Matamec Consolidates its Gold Position by Signing a Letter of Intent to Acquire Two Gold Properties in Quebec
Casa Berardi South, just south of the Casa Berardi Mine, and Troilus North, on the Northern Extension of the former Troilus Mine
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Sep 12, 2016) - Matamec Explorations Inc. ("Matamec" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:MAT)(OTCQX:MHREF) is pleased to announce the signature of a memo of understanding (MoU) by means of which it may acquire the Casa Berardi South and Troilus North gold properties from Greg Explorations Inc. (Greg), subject to certain conditions (see the MoU section for more details).
With the properties it already owns, including the new Opinaca Gold West property, Matamec will hold an interest in the following gold properties (see Figure 1 for their locations):
- Near the Casa Berardi Mine, owned and operated by Hecla Québec, north of La Sarre in northwest Québec: The Casa Berardi South property (acquired at 100%) captures a rock structure that is parallel and analogous to the Casa Berardi mine for 15 kilometres, and has been relatively unexplored to date - see the Casa Berardi South Property section and Figure 2;
- In the northwest extension of of the former Troilus Mine host package, located northwest of Chibougamau, Québec: The Troilus North property (100%) straddles a northeastern extension of the volcanic sequence hosting the Troilus Mine deposit for about 10km - see the Troilus North Property section and Figure 3;
- In the geological setting that hosts the Éléonore mine near James Bay in Québec:
- The Sakami property, 50% owned by Matamec, covers the Opinaca-La Grande geological contact, and the results of its Summer 2016 drilling campaign in the La Pointe Zone included 4.94 g/t Au over 21.05m - see the Sakami and Opinaca Gold West section and Figure 4;
- The new Opinaca Gold West property, 100% owned by Matamec, is situated along the same geological formation as Goldcorp's Éléonore gold mine where new gold potential along this trend has been identified. The claims block covers a series of geochemical gold-arsenic anomalies and geological elements that suggests the presence of a gold bearing system along approximately 40 km - see the Sakami and Opinaca Gold West section and Figure 4;
- Along the stratigraphic rock formations east of the Hoyle Pond Mine owned and operated by Goldcorp in Timmins, Ontario: Matamec holds a royalty of 1% NSR on the new HMR property, a 50% interest in the Matheson JV property, and a 100% interest in the Pelangio property - see the HMR/MJV/Pelangio Properties section and Figure 5;
- In the promising setting of the historic Candego mine, in the Gaspé region: The Valmont property hosts Pb-Zn-Ag-Au mineralization from the historic Candego mine and several gold-bearing vein systems - see Valmont Property section and Figure 1.
"The gold potential associated with the geology of these properties, located across Quebec and in Ontario, is promising," said André Gauthier, President and CEO of Matamec. "Their quality and scope strengthens the company's gold portfolio and its position in the market."
Figure 1 "Locations of Matamec's Gold Properties" is available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1068995a_Fig1.jpg
A. Casa Berardi South Property
The Casa Berardi South property covers 10,000 hectares (ha) in 180 claims. The property is accessible by a main gravel road and by a network of forestry roads. The property northern limit is located 2km south of the Casa Berardi Mine owned by Hecla Mining. The accumulated gold production at the mine at the end of 2015 reached 1.966 million ounces of gold and the deposit retains proven reserves of 2.119 million tonnes (mt) of 3.41 g/t Au and probable reserves of 8.104 mt of 4.34 g/t Au (http://www.hecla-mining.com/casa-berardi).
The property's appeal lies in its repetition of the structural and lithological context that characterizes the Casa Berardi deposit. To the south of the deposit, an assemblage of volcanic and sedimentary rocks could host a gold bearing structure parallel to the known deposit. The area has seen very limited exploration to date. The reader is cautioned that there is no guarantee that the grade and style of mineralization identified on the Casa Berardi deposit will be identified at the Company's Casa Berardi South property.
The target types for this property include vein systems and disseminated sulphide hosted in graphitic sediments, conglomerates and iron formations, mainly along stratigraphic contacts.
Initial exploration work will seek to compile information from historical assessment reports to identify showings of mineralization and anomalous gold zones.
