Orford Discovers a Thick Gold Mineralized Zone at the Qiqavik Project - Interlake Area and new High-Grade Gold at Surface

TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2018 - Orford Mining Corp. ("Orford") (TSXV: ORM) is pleased to announce results of the 2018 drilling and mapping program on its Qiqavik property in northern Quebec and the 2018 drilling program on the Jones Keystone and Landrum Faulkner properties in North and South Carolina.

Qiqavik Property 2018 Results:

The 2018 Qiqavik program included 8 drill holes totaling 1,211m (Figure 1). The highlight of the 2018 drilling program results is the discovery at the Interlake Area of a thick sequence of gold mineralized quartz-carbonate veining associated with sulphidic metasediments which was intersected in three diamond drill holes (QK-18-002, -007 and -008). Results are shown in Table 1. This is the first time that thicknesses of up to 24.6 metres (QK-18-008)of gold-bearing mineralization within a structural complex zone has been intersected on the property. The Interlake area has generated additional potential high-grade targets for 2019.

The 2018 Qiqavik work also identified several new high-grade surface gold showings and expanded previously discovered showings (Figure 2). Surface gold samples such as 342 g/t gold at new surface showing A,149.5 g/t gold at a new surface showing B, 108 g/t at the Focused Intrusive and 17.15 g/t at the Interlake zone continue to suggest strong gold endowment of the Qiqavik property and its untested potential. A total of 541 rock samples were taken during the summer of 2018 from predominantly angular subcrop type boulders across the 40 kilometre long property. 34 of those samples returned grades of more than 2 g/t (Table 2).

Surface sampling at Focused Intrusive, Gerfaut South, and Interlake have expanded the dimensions of these surface showings to potentially as large as 800 m, 850 m, and 300 m, respectively. Work in the Interlake area has proven that the boulder and till transport distance is limited. This was evidenced by intersecting similar mineralization and lithologies in gold mineralization in the 2018 Interlake drill holes to that seen in the nearby surface showing boulders. We are confident that continued exploration will allow us to locate the source of the other high-grade boulders and mineralized till and frost boil samples.

David Christie, President and CEO of Orford, commented, "I am very encouraged that we were able to intersect a thick sequence of gold mineralization along what appears to be a laterally extensive structure in the Interlake area with potential along that strike length supported by strong gold in till dispersion trains. We have now identified a number of areas across the property that have gold mineralization over significant strike lengths, and in the case of the Esperance and Interlake areas, having significant widths with gold mineralization in drill holes. I look forward to continuing to explore this new large gold belt in northern Quebec in 2019. The results of our geological mapping and prospecting continue to identify new high-grade surface showings across the 40 km long property and illustrate the significant potential of the Qiqavik property."  

Table 1: Notable 2018 Qiqavik Drilling Results

(Notable is defined as intervals >=1m with an average of >0.4g/t Au; averages were weighted by assay length)¹

The summer exploration program at Qiqavik also included the collection of 541 surface grab samples of both bedrock and boulders, 1,034 till samples, geological mapping, prospecting and ground VLF geophysics. The program was successful in identifying additional gold showings at the Focused Intrusive, Central, and Gerfaut zones, as well as new showings at the Interlake, Django and Angus zones, and 3 new areas shown in Figure 2.

The drilling in the Interlake area consisted of three boreholes testing two parallel E-W conductors identified over a 310 m strike-length between two shallow lakes (Figure 3). Borehole QK-18-002, drilled to the south, was collared 200 metres to the northwest of boreholes QK-18-007 and QK-18-008, which were both drilled northward from the same set up but with different inclination. Hole QK-18-008 intersected the gold zones 15 metres below the intersection in hole QK-18-007.

The three boreholes intersected four gold-bearing structures located along a 13 km-long chain of E-W-trending lakes and rivers and hosted between two important thrust zones, including the Qiqavik break (Figure 3). Two of the gold-bearing shear zones correspond to the targeted conductors and are characterized by graphite, pyrrhotite, and up to 15% quartz veining.

The shear zones are sub-vertical, East-trending structures and their magnetic signature suggests that they may extend for at least another 1 kilometer to the east and 800 meters to the west, under shallow lakes. Boreholes QK-18-002, -007 and -008 confirmed the lateral and vertical extensions of the southernmost strong conductor that also coincides with a magnetic high lineament. The three boreholes intersected 4.35 m of 0.51 g/t Au, 4.03 m of 0.61 g/t Au, and 24.56 m of 0.48 g/t Au respectively, confirming the extension of the shear zone to a vertical depth of at least 130 metres.

A strong, multi-element, till anomaly is also present three kilometers east of the drilled sector (circled in yellow on figure 3). It is located to the north, and in the down ice direction, of the eastern extension of the gold-bearing structures, suggesting their possible eastern extension. The coinciding VLF Conductor suggests a similar setting to that of the drilled shear zones.

During the 2018 field season, additional till samples from frost boils were collected to the south of the drill tested structures to potentially close off the dispersion trains to the north or identify additional parallel gold-bearing structures to be drilled in 2019. The results of these 2018 till samples will not be available until later in the year.

