White Gold Corp. Expands High Grade Gold Mineralization at Ryan’s Surprise Target Intersecting Gold in all Holes
Including 8.69 g/t Au over 12.3m and 17.4g/t Au over 3.47m 2km West of Flagship Golden Saddle Deposit, YukonTORONTO, Oct. 14, 2020 - White Gold Corp. (TSX.V: WGO, OTC: WHGOF, FRA: 29W) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce results of its recently completed diamond drilling program on the Ryan’s Surprise (“Ryan’s”) target which encountered multiple high-grade mineralized zones expanding gold mineralization which remains open in all directions. The Ryan’s target is located approximately 2km west of the Company’s flagship Golden Saddle deposit and 11km south of the Company’s VG deposit. The drilling is part of the Company’s fully funded 2020 exploration program backed by partners Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX: AEM, NYSE: AEM) and Kinross Gold Corp (TSX: K,NYSE: KGC) on its extensive 420,000 hectare land package in the emerging White Gold District, Yukon, Canada.
The close proximity of Ryan’s to the Company’s existing mineral resources at Golden Saddle and Arc makes it a highly strategic target. The Golden Saddle and Arc deposits have a combined mineral resource of 1,139,900 ounces Indicated at 2.28 g/t gold and 402,100 ounces Inferred at 1.39 g/t gold and the VG deposit hosts a historic Inferred gold resource of 230,000 ounces at 1.65g/t gold(1). The Ryan's target is situated on a 11km x 5km mineralized trend that includes multiple additional gold zones with geological and other similarities to the Ryan’s Surprise, Golden Saddle and Arc. Discovered through the Company’s systematic exploration programs, these include Ulli’s Ridge, Teachers Showing, Minneapolis Creek and several others which are being explored as part of the Company’s regional exploration program. With only limited exploration to date, these targets offer the potential for additional gold discoveries outside of current resource areas.
Highlights include:
- The diamond drilling program comprised 6 drill holes totalling 1,632.5m, with all holes encountering multiple gold intercepts, several of which are amongst the highest grade intercepts encountered to date on the White Gold property.
- High-grade gold intercepts were encountered in 5 of 6 holes including 17.40 g/t Au over 3.47m in WHTRS20D013, 12.80 g/t Au over 1.00m in WHTRS20D014, 9.10 g/t Au over 1.00m in WHTRS20D015, 10.96 g/t Au over 3.76m in WHTRS20D017 and 8.69 g/t Au over 12.30m in WHTRS20D018.
- Drilling was carried out on three 50m spaced cross-sections to test for extensions of mineralization along strike and down dip, and to further evaluate the geological/structural interpretation.
- Gold mineralization remains open in all directions and has now been encountered over a strike length of 250m by 130m wide and to a vertical depth of 300m. Mineralization is structurally controlled in brittle fracture and breccia zones predominately in metaquartzite and shows a strong association with anomalous arsenic.
- Ryan’s Surprise is situated on a large 11km by 5km mineralized trend which hosts several additional prospective targets.
“We are very pleased to have encountered additional high-grade mineralization at the Ryan’s Surprise in new zones and extensions to previously encountered mineralization in multiple directions. These results and the close proximity to our established resources provides further evidence of the growth potential of these projects. We are also further encouraged by the prospectively of the other targets in this area which share geological and other characteristics with this recent discovery,” stated David D’Onofrio, CEO of the Company.
Gold assay results are summarized below in Table 1 and drill hole collar data is summarized in Table 2. Images to accompany this news release can be found at http://whitegoldcorp.ca/investors/exploration-highlights/.
Ryan’s Surprise Target
The Ryan’s Surprise target is associated with a large (>500m long) gold-in-soil anomaly with values ranging from trace to 1,576 ppb Au, located approximately 2.0km WSW from the centre of the Golden Saddle deposit. Significant mineralization was first encountered by the Company in 2018, including holes WHTRYN18RC0001 which intersected 20.64 g/t Au over 6.10m from 83.82m downhole and WHTRYN18RC0002 which intersected 5.02 g/t Au over 13.17m from 121.92m downhole. In 2019 Hole WHTRS19D012 intersected 2.85 g/t Au over 4.14m from 142.22 m downhole and 2.07 g/t over 21.0m from 154.00m downhole, including 3.55 g/t Au over 8.42m.