Figure 2 "Casa Berardi South Property" is available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1068995a_Fig2.jpg
B. Troilus North Property
The Troilus North property has 7,700 hectares in 143 claims following the northeast extension of the former Troilus Mine structure. The property is accessible via a 150-km gravel road that links the city of Chibougamau, in northern Québec, to the former Troilus mine site.
The property covers a large granite batholith surrounded by the volcanic sequence hosting the gold-copper Troilus Mine deposit. About 2 million ounces of gold and 70,000 tonnes of copper were produced from open pits between 1995 and 2010 from Troilus (http://sulliden.com/investors/news/_2016/).
Data mining in public files combined with geophysical and remote sensing data processing were recently completed as part of the acquisition process. The new exploration model suggests an extension of the Troilus structure to the northeast for about 10 kilometres inside the Troilus North property. The reader is cautioned that there is no guarantee that the mineralization identified on the Troilus Mine deposit will be identified at the Company's Troilus North property.
Sulliden Mining Capital currently owns the Troilus Mine mining lease, with the objective to restart an underground operation based on a new resources estimate (Technical Report on the Troilus Gold-Copper Mine Mineral Resources Estimate, Québec, Canada, June 2016).
Figure 3 "Troilus North Property" is available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1068995a_Fig3.jpg
C. Sakami and Opinaca Gold West Properties
Sakami Property
The property is held at 50% and covers a major geological contact between two very favourable sub- provinces for hosting gold deposits. The geology of this geological contact includes Opinaca metasedimentary rocks and the mafic volcanics and iron formations of the La Grande in association with a major deformation zone, particularly along the tectonic contact between the sub-provinces of La Grande-Opinaca. The mineralization style and tectonic setting have many similarities with the Éléonore mine owned by Goldcorp and the Cheechoo prospect, held by Sirios Resources (Please see the April 25, 2016 press release for more information).
The summer 2016 exploration campaign revealed that Vein 25 increases in thickness and grade to the northwest and remains wide open in this direction. The results from this summer include 43.30 m of 2.21 g/t Au and 21.05 m of 4.95 g/t Au, in drill holes PT-16-91 and PT-16-92 respectively (Please see the September 8, 2016 press release for more information).
In addition to the drilling already described, the 2016 field work included a total of 210 km of geophysical survey lines in the La Pointe, Île and JR West sectors, and a mapping and prospecting campaign in the Péninsule, Île and JR West sectors. The results of this exploration work will be shared as soon as they become available.
Opinaca Gold West Property
The Opinaca Gold West property includes 289 claims covering 15,000 hectares. The James Bay Road crosses the property. The claims block controls over 40 kilometres of prospective volcano-sedimentary belt in a generally east-west orientation.
At a regional scale, the property straddles a major magnetic contrast connected with the Goldcorp Éléonore Mine (proven and probable reserves of 4.17 million tonnes (mt) at 6.49 g/t Au for 0.87 million ounces (moz) Au and 24.15 mt at 5.76 g/t Au for 4.48 moz Au respectively*) located about 50 kilometres to the east. The reader is cautioned that there is no guarantee that mineralization on the Éléonore property is indicative of the type of mineralization on the Opinaca Gold West property.
Historical works have identified geological indicators of a gold bearing system such as arsenopyrite and tourmaline. High gold-arsenic concentrations were also observed from lake sediments in the property area.
* (Mineral Reserves And Resources As of December 31, 2015. http://www.goldcorp.com/English/Investor-Resources/Reserves-and-Resources/default.aspx).
Figure 4 "Sakami and Opinaca Gold West Properties" is available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1068995a_Fig4.jpg
D. HMR/MJV/Pelangio Property
The Matheson JV held at 50% and the Matheson-Pelangio (100%) properties lie along the stratigraphic rock assemblages which is the host to many of the gold deposits in the Timmins mining camp. This large property contains several targets defined by till drilling campaigns that have not been sufficiently drill tested.
New Hoyle Royalties-Matheson Property (HMR)
Following the PREAA announced on March 2nd, 2016 with Glencore and Goldcorp, Matamec now holds royalties of 1% NSR on the HMR property. On April 16, Matamec reviewed and restated the gold potential of this property. Based on its review, Matamec believes that the mineralized series of gold veins being mined and processed at Goldcorp's Hoyle Pond Gold Mine trends onto the HMR property. The similarity between the rock sequences, structural interpretation and mineralized zones occurring on the Mill Creek/Colbert Zone and at the Hoyle Pond Gold Mine is striking. These two zones are on either side of the HMR, with the prospective geological and structural packages trending onto it from both directions. The April 16, 2016 press release summarizes the publicly available information that forms the basis of this conclusion.