Exploration efforts during the summer of 2018 were focused on discovering structural and chemical traps within the Qiqavik gold system, which includes the newly identified Interlake area just south of the Central Zone.

Table 2: 2018 Qiqavik Grab Sample Results²

 Table 3:  Location of 2018 Qiqavik Drill Holes (UTM NAD 83 Zone 18N)

Carolina Gold Properties

Complete results have been received from the drilling program on the Jones Keystone and Faulkner properties in North and South Carolina reported in Orford's news release of August 2, 2018.  New results from drill hole JK-18-053 at the Jones-Keystone property and holes FM-18-001, FM-18-002 and FM-18-003 are presented in Table 4 below along with previously published results from holes JK-18-054 and JK-18-055.

Table 4: Significant Assay Results for 2018 Drilling at Jones-Keystone and Faulkner Properties¹

While drilling confirmed the continuity of historical gold mineralization at Jones-Keystone, the sulphide mineralization zones associated with the IP anomalies outside the historical trends did not yield significant gold values.

At Faulkner, significant gold values were restricted to zones of quartz veining with visible gold within the larger IP targets that were found to coincide with extensive zones of sulphide mineralization and quartz-sericite alteration that did not yield significant gold values.

Issuance of Shares to Red Cloud Klondike Strike Inc.

Orford also announces that, pursuant to an advisory agreement dated December 6, 2017 entered into with Red Cloud Klondike Strike Inc. (Red Cloud), Orford will issue 191,160 shares to Red Cloud at $0.245 per share in settlement of advisory fees in the amount of $46,895. 

About Qiqavik

The Qiqavik Property covers the 40-km long Qiqavik Break, part of the Cape Smith Belt event which is of Paleoproterozoic age (1.8-1.9 billion years). This geologic era is marked by its significant metal endowment as illustrated by the important gold districts that occur worldwide related to geological events of Paleoproterozoic age.  These include the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Belt, the Ashanti Gold Fields of West Africa, the Tapajos-Parima Belt of Brazil, and the Tanami Region in Australia³. The Cape Smith Belt is also home to Glencore's world class Raglan Mine.

Early-stage exploration work completed to date on the Qiqavik Property shows that high-grade gold and copper occurrences are associated with secondary splay structures located along the district-scale Qiqavik Break Shear Zone which extends the full 40 km length of the Qiqavik Property. Geological data indicate that gold mineralization at Qiqavik is structurally controlled and associated with porphyry intrusions in places.  

1)   Note drill intervals reported in this press release are down-hole core lengths as true thicknesses cannot be determined with available information.

2)   Note that grab samples are selective by nature and values reported may not be representative of mineralized zones.

3)   This information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on Orford Mining's properties.

Qualified Person and Quality Assurance and Quality Control
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Alger St-Jean, Vice President, Exploration of Orford, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. 

The work program at Qiqavik was supervised by Michelle Sciortino, Senior Project Geologist who is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program.  On-site personnel at the project log and weigh all samples prior to sealing and shipping. Sample shipments are sealed and shipped to ALS Geochemistry, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec. All gold assays reported were obtained by either 1-kg screen fire assay or standard 50-gram fire-assaying-AA finish or gravimetric finish (method Au-AA24 and Au-GRA22) at ALS Geochemistry, Val-d'Or, Quebec. The 1-kg screen assay method is selected by the site geologist or the lab when samples contain coarse gold or higher percentage of sulfide mineralization that may be associated with gold relative to surrounding intervals. All samples are also analyzed for multi-elements, including copper and silver, using a four-acid method with an ICP-AES finish (method ME-ICP61a) at ALS Geochemistry, Vancouver, British-Colombia. Overlimits were analyzed by four-acid method with an ICP-OES or AAS finish (Method OG62). Drill program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") and interpretation of results is performed by qualified persons employing a QA/QC program consistent with NI 43-101 and industry best practices. Standards and blanks are inserted at a minimum of 10% and 5% for core and grab samples respectively for QA/QC purposes in addition to those inserted by the lab. A subset of samples has not yet been sent for a verification assay at another lab. ALS Geochemistry comply with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2005.

The information regarding work disclosed herein in respect of the Qiqavik Property is in part based on the independent report of Clement Dombrowski, P.Geo of IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc. titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on Qiqavik Project, Northern Quebec, Canada" effective September 14, 2017, and on Orford Mining's press releases available on Orford Mining's website and on SEDAR.

About Orford Mining Corporation
Orford Mining is a mineral explorer focused on highly prospective and underexplored areas of Northern Quebec and the Carolina Gold Belt in United States. Orford's principal assets are the Qiqavik and West Raglan projects comprising of a land package totaling over 70,000 hectares in the Cape Smith Belt of Northern Quebec and properties in the U.S. Carolina Gold Belt. The Qiqavik Project hosts several new high-grade gold discoveries along a mineralized trend in excess of 40 km. Orford's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ORM.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking information" including without limitation statements relating to the liquidity and capital resources of Orford and potential of one or more of the Qiqavik, West Raglan, Jones-Keystone Loflin and Landrum-Faulkner exploration properties.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Orford to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. 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 Orford's filings with Canadian securities regulators available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although Orford has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Orford 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.

The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

SOURCE Orford Mining Corp.