Gatling Exploration Delivers Drilling Update: 7.7 g/t Au over 17.0 m Extending the Bear Deposit and Additional Positive Drilling Continues at the Fernland Deposit
VANCOUVER, August 9, 2021 - Gatling Exploration Inc. (TSXV:GTR)(OTCQB:GATGF) (the "Company" or "Gatling) is pleased to announce that its ongoing drill program at the Larder Gold project has added significant value leading up to its mineral resource estimate in Q3 2021. Drilling at the Bear deposit has returned 7.7 g/t Au over 17.0 m including 25.3 g/t Au over 4.0 m up plunge from the core of the Bear deposit, connecting it to near-surface lenses identified in Gatling's 2019 drill campaign. The Fernland deposit has completed the 13,500 m drill program targeting near-surface gold mineralization and recent drilling from all three zones has added to both open pit and underground resource potential. Gatling has now entered the resource update phase utilizing its large drill database highlighted by more than 60,000 m of drilling completed by the company across all three high-grade gold deposits over the past 2.5 years, plus 70,000 m of historical drilling including 37,000 m to support Fernland's initial resource estimate. Jason Billan, President and CEO for Gatling, commented, "The 25,000 m exploration program outlined at the beginning of the year is nearly 90% complete and has continued to deliver impressive results across the Fernland and now Bear deposits, which bode well for the upcoming mineral resource estimate at the Larder project. One of the primary objectives of our program this year was to close the gap between two main lenses at Bear which begin at roughly 100 m below surface and the core of the Bear deposit, which commences at approximately 500 m depth. We have now accomplished this significant achievement in a timely manner. In addition, Fernland continues to grow in size following the completion of its drill program, demonstrating further upside at depth and beneath a potential starter pit. We look forward to updating the market during a catalyst-rich second half of the year for the Company, while being laser focused on meeting or exceeding our 2021 goals."
Gatling Drill Update Highlights
Bear Deposit:
- High-Grade Gold Intersections Extend Core of the Deposit Up Plunge by 150 m. The recent drilling at Bear has proven continuity from the core of the deposit to known near-surface mineralized zones drilled in 2019 (Figures 1 & 2). Drillhole GTR-21-127 intersected 6.6 g/t Au over 5.0 m and GTR-21-132 intersected 7.7 g/t Au over 17.0 m including 25.3 g/t Au over 4.0 m with visible gold (Figure 5). These results extend the deposit up plunge by 150 m vertically and 350 m along strike to ultimately add a material amount of data to the upcoming mineral resource estimate. Demonstrating the continuity up plunge from the core of the Bear deposit now provides excellent potential to trace the gold mineralization to surface similar to the Fernland and Cheminis deposits.
- Recent Drillholes Add Significant Value to the Upcoming Resource at the Bear Deposit. These recent drill intercepts completed by Gatling at the Bear deposit have filled in a large gap across drillholes GTR-21-125, GTR-21-127 and GTR-21-132, which represent approximately 350 m in strike and 150 m vertically between the 2011 historic resource model and 2019 drill intersections (Figures 1 & 3). Filling in this gap met a key objective for the 2021 exploration program and marked a significant achievement at the Bear deposit ahead of the resource update as it will add significant ounces and tonnes up plunge from the high-grade core of the deposit.
- Exploration to Continue at Bear Along Strike and Within Plunging Zones. Drilling at the Bear deposit has identified similar south-easterly plunging chutes to the Fernland and Cheminis deposits. These plunging directions are becoming more predictable and allowing the exploration programs to methodically advance with increased levels of confidence and success rates. East of the Bear deposit, Gatling has a high level of confidence that this same style of structurally-controlled gold mineralization will repeat itself, which may result in a significant addition of targets along strike. Gatling will continue to explore the Bear deposit along strike and at depth leveraging all data collected from previous drill programs as it is open in all directions.