Figure 5 "HMR/MJV/Pelangio Properties" is available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1068995a_Fig5.jpg
E. Valmont Property
The Valmont property is 3,895 hectares in size and is located 120 kilometres to the west of the city of Gaspé. The Pb-Zn-Ag-Au mineralization from the historic Candego mine are associated with the subvertical ESE trending Candego shear zone. Historic production is stated at 68,497 tonnes of 6.35% Pb, 4.28% Zn, 170 g/t Ag et and 0.68 g/t Au. Several gold bearing vein systems have been identified on the property: Cromar, Marsoui and St- Francois. A new data compilation is ongoing.
Guy Desharnais, P.Geo., Ph.D. (OGQ No.1141), is a Qualified Person as per NI 43-101; he is employed by SGS Canada Inc., is independent of Matamec, and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
Signed on September 12 between Matamec and Greg, the MoU targets an increased collaboration between the two companies to meet the following objectives:
- To allow Matamec to increase its portfolio of gold properties in geological settings linked to deposits or mines in production in Province of Québec by the acquisition of certain of Greg's gold properties, and to proceed with financing thereafter. To date, the parties have agreed that the North Troilus and South Casa Berardi held by Greg will be part of this transaction (the "gold projects");
- To transfer energy-related projects of Matamec and Greg into a new mining company (NewCo), to be constituted, in which Matamec will be the main shareholder. This new company will be exclusively dedicated to exploration and development of industrial minerals deposits related to energy.
To achieve this objective, an update of the technical reports (prepared in compliance with the National Instrument 43-101 for the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) and an independent valuation of each property of Matamec and Greg will be completed this fall. This will allow the parties to agree on the fair market value (FMV) of the gold projects that will be transferred by Greg to Matamec and the energy-related projects which will be transferred by the parties to NewCo. The planned acquisition of the Greg gold projects will probably be completed through the issuance of shares of Matamec on the main basis of the ratio of the FMV of these properties on all properties of Matamec and Greg. As for the acquisition of energy related projects by NewCo, the terms remain subject to negotiation between the parties. The final terms of these transactions must be confirmed in the near future by the parties and remain subject to certain conditions such as, notably, the approval from each Board of Directors of Matamec and Greg as well as regulatory approval a new mining company (NewCo) to be formed in Matamec's case.
The parties have agreed on a timetable targeting, especially, (i) identification of the gold projects and industrial mineral projects, as well as the confirmation of their value, by end of September 2016; (ii) the incorporation of NewCo and the execution of the required agreements to put in place the different transactions targeted by the MoU by the end of October 2016; and (iii) put in place the initial financing of NewCo by the end of November 2016.
The agreement between Matamec and Greg aims to establish a well-experienced exploration and development mining team in order to (i) demonstrate the gold potential of Matamec and (ii) support, within a new company, the exploration and development of industrial mineral deposits related to energy.
About Matamec
Matamec Explorations Inc. is a junior mining exploration company whose main focus is in developing the Kipawa HREE JV deposit owned at 72% by the Company and 28% by Ressources Québec (acting as agent of the Government of Québec); Toyota Tsusho Corp. (Nagoya, Japan) holds a 10% royalty on net profit in the deposit. Furthermore, the Company is exploring more than 35 km of strike length in the Kipawa Alkalic Complex for rare earths-yttrium-zirconium-niobium-tantalum mineralization on its Zeus property.
The Company is also exploring for gold, base metals and platinum group metals. In Québec, the Company is exploring for strategic metals such as lithium, tantalum, and beryllium on its Tansim property and for precious and base metals on its Vulcain property.
Forward-looking information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "scheduled", "anticipates", "expects" or "does not expect", "pursue", "targeted", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases that state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Matamec has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those risk factors set out in the Company's year-end Management Discussion and Analysis dated December 31, 2015 and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and Matamec disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
Neither 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 release.
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Contact
Andre Gauthier
President
514 844 5252
info@matamec.com
