January 5, 2015: Vancouver, British Columbia: Gold Reach Resources Ltd. (GRV: TSX-V) (Gold Reach and/or the Company) is pleased to present a summary of the 2014 exploration program at the Ootsa property and announce final drill results for 9 short regional exploration holes. The Company’s 100% owned Ootsa property is located south of Smithers British Columbia, adjacent to the operating Huckleberry Mine, and contains a large NI43-101 compliant copper-gold-molybdenum resource base hosted in 3 porphyry deposits.
HIGHLIGHTS
- A higher grade core to the West Seel deposit has been verified in 2014 drilling, with a length of 500 metres, a width of 250 metres, and extending from surface to depths exceeding 600 metres. This occurs within a larger zone of mineralization at West Seel that is 750 metres long by 400 metres wide and extends over 1000 metres deep.
- Regional exploration holes at East Damascus have intersected widespread hydrothermal alteration with patchy anomalous gold, indicating the area could be prospective for bulk minable gold targets.
- Soil sampling has defined several new exploration targets surrounding the Seel and Ox Deposits, including a 550 metre by 400 metre arsenic-zinc-lead in soil anomaly with associated gold and silver at North Damascus, and a 400 metre by 100 metre partially defined copper in soil anomaly at the Northeast Ox target.
- Surface chip sampling of outcrop at the Whitegold Prospect has returned 1.4 g/t gold over 7 metres, including 4.6 g/t gold over 1 metre, and the zone remains open to the southeast. This defines a new drill ready gold target on the large Ootsa claim block.
As in previous years 2014 drilling at Ootsa has continued to intersect strong grades, and all 3 porphyry deposits at Ootsa are now confirmed to have higher grade cores to the mineralized systems. Tables summarizing drill hole highlights within the East Seel, West Seel, and Ox porphyry deposits are available here http://www.goldreachresources.com/_resources/Ootsa_Drill_Hole_Highlights.pdf. The Ox and East Seel deposits have been delineated by drilling while the West Seel deposit remains open to the southwest and at depth.
Advances at the West Seel Deposit
Eleven holes were drilled into the West Seel deposit in 2014 with the objective of delineating the extent of the mineralized zone to the north and expanding known higher grades trends. Both of these objectives have been achieved. A higher grade zone in the core of the deposit has been confirmed and the deposit has been expanded and closed to the north. A map showing the location of the 2014 drill holes is available here: http://goldreachresources.com/_resources/maps/seel_drill_hole_location_map_20141006.jpg.
A simplified geology map of the East and West Seel deposits is available here http://www.goldreachresources.com/_resources/maps/Seel_geology_map.png
and cross sections A-A’ and B-B’ illustrating the geology and grade distribution at West Seel are available here http://www.goldreachresources.com/_resources/maps/2014_West_Seel_Section_A-A.png
http://www.goldreachresources.com/_resources/maps/2014_West_Seel_Section_B-B.png.
Mineralization at West Seel has been defined over an area 750 metres long by up to 400 metres wide and extends from surface to depths exceeding 1000 metres. A higher grade core as illustrated by the >0.5% copper equivalent zone (red line on the map and sections) occurs over an area 500 metres long by up to 250 metres wide and extends from surface to over 600 metres depth. A smaller but coherent high grade zone containing >0.75% copper equivalent (yellow lines on the cross sections) occurs in the centre of the deposit extending to surface locally. Sections A-A’ and B-B’ show where the mineralized zone is open to the southwest and west, and at depth.
Highlights from the 2014 drilling at West Seel are shown in the table below.
Highlights from the 2014 West Seel Drill Program (previously released)
Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Width (m)* | Cu % | Au g/t | Ag g/t | Mo % | Cu Eq.%** |
S14-200 | 324.0 | 531.0 | 207.0 | 0.31 | 0.24 | 4.45 | 0.034 | 0.65 |
including | 366.0 | 439.0 | 73.0 | 0.45 | 0.31 | 6.32 | 0.059 | 0.96 |
S14-201 | 76.0 | 828.0 | 752.0 | 0.20 | 0.10 | 3.22 | 0.027 | 0.41 |
S14-208 | 283.0 | 591.0 | 308.0 | 0.28 | 0.26 | 3.50 | 0.046 | 0.68 |
including | 431.0 | 591.0 | 160.0 | 0.38 | 0.41 | 4.29 | 0.056 | 0.93 |
including | 485.0 | 537.0 | 52.0 | 0.44 | 0.64 | 5.58 | 0.067 | 1.21 |
S14-210 | 199.0 | 867 EOH | 668.0 | 0.28 | 0.17 | 3.34 | 0.033 | 0.56 |
including | 361.0 | 533.0 | 172.0 | 0.39 | 0.29 | 4.99 | 0.062 | 0.89 |
including | 361.0 | 415.0 | 54.0 | 0.47 | 0.38 | 6.89 | 0.047 | 0.98 |
and | 483.0 | 517.0 | 34.0 | 0.48 | 0.36 | 5.45 | 0.058 | 1.01 |
*Width refers to drill hole intercepts, true widths have not been determined. EOH = end of hole.
