdsworth Project and recently secured 100% interest in the Holdsworth property.

The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BMK".

To learn more about MacDonald Mines, please visit www.macdonaldmines.com 

1 Report on the Holdsworth Gold Prospect, Wawa Area, Ontario for Hawk Junction Capital Corp., Seymour M. Sears P.Geo., October 2002.

2 Summary Report on a 1988 Work Program on the Holdsworth Property of Reed Lake Exploration Ltd., Seymour M. Sears, April 1989.

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.


These press releases may also interest you

at 17:25
Five years after the transformational Merger with Randgold Resources, Barrick Gold Corporation has been restructured and repurposed as a modern mining business with a constantly replenished, global asset base of peerless quality, managed by a team...

at 17:10
Centerra Gold Inc. ("Centerra" or the "Company") announces that it has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission its 2023 annual report on Form 40-F consisting of its 2023 annual information form ("AIF"), annual audited financial...

at 17:07
Wheaton Precious Metalstm Corp. ("Wheaton" or the "Company") announces that its Form 40-F report has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is available on EDGAR. The Company's 2023 audited financial statements, along with its...

at 17:05
Augusta Gold Corp. ("Augusta Gold" or the "Company") announces that it has increased the amount of its loan (the "Loan") with Augusta Investments Inc. (the "Lender"), the Company's largest shareholder, by $525,000 (the "Increase"). In connection...

at 17:00
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. reports that the Company has filed today its fiscal 2023 annual report on Form 40-F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The Form 40-F, which includes the Company's fiscal 2023 annual audited...

at 17:00
(BSE: LUC) View PDF Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara" or the "Company") reports the following in accordance with the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act:  As a result of the vesting of employee share units, the number of issued and outstanding...



News published on and distributed by: