Ardiden Ltd: Exercises Option to Acquire Highly Prospective Pickle Lake Gold Project

Perth - Minerals explorer Ardiden Ltd. (ASX:ADV) is pleased to advise that it has exercised the option to acquire 100% of the advanced Pickle Lake Gold Properties, adding an exciting gold exploration and development opportunity to the Company's lithium portfolio in the established mining jurisdiction of Ontario, Canada.

The project has numerous substantial gold mineralised zones identified across multiple locations, with over 25,000m of historical diamond drilling completed. For further information refer to ASX announcement dated 1 August 2017.

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Ardiden exercises the right pursuant to the Option Agreement signed with White Metal Resources Corp. ("White Metals") (CVE:WHM) to acquire 100% of the Pickle Lake Gold Properties in Ontario, Canada.

- Decision follows encouraging assay results with significant gold mineralisation remaining open along strike and at depth from recent due diligence drill program at the Kasagiminnis Gold Property, including:

o 21.0m @ 3.97 g/t Au from 67m down hole in KAS-18-04 (Kasagiminnis Gold Zone) including

-- 12.5m @ 5.90 g/t Au from 74.0m down hole

--- With 2.8m @ 9.17 g/t Au from 77.0m

--- And 1.5m @ 24.6 g/t Au from 85.0m

o 22.0m @ 1.38 g/t Au from 52.0m down hole in KAS-18-03 including

-- 4.0m @ 3.58 g/t Au from 55.0m down hole

-- 4.2m @ 3.03 g/t Au from 62.0m down hole

o 20.1m @ 1.69 g/t Au from 60.0m down hole in KAS-18-01 including

-- 4.7m @ 4.10 g/t Au from 66.5m down hole

-- And a further 1.0m @ 27.6 g/t Au from 84.4m down hole (Footwall Zone)

o 24.3m @ 1.05 g/t Au from 83.1m down hole in KAS-18-02 including

-- 5.5m @ 2.64 g/t Au from 86.4m down hole

- The acquisition includes four separate gold properties offering both advanced development opportunities and early stage exploration, including:

o Kasagiminnis Lake Property

o Dorothy-Dobie Lake Property

o South Limb Property

o Pickle Lake West Property

- Ardiden will acquire a conditional 100% interest in the Project with a payment of CAD$50,000 and the issue of 3M shares to White Metals

- The acquisition is consistent with Ardiden's strategy of establishing a strong pipeline of prospective mineral projects

- Planning for the next stage of Pickle Lake exploration will be considered once all drill results received

Ardiden's recent due diligence drill program at the Kasagiminnis Gold Property was designed to verify historic drilling and sample results, obtain a better understanding of the gold mineralisation and confirm the property's potential.

Commenting on the acquisition and results, Ardiden Managing Director Brad Boyle stated that the Company considers the Pickle Lake Project to be a low-cost opportunity to access highly prospective gold claims that offer advanced exploration targets as well as early-stage opportunities.

"The recent drilling results obtained from the Kasagiminnis Lake Property are very encouraging and have reinforced our belief that there is significant potential within the existing Kasagiminnis Gold Zone which is open in all directions. Additionally, many other areas across the four properties remain underexplored. With the acquisition of the Pickle Lake Properties, the Board of Ardiden is considering options as to how the value of the project can be best maximised for shareholders."

KASAGIMINNIS DUE-DILIGENCE DRILLING

Samples from the recently completed diamond drill program at the Kasagiminnis Gold Property are currently being processed in Thunder Bay with assays for the first four holes recently received, and include the following highlights: (see link below)

The drill-hole locations (see Figure 1 in link below) and interpretive cross-sections (see Figures 2 and 3 in link below) illustrate the nature of the mineralisation at the Kasagaminnis prospect.

Results from the Kasagiminnis Lake Property reveal the gold mineralisation is structurally controlled and hosted within an east-west trending sheared mafic volcanic unit which lies below a series of intermediate tuff units. The mineralisation appears to be associated with sulphides replacing magnetite within a pre-existing alteration zone which has subsequently been sheared, facilitating gold precipitation.

Coarse visible gold is present in some mineralised intersections and that mineralisation extends into the footwall mafic volcanics through a series of quartz-carbonate shears.

As further results are received, Ardiden will update the market.

PICKLE LAKE GOLD PROPERTIES - OVERVIEW

The Pickle Lake Gold Properties are located within the gold-producing Meen-Dempster Greenstone Belt of the Uchi Geological Sub-province of the Canadian Shield, in close proximity to several of the Company's existing projects and to the regional mining centre of Thunder Bay (see Figure 4 in link below).

Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Ardiden will acquire a conditional 100% interest in the Project with a payment CAD$50,000 and the issue of 3M shares to White Metals and meeting the ongoing obligations of the underlying Option Agreements with Murchison Minerals Ltd. ("Murchison Minerals" - formerly Manicouagan Minerals Inc) and Mr Ken Kukkee.

The four Pickle Lake Gold Properties (see Figure 5 in link below) comprise 6,560 Ha of mining claims, with over 25,000 metres of historical diamond drilling completed across the Dorothy-Dobie Lake, Kasagiminnis Lake and South Limb Property claims. The Pickle Lake West Property has yet to be drill tested.

The Pickle Lake Gold Properties were jointly held between White Metal Resources, Murchison Minerals and Mr Ken Kukkee. White Metal Resources held Option Agreements with the other two parties to acquire any remaining interest in the various properties that it does not already own.

The two options executed by White Metal Resources Corp. with Mr Ken Kukkee and Murchison Minerals Ltd. now means Ardiden also has full access to the Dorothy-Dobie Lake Project.

Ardiden confirms the South Limb and Pickle Lake West Properties were 100% owned by White Metal Resources.

ACQUISITION RATIONALE

The acquisition of the Pickle Lake Gold Properties is consistent with Ardiden's strategy of establishing a strong pipeline of prospective mineral projects ranging from greenfields opportunities to more advanced, near-term resource development projects that can create shareholder value. These projects are all located in Tier-1 jurisdictions with exposure to outstanding market fundamentals.

The Pickle Lake properties provide the potential for near-term development and gold production, which alongside Ardiden's fast-tracked development at the Seymour Lake Lithium Project, provides an opportunity to diversify the Company's commodity base and potentially provide multiple revenue streams.

OPTION TERMS

The Dorothy-Dobie Lake Property and Kasagiminnis Lake Property were jointly held between White Metal Resources, Murchison Minerals and Ken Kukkee, and are subject to the conditions of Option Agreements that were executed in 2016. The South Limb and Pickle Lake West properties were 100% owned by White Metal Resources.

To acquire a full 100% interest in all of Pickle Lake Gold properties, Ardiden will assume White Metal Resources' obligations existing in the underlying Option Agreements that were executed with Murchison Minerals and Mr Ken Kukkee in 2016.

Mr Ken Kukkee: The option requires Ardiden to pay CAD$40,000 and issue 2,490,387 shares over the next 2 two years of the option period to acquire 100% ownership of the project claims. Further, Kukkee is entitled to an annual advanced royalty payment of $50,000 from 15 April 2026, if commercial scale production is not achieved by that time.

Murchison Minerals Ltd.: The option requires Ardiden to expend a further CAD$500,000 on the property over the next 12 months (work commitment) to acquire 100% ownership project claims.

ROYALTIES

White Metal Resources will maintain the right to purchase an existing 1% NSR (held by Murchison Minerals) on the Murchison joint venture claims on the Dorothy-Dobie and Kasagiminnis properties, of which 0.5% NSR can be purchased for CAD$1,000,000 and the second 0.5% NSR may be purchased for CAD$1,500,000. White Metal Resources will also have the right of first refusal ("ROFR") on the NSR.

Mr Ken Kukkee, the original vendor of the Kasagiminnis property, will retain a 2% NSR of which 1% NSR can be purchased by Ardiden for CAD$1,000,000 along with a ROFR on the remaining 1% NSR.

With respect to the Ken Kukkee claims located within the Dorothy-Dobie claim group, Mr Kukkee retains a 2% NSR, of which 1% NSR can be purchased by Ardiden for CAD$1,000,000. Ardiden shall retain a ROFR on the remaining 1% NSR. In addition, White Metal Resources will hold a 1% NSR on this same Kukkee Option claim group.

Finally, White Metal Resources will retain a 2% NSR on the Pickle Lake West and South Limb Properties, of which 1% NSR can be purchased by Ardiden for CAD$1,000,000. Ardiden will have a ROFR on the remaining 1% NSR.

NEXT STEPS

Once the drill assay results have been received and considered by Ardiden, planning will commence for the next stage in the exploration program for the Project.

Ardiden confirms that it will continue to rapidly progress the resource expansion drilling program currently underway at the Seymour Lake Lithium Project.

Ardiden looks forward to providing further updates as they come to hand.

To view tables and figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/92OF5A5Y

About Ardiden Ltd:

Ardiden Ltd. (ASX:ADV) is an emerging international diversified exploration and development company possessing a mature multi-element asset portfolio, with a near term development pipeline, focused quality projects located in the established mining jurisdiction of Ontario, Canada.

Source:

Ardiden Ltd.

Contact:

Investors: Brad Boyle Ardiden Ltd. Tel: +61-8-6245-2050 Media: Michael Weir / Cameron Gilenko Citadel-Magnus Tel: +61-8-6160-4900