**Cu Eq. (copper equivalent) has been used to express the combined value of copper, molybdenum, gold and silver as a percentage of copper, and is provided for illustrative purposes only. No allowances have been made for recovery losses that may occur should mining eventually result. Calculations use metal prices of US $2.50/lb copper, $1200/oz gold, $15 silver, and $10/lb molybdenum using the formula Cu Eq.% = Cu% + (Au g/t x 0.701) + (Ag g/t x 0.0087) + (Mo% x 4.01).
Numerous higher grade intervals of mineralization over significant widths have been intersected during the 2014 program including 73 metres of 0.96% copper equivalent in hole S14-200, 160 metres of 0.93% copper equivalent in hole S14-208, and 172 metres of 0.89% copper equivalent in hole S14-210. In addition large and continuous intervals of mineralization have been intersected including 752 metres of 0.41% copper equivalent in hole S14-201 and 668 metres of 0.56% copper equivalent in hole S14-210.
Regional Exploration Drilling
At the end of the 2014 drilling program 9 short holes (ER14-01 to ER14-09) were drilled testing 3 separate silver base-metal vein targets located several kilometres east of the Seel deposit. This drilling did not intersect any potential ore grade zones, however, several anomalous intervals were encountered and the holes have provided valuable geologic information to help advance exploration targeting in the areas. Anomalous intervals include hole ER14-03 at the Blackjack target which intersected 2 metres with vein mineralization grading 13 g/t silver, 0.5% lead, and >1% zinc from 158 to 160 metres depth.
Holes ER14-04 to 09 were all drilled at East Damascus targeting a large soil geochemical anomaly coincident with a prominent fault zone. Drilling at East Damascus intersected large continuous zones of highly altered rock and confirmed the presence of a significant fault zone. All of the holes encountered patchy zones of anomalous gold including 0.68 g/t gold over 2 metres in hole ER14-08 and 9.2 metres grading 0.27 g/t gold in hole ER14-08. Hole ER14-08 also intersected 22 metres of 0.24% zinc. The presence of anomalous gold associated with the large alteration zone at East Damascus opens up the possibility for new bulk minable gold targets in the area.
New Soil Anomalies
Two thousand four hundred and forty one soil samples were taken during 2014 and added to an existing database now totalling 9479 soil samples from the Ootsa property. Several new exploration targets have been identified and select targets are described below. A map showing the distribution of 2014 soil samples and the location of select anomalies is available here http://www.goldreachresources.com/_resources/maps/Nov_2014_Soil_sample_location_map.png.
North Damascus Soil Anomaly
A large multi element As-Zn-Pb and weak Sb soil anomaly measuring 550 metres by 400 metres has been defined at the North Damascus anomaly. A map showing arsenic in soils along with chargeability at the North Damascus anomaly is available here http://www.goldreachresources.com/_resources/maps/North_Damascus_Target.png.
The 2014 soil samples were analysed by portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and gold and silver analyses are not available for most samples. Thirty four of the soil samples from the North Damascus anomaly were also analysed for gold, silver and 42 other elements by fire assay and ICP methods at AGAT Laboratories as a routine quality control and check procedure. Gold and silver in the 34 check samples from North Damascus were strongly anomalous, with gold ranging from 6 to 204 parts per billion and silver ranging from 0.5 to 3.7 parts per million. Arsenic was also highly anomalous in the check samples ranging from 46 to 666 parts per million and correlates well with arsenic analysed by portable XRF. Arsenic is a common pathfinder for gold in this environment and the elevated gold in the check samples is a positive indicator that the large North Damascus arsenic in soil anomaly may be related to a gold-silver target.