The mineralization encountered to date is partially oxidized and is associated with brecciation, stockwork quartz veining and fracture controlled to disseminated pyrite in weakly to strongly sericite altered biotite-quartz-feldspar gneiss, banded quartzite and biotite schist. The mineralization shows a strong association with elevated arsenic and shows similarities and differences to mineralization encountered elsewhere on the White Gold property and may represent a new style of mineralization previously unrecognised on the property. To date Ryan’s Surprise has returned some of the best drill results outside of the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits and is a strong target for additional drilling.
Drill results from the Ryan’s Surprise in 2020 expanded on the results from 2018 and 2019 drill holes, extending the mineralized zones down dip and along strike, and demonstrating the presence of multiple gold bearing structures in addition to those previously modelled. A mineralized corridor remains open in multiple directions.
2020 Drill Program
The diamond drilling program comprised 6 NQ diameter holes totalling 1,632.5m. All holes were drilled from south to north at dips ranging from -50? to -75?, with a maximum hole length of 345m. The drilling tested a strike length of 100m on three 50m spaced cross-sections to test for extensions of mineralization along strike and down dip, and to further evaluate the geological/structural interpretation.
Interpretation of Results
The geology of the immediate Ryan’s target area consists of two primary lithological packages, an upper mafic to ultramafic package comprising amphibolite and pyroxenite, and an underlying metasedimentary sequence of metaquartzite, biotite-quartz-feldspar gneiss and minor biotite schist. The contact between the two packages strikes northwest, is relatively flat-lying, and appears to be a thrust fault.
Gold mineralization is structurally controlled by brittle breccia and fracture zones with minor late quartz veining predominantly in the metaquartzite along a 100m to 125m wide east-west striking structural corridor. There is a strong association with anomalous arsenic, hydrothermal graphite and sooty pyrite demonstrating both similarities and differences to mineralization encountered elsewhere on the White Gold property, but gold grades at Ryan’s are locally much higher.
Correlating individual mineralized breccias and fractures from hole to hole is somewhat difficult, however enveloping surfaces around the highest density of mineralized structures indicates a steep southerly dip which is consistent with the interpretation based on 2019 drilling. A detailed structural interpretation utilizing core logging and oriented optical televiewer data is currently in progress and is expected to help refine the model. The mineralized zones remain open in all directions, and future drilling should continue testing along strike and down dip.
Table 1: Summary of 2020 Diamond Drilling Gold Assay Results, Ryan’s Surprise Target
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Width (m)* | Gold (g/t) |
| WHTRS20D013 | 53.00 | 56.47 | 3.47 | 17.40 |
| 59.84 | 64.00 | 4.16 | 1.44 | |
| including | 60.95 | 62.00 | 1.05 | 4.02 |
| 74.96 | 78.00 | 3.04 | 1.39 | |
| 131.00 | 133.00 | 2.00 | 0.97 | |
| 231.00 | 236.55 | 5.55 | 1.31 | |
| WHTRS20D014 | 125.00 | 131.50 | 6.50 | 3.28 |
| including | 128.00 | 129.00 | 1.00 | 12.80 |
| 278.00 | 279.00 | 1.00 | 1.27 | |
| 282.18 | 289.00 | 6.82 | 1.34 | |
