Equitas Resources Corp. Commences Exploration Program at their Cajueiro Gold Property in Brazil

Vancouver, BC (FSCwire) - Equitas Resources Corp. (“Equitas” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EQT) (US: EQTRF) (Frankfurt: T6UN) is pleased to announce that exploration at the Cajuiero Project (“Cajueiro”) has commenced. Equitas would also like to report further technical details at Cajueiro, located within the Mato Grosso and Para states of Central Brazil.

Summary:

The exploration program will focus on expanding and identifying additional mineral resources in the Baldo Target Area (“Baldo”) at Cajueiro. Baldo is host to widespread gold mineralization, and a virtually untested mineralized structural corridor delineated over an 820m strike length on surface.  An exploration program targeting the structure has commenced, and will include diamond drilling, trenching and bulk sampling.

Chris Harris, President and CEO, stated “Having closed the acquisition we are now focused on moving towards expansion of our flagship Cajuiero resources. We have just started our exploration program which is focused on the prospective oxide zones. When considering the high grade results achieved from surface sampling over the last 18 months, we have identified solid potential to add quality resources to the project.”

Technical Update:

The Cajueiro Project is located in the Alta Floresta - Juruena Gold Belt, a Proterozoic arc consisting of calc-alkaline granite-volcanic, and medium to high grade metamorphic crustal segments. Historic gold production in the belt is generally recognized to be in the range of 7-10 Moz, primarily from Garimpeiro activity. At Cajueiro, microgranites and rhyolites host a set of Northeast (NE) and East-West (E-W) conjugate shears exhibiting late brittle deformation. These were the primary structural controllers of hydrothermal alteration and associated gold mineralizing processes.

Gold and pyrite in the bedrock sulphide domain is contained within hydrothermal alteration envelopes within and adjacent the structures. An alteration assemblage of sericite-epidote-chlorite-quartz readily distinguishes the prospective “green” rhyolite and microgranite from their unaltered reddish counterparts. Observations indicate the quartz veining and related gold-pyrite mineralization to be a late brittle event of the process.  

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Figure 1: Equitas properties in Brazil

Gold is also present in the saprolite overlying bedrock, in the oxidized equivalent of the sulphide alteration assemblage. Prospective saprolite hosts an assemblage of sericite-chlorite-silica, with disseminated limonite and “box-works” of limonite with rare occurrences of chalcopyrite. This package is clearly visible on surface in many locations throughout the property.

The current Inferred Resource estimates at Baldo (Gustavson 2016) are as follows:

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Figure 2: Property Geology after Chapleau Resources Limited (2007)

Surface sampling at Baldo by ECI Exploration and Mining Inc. (ECI), the former owner of Cajueiro, in 2012 collected a total of 34 grab samples of the saprolite. Values obtained by Inductively Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for these samples range between 0.01 g/t Au to 118.47 g/t Au, with twenty samples returning values > 0.5 g/t Au, and an average for the 34 samples of 14.67 g/t Au.

During 2014-15, Alta Floresta Gold conducted geological mapping and prospecting, supplemented with test pits and trenching, at the Baldo target. This work identified a prospective NE trending set of structures, up to a combined 25m in width (Figure 2). This target has been traced over an 820m strike length on surface. At the southern end of this structural corridor, two randomly selected circa 1 tonne samples of saprolite were taken from two separate test pits. The samples were split manually and quartered, with an equivalent amount from each pile included in the samples sent to SGS Laboratories in Belo Horizonte, Brazil for Flame Atomic Absorption (FAA) analysis. Results are listed in Table 1 (all coordinates listed in WGS 1984, UTM Zone 21S).

Table 1

Four bulk samples of saprolite were recently extracted via a backhoe excavator from Baldo, and processed through an H3 hammer mill. This hammer mill is limited in its milling capacity owing to the internal grid apertures and will only mill to a maximum particle size of 1.5mm (not sufficient to liberate a significant portion of the free gold). However, these samples have each still recovered impressive gold value results, as documented in Table 2.

Table 2

Additional testing at Baldo by Alta Floresta Gold included collection of a 100kg sample of saprolite, taken across a horizontal length of 2 meters at a depth of 5 meters in a trench (548319E / 8964366N). Sample M-1 (see figure 3) was sent for bench-scale metallurgical testing to SGS Geosol and Minproces in Chile. Sample treatment included chemical analysis, grinding kinetics, microscopy, diagnostic test leaching and flotation. Analytical results for ICP-OES analysis of the head are listed in Table 3 below.

Table 3

Locations of all the samples described above are shown in Figure 3. Based on the limited drilling, trenching and test pit information available from work in the Baldo area to date, the saprolite appears to be highly variable in thickness, with an interpreted range between 2m and 35m.

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Figure 3: Baldo Target, mineralized structures and surface samples

Proposed Exploration Program:

The exploration program will focus on expanding and identifying additional resources in the Baldo area, focusing on the major NE structure set as shown in Figure 3 above. The program will evaluate a 650m strike length of this target, with 1600m of HQ diamond drilling and 700m of trenching. Equitas estimates that all-in drilling costs per metre will be under $100 USD. A program of bulk sampling, permitted for 50,000 ton/year, is also planned. Trenching has commenced, and an internationally-recognised drilling company is being retained to mobilize a rig to site in the near future.

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Figure 4: 2016 Diamond Drilling and Trenching program at Baldo

Commenting on surface exploration results at Baldo to date, VP Exploration Everett Makela stated “The gold grades achieved from the surface sampling program, and initial bench-scale metallurgical testing at Baldo, have provided very positive encouragement for the potential to outline significant additional gold resource in this target area. The NE mineralized structural corridor identified by Alta Floresta Gold remains virtually untested by drilling. Exploration has commenced and results will be released as they become available.”

NI 43-101 Disclosure

Everett Makela, P. Geo., VP Exploration for Equitas Resources Corp., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

For more information on Equitas Resources Corp., please contact Sean Kingsley, Corporate Communications at 604-681-1568 or skingsley@equitasresources.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
EQUITAS RESOURCES CORP.

“Chris Harris”
Chris Harris
President & CEO

Tel: 604-681-1568

info@equitasresources.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 statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expects” and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future planned exploration expenditures and the costs for the programs and the expectation of adding additional resources in the Baldo target area are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

The reader is cautioned that references to mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability and assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities law.

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