Fernland Deposit:
- Completion of Near-Surface Drill Campaign of 13,500 m. Gatling has now completed its drill campaign designed to target gold mineralization within the upper 300 m at the Fernland deposit and has sent the drill rig up to its Kir Vit prospect. The program was a success in identifying three new mineralized zones striking over 1 km, starting at surface down to approximately 250 m with gold intersections such as 1.5 g/t Au over 200.7 m including 6.1 g/t Au over 23.7 m, which will all be incorporated in Fernland's initial resource estimate in Q3 2021.
- Fernland Drilling Continues to Prove Widespread Gold Intervals within Zone 2. Recent drilling has extended previously discovered near-surface gold mineralization with 1.4 g/t Au over 16.0 m in drillhole GTR-21-120 (Figures 1 & 4). This intersection is relevant as it sits 250 m below surface and beneath the potential open pit scenario, which could be included in the upcoming resource estimate. This provides excellent opportunity to extend the potential pit further at depth.
- Upcoming Initial Resource Estimate at the Fernland Deposit. The Fernland deposit strikes approximately 1.5 km with a depth component of approximately 600 m and hosts multiple mineralized lenses within three main gold zones. Thesuccessful drill campaign completed by Gatling at the Fernland deposit has outlined both near-surface open pit and underground gold zones that will be integrated into the initial resource estimate.
Upside Potential at the Larder Gold Project
- Swansea Zone. The Swansea zone hosts over 4 km of favorable Cadillac-Larder Lake Break geological units and has approximately 19,000 m of drilling along strike, whereas the Fernland, Cheminis and Bear have seen approximately 300,000 m of drilling. The Swansea zone is significantly underexplored considering its location along the break and permitting is underway with exploration planned in early 2022.
- Bear East. Gatling has approximately 1.5 km east of the Bear deposit that has less than 2,500 m drilled along the Cadillac-Larder Lake Break. This strike extension of the current high-grade Bear deposit is an excellent target to further expand the mineral resource.
- Fernland and Cheminis at Depth. Both the Fernland and Cheminis deposits have exhibited near-surface gold mineralization that extends at depth with predictable high grade south-easterly plunging chutes. The deposits are still open at depth with minimal exploration completed below 500 vertical meters, providing an excellent opportunity for zone expansion.
- Kir Vit North. The current exploration program at Kir Vit is focused along the intrusion-related gold system identified in 2019, which is mostly at the southern end of the Kir Vit domain. The northern part of Kir Vit consists mostly of the Timiskaming Conglomerate that has proven to host high-grade gold in Phase I of drilling. Current follow-up of this type of mineralization is underway, and if Gatling can continue to exploit this mineralized horizon, the entire northern portion of Kir Vit will become highly prospective.
- Regional Exploration. Multiple priority targets are being evaluated by the Gatling technical team and will be explored in future programs. Some of the high priority targets include intrusion-related gold zones, conglomerate/unconformity horizons and structural trends identified in both AI targeting and LiDAR structure detection.
Nathan Tribble, Vice President Exploration for Gatling, commented, "These recent results from the ongoing drill program at the Bear deposit are very significant in connecting the high-grade core of the deposit to lenses identified in our 2019 drill campaign by tracking the plunging mineralized zones. It is expected that these latest holes will add a large amount of volume and ounces to our upcoming resource update as the gap prior to these drillholes was 300 m in strike and 150 vertically. Having also completed our very successful program at the Fernland deposit, we have now shifted gears to continue to explore aggressively at our Kir Vit prospect, by targeting the high-grade shear zones identified last year in our outcrop stripping campaign."