| including | 287.00 | 289.00 | 2.00 | 3.42 |
| 294.60 | 296.00 | 1.40 | 1.75 | |
| WHTRS20D015 | 17.00 | 19.00 | 2.00 | 0.92 |
| 23.00 | 25.00 | 2.00 | 4.90 | |
| including | 24.00 | 25.00 | 1.00 | 9.10 |
| 107.00 | 109.79 | 2.79 | 0.64 | |
| 191.23 | 192.65 | 1.42 | 1.80 | |
| 195.00 | 197.00 | 2.00 | 0.82 | |
| 224.00 | 230.00 | 6.00 | 0.58 | |
| 255.20 | 260.00 | 4.80 | 0.88 | |
| 288.00 | 301.00 | 13.00 | 1.11 | |
| including | 292.39 | 297.00 | 4.61 | 1.94 |
| WHTRS20D016 | 101.88 | 109.00 | 7.12 | 1.15 |
| 197.00 | 198.27 | 1.27 | 1.10 | |
| 206.00 | 208.00 | 2.00 | 2.26 | |
| 215.00 | 217.07 | 2.07 | 0.90 | |
| 251.00 | 273.00 | 22.00 | 1.19 | |
| including | 251.00 | 261.24 | 10.24 | 2.16 |
| WHTRS20D017 | 125.12 | 126.36 | 1.24 | 8.82 |
| 139.00 | 140.00 | 1.00 | 2.76 | |
| 156.00 | 159.76 | 3.76 | 10.96 | |
| 185.00 | 202.00 | 17.00 | 1.43 | |
| including | 187.00 | 196.00 | 9.00 | 2.46 |
| WHTRS20D018 | 48.30 | 49.00 | 0.70 | 0.86 |
| 124.65 | 127.00 | 2.35 | 1.67 | |
| 187.70 | 200.00 | 12.30 | 8.69 | |
| including | 189.55 | 197.00 | 7.45 | 13.12 |
| and | 191.80 | 195.28 | 3.48 | 20.39 |
| 212.00 | 222.90 | 10.90 | 0.61 | |
| including | 220.20 | 222.90 | 2.70 | 1.37 |
| * Note: All widths are reported as measured core lengths as insufficient drilling has been carried out to determine true widths. All reported assay values are uncapped. | ||||
Drilling Summary & Highlights
Section 574,275 E
Holes WHTRS20D013 and WHTRS20D014 were drilled on cross-section 574,275 E. Hole WHTRS20D013 intersected a high-grade gold zone in the upper part of the hole which returned 17.40 g/t Au over 3.47m from 53.00m downhole, as well as several additional mineralized zones including 1.44 g/t over 4.16m, 1.39 g/t Au over 3.04m, and 1.31 g/t Au over 5.55m. Hole WHTRS20D014 was an undercut of WHTRS20D013 and intersected two gold zones. The uppermost zone returned 3.28 g/t Au over 6.50m from 125.00m downhole, including a narrow high-grade subinterval of 12.80 g/t Au over 1.00m, and 1.34 g/t Au over 6.82m from 282.18m downhole. The high- grade mineralization in both holes is hosted in fracture zones with graphite and hematite ? pyrite.
Section 574,225 E
Hole WHTRS20D015 was drilled on cross-section 574,225 E and was designed to undercut hole WHTRS19D012 which encountered several gold zones including 2.66 g/t Au over 11.00 m from 93.00 m downhole and 3.55 g/t Au over 8.42 m from 164.58 m downhole. WHTRS20D015 intersected multiple gold zones with the most significant being 4.90 g/t Au over 2.00 m from 17.00 m downhole, including 9.10 g/t Au over 1.00 m, and 1.11 g/t Au over 13.00 m from 288.00 m downhole.
Section 574,175 E
Holes WHTRS20D016, WHTRS20D017 and WHTRS20D018 were drilled on cross-section 574,175 E representing the westernmost 2020 drilling on the Ryan’s target. Hole WHTRS20D016 intersected multiple gold zones including 1.15 g/t Au over 7.12 m from 101.88 m downhole, and 1.19 g/t Au over 22.00 m from 251.00 m downhole, including 2.16 g/t Au over 10.24 m. Hole WHTRS20D017 drilled to the north and above WHTRS20D016 also intersected multiple gold zones including 8.82 g/t Au over 1.24 m from 125.12 m downhole, 10.96 g/t Au over 3.76 m from 156.00 m downhole, and 1.43 g/t Au over 17.00 m from 185.00 m downhole including 2.46 g/t Au over 9.00 m. Hole WHTRS20D018 drilled between holes WHTRS20D016 and WHTRS20D017, and intersected the most significant gold mineralization encountered to date at Ryan’s returning 8.69 g/t Au over 12.30 m from 187.70 m downhole, including 13.12 g/t Au over 7.45 m.
Table 2: Summary of 2020 Diamond Drill Hole (DDH) Collar Data, Ryan’s Surprise Target
| Hole_ID | Collar Location (UTM NAD83, Zone 7V) | Dip | Azimuth | Length | ||
| Easting (m) | Northing (m) | Elevation (m) | (deg) | (deg) | (m) | |
| WHTRS20D013 | 574,273.89 | 7,004,437.01 | 730.31 | -55 | 0 | 247.0 |
| WHTRS20D014 | 574,273.79 | 7,004,436.51 | 730.30 | -74 | 0 | 297.5 |
| WHTRS20D015 | 574,220.70 | 7,004,417.17 | 715.48 | -70 | 0 | 345.0 |
| WHTRS20D016 | 574,171.08 | 7,004,435.52 | 712.88 | -68 | 0 | 284.0 |
| WHTRS20D017 | 574,172.07 | 7,004,471.62 | 725.25 | -50 | 0 | 229.0 |
| WHTRS20D018 | 574,172.01 | 7,004,471.22 | 725.10 | -70 | 0 | 230.0 |
| TOTAL | 1,632.5 | |||||
QA/QC
Analytical work for the 2020 diamond drilling program was performed by ALS Canada Ltd., an internationally recognized analytical services provider, at its North Vancouver, British Columbia laboratory. Sample preparation was carried out at its Whitehorse, Yukon facility. All diamond drill core samples were prepared using procedure PREP-31H (crush 70% less than 2mm, riffle split off 500g, pulverize split to better than 85% passing 75 microns) and analyzed by method Au-AA23 (30g fire assay with AAS finish) and ME-ICP41 (0.5g, aqua regia digestion and ICP-AES analysis). Samples containing >10 g/t Au were reanalyzed using method Au-GRAV21 (30g Fire Assay with gravimetric finish).
The reported work was completed using industry standard procedures, including a quality assurance/quality control (“QA/QC”) program consisting of the insertion of certified standards, blanks and duplicates into the sample stream.
About White Gold Corp.
The Company owns a portfolio of 21,207 quartz claims across 33 properties covering over 420,000 hectares representing over 40% of the Yukon’s prolific White Gold District. The Company’s flagship White Gold property hosts the Company’s Golden Saddle and Arc deposits which have a mineral resource of 1,139,900 ounces Indicated at 2.28 g/t gold and 402,100 ounces Inferred at 1.39 g/t gold. Mineralization on the Golden Saddle and Arc is also known to extend beyond the limits of the current resource estimate. The Company’s recently acquired VG Deposit also hosts a historic Inferred gold resource of 230,000 ounces at 1.65 g/t Au(1). Regional exploration work has also produced several other new discoveries and prospective targets on the Company’s claim packages which border sizable gold discoveries including the Coffee project owned by Newmont Corporation with Measured and Indicated Resources of 2.17 Moz at 1.46 g/t Au, and Inferred Resources of 0.50 Moz at 1.32 g/t Au(2), and Western Copper and Gold Corp.’s Casino project which has Measured and Indicated Resources of 14.5 Moz Au and 7.6 Blb Cu and Inferred Resources of 6.6 Moz Au and 3.3 Blb Cu(2). For more information visit www.whitegoldcorp.ca.
(1) See Comstock Metals Ltd. technical report titled “NI 43-101 TECHNICAL REPORT on the QV PROJECT”, dated August 19, 2014, available on SEDAR.
(2) Noted mineralization is as disclosed by the owner of each property respectively and is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization hosted on the Company’s property.
Qualified Person
Terry Brace, P.Geo. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company is a “qualified person” as defined under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects and has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", “proposed”, "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, the Company’s objectives, goals and exploration activities conducted and proposed to be conducted at the Company’s properties; future growth potential of the Company, including whether any proposed exploration programs at any of the Company’s properties will be successful; exploration results; and future exploration plans and costs and financing availability.
These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include:
the expected benefits to the Company relating to the exploration conducted and proposed to be conducted at the White Gold properties; failure to identify any additional mineral resources or significant mineralization; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, including to fund any exploration programs on the Company’s properties; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining and mineral exploration; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); the unlikelihood that properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated; soil sampling results being preliminary in nature and are not conclusive evidence of the likelihood of a mineral deposit; title to properties; ongoing uncertainties relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; and those factors described under the heading "Risks Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated July 29, 2020 available on SEDAR. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.
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 news release.
Contact Information:
David D’Onofrio, Chief Executive Officer
White Gold Corp.
(647) 930-1880
ir@whitegoldcorp.ca