Table 1. Drill Hole Highlights
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | Rock Type | Zone/Target |
| GTR-21-117 | 217.5 | 218.9 | 1.4 | 4.7 | Ultramafics | Fernland Zone 3 |
| 313.0 | 314.0 | 1.0 | 4.2 | North Volcanics | Fernland Zone 3 | |
| GTR-21-120 | 285.0 | 301.0 | 16.0 | 1.4 | South Volcanics | Fernland Zone 2 |
| Including | 291.0 | 293.0 | 2.0 | 5.7 | South Volcanics | Fernland Zone 2 |
| GTR-21-125 | 433.0 | 435.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | Mafic Volcanics | Bear Up Plunge |
| 457.0 | 488.0 | 31.0 | 1.4 | Porphyry Intrusion | Bear Up Plunge | |
| Including | 457.0 | 459.0 | 2.0 | 8.7 | Porphyry Intrusion | Bear Up Plunge |
| Including | 486.0 | 488.0 | 2.0 | 6.8 | Porphyry Intrusion | Bear Up Plunge |
| GTR-21-126A | 531.0 | 538.0 | 7.0 | 1.4 | Graphitic Argillite | Fernland Zone 1 |
| GTR-21-127 | 434.0 | 438.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | North Volcanics | Bear Up Plunge |
| Including | 434.0 | 436.0 | 2.0 | 5.1 | North Volcanics | Bear Up Plunge |
| 522.0 | 527.0 | 5.0 | 6.6 | South Volcanics | Bear Up Plunge | |
| GTR-21-132 | 391.0 | 408.0 | 17.0 | 7.7 | Komatiites | Bear Up Plunge |
| Including | 393.0 | 395.0 | 2.0 | 8.2 | Komatiites | Bear Up Plunge |
| Including | 403.0 | 407.0 | 4.0 | 25.3 | Komatiites | Bear Up Plunge |
** Note true widths are estimated at 75 - 90% of the reported core length interval
Figure 1. Larder project long section showing the new gold mineralized zones identified from recent drill results at the Bear and Fernland deposits during the ongoing 2021 drill campaign.
Figure 2. Geological plan map of the ongoing drill campaign at the Larder Gold Project with multiple mineralized lenses at each zone and recent drill hole traces.
Figure 3. Bear long section showing the location of recent drill results, new mineralized zones and gold contours connecting the core of the Bear deposit up plunge to near-surface mineralized trends.
Figure 4. Fernland long section showing the location of recent drill results, new mineralized zones, and gold contours connecting Fernland mineralization with Cheminis.
Figure 5. DrillholeGTR-21-132 with visible gold at 404.9 m within quartz-carbonate vein
The Company also announces that, further to its news releases of June 11, 2021 and July 12, 2021, it will not be closing any additional tranches of its private placement.
About Gatling Exploration
Gatling Exploration is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on advancing the Larder Gold Project, located in the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt in Northern Ontario. The Larder property hosts three high-grade gold deposits along the Cadillac-Larder Lake Break, 35 km east of Kirkland Lake. The project is 100% owned by Gatling and is comprised of patented and unpatented claims, leases and mining licenses of occupation within the McVittie and McGarry Townships. The 3,370 ha project area is positioned 7 km west of the Kerr Addison Mine, which produced 11 million ounces of gold. All parts of the Larder property are accessible by truck or all-terrain vehicles on non-serviced roads and trails.
QA/QC
Drill core is logged and sampled at the Larder Gold project site. Core samples from the program are cut in half, using a diamond cutting saw with half sent for assay at SGS lab in Cochrane, Ontario. The other half is secured and retained on site. All samples are analyzed for gold using standard Fire Assay-AA techniques. Samples returning greater than 5.0 g/t gold are analyzed utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. Certified reference standards and blanks are routinely inserted into the sample stream as part of Gatling's quality control/quality assurance program.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Nathan Tribble, P. Geo., VP Exploration of Gatling Exploration, and a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
Jason Billan, President and CEO
For further information on Gatling, contact Investor Relations
Telephone: 1-888-316-1050
Email: ir@gatlingexploration.com
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Forward Looking Statements: Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainness and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
SOURCE: Gatling Exploration Inc.