Hole ER14-01 was drilled just south of the North Damascus anomaly and intersected 50 metres of gravel till cover. The thick till cover indicates the North Damascus anomaly is a transported soil anomaly that has been moved and spread out by glaciers. The source of the anomaly is possibly “up ice” or to the southwest, and could correlate with a large chargeability anomaly located immediately southwest of the anomaly. This large untested chargeability anomaly will be a priority drill target in 2015.
Far East Soil Anomaly
At the Far East soil anomaly arsenic and antimony are anomalous over an area 640 metres long that is coincident with a zone of high chargeability. Road trenching in the southern part of the anomaly during 2014 encountered widespread silicification and strong argillic alteration associated with disseminated sulfides. Thirteen surface samples from the southern part of the anomaly did not return significant gold or silver values. The northern part of the anomaly remains to be tested and a structural analysis of the zone will also be undertaken in an attempt to identify controls on alteration and potential mineralization.
East Ox Soil Anomaly
At East Ox a strong chargeability high is coincident with an arsenic in soil anomaly that extends over 400 metres long. This anomaly has never been drill tested and remains a drill target for 2015.
NorthEast Ox Soil Anomaly
A copper in soil anomaly has been identified 1.3 kilometres to the northeast of the Ox deposit. The anomaly occurs within a zone of high chargeability and is roughly 400 metres long by up to 100 metres wide. This anomaly needs to be further defined with additional soils, mapping, and possibly trenching, and is considered prospective for porphyry copper style mineralization similar to the Ox deposit.
Whitegold Prospect
The Whitegold prospect is located close to the shore of Whitesail Lake, near the eastern edge of the Ootsa claim block, and sits roughly 1 kilometre from the nearest access road (see the link for the Ootsa claim map below for the location of Whitegold). At Whitegold, gold bearing quartz veins have been traced for 125 metres along strike in a north northwest direction, and the zone remains open along strike.
Surface chip sampling of outcrop at the Whitegold Prospect during 2014 has returned 1.4 g/t gold over 7 metres including 4.6 g/t gold over 1 metre, and the zone remains open to the southeast. This defines a new drill ready gold target on the large Ootsa claim block which can be rapidly advanced by trenching and drilling.
Troitsa Peak Prospect
The recently acquired Troitsa Peak Prospect in the southern part of the Ootsa claim block is highly prospective for high grade gold and silver discoveries. Historic assessment reports on the Troitsa Peak area report surface grab samples with values such as 41 g/t gold and 9238 g/t silver, 5.9 g/t gold and 4120 g/t silver, 36.5 g/t gold and 825.6 g/t silver, and 11.4 g/t gold and 2614.4 g/t silver. A grab sample from a historic trench returned 3.9 g/t gold and 2356 g/t silver and thin veins of quartz-chalcopyrite-sphalerite returned values up to 44.7 g/t gold and 2683.2 g/t silver. Gold Reach has not yet visited or sampled the prospect and none of the historic results have been confirmed by the Company and they should not be relied upon. A claim location map for the Ootsa property showing the location of the Troitsa Peak prospect is available here: http://www.goldreachresources.com/_resources/maps/Ootsa_claim_map_Nov_2014_v2.png.
The Company is planning on conducting preliminary evaluations of the Troitsa Peak area during 2015.
Additional information is available on our website at www.goldreachresources.com.
About Gold Reach Resources
The Ootsa property is an advanced stage exploration project containing the East Seel, West Seel and Ox porphyry systems all with NI 43-101 compliant resources. The Company has completed 144,673 metres of core drilling on the property to date, with 9,795 metres completed during 2014. In total the Ootsa property contains compliant pit constrained resources totaling 1.25 billion pounds copper equivalent in the measured and indicated categories (consisting of 0.7 billion lbs. of Cu, 0.65 million ounces of Au, 66 million lbs. of Mo, and 11.4 million ounces of Ag) and 1.66 billion pounds copper equivalent in the inferred category (consisting of 0.9 billion lbs. of Cu, 0.8 million ounces of Au, 104 million lbs. of Mo, and 16 million ounces of Ag), using a 0.2% copper equivalent cut off.
Quality Control
All drill core is logged, photographed, and cut in half with a diamond saw. Half of the core is bagged and sent to AGAT Laboratories for analysis (which is an ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 certified lab), while the other half is archived and stored on site for verification and reference purposes. Gold is assayed by standard fire assay methods with 45 additional elements analyzed by Induced Coupled Plasma (ICP) utilizing a 4-acid digestion. Duplicate samples, blanks, and certified standards are included with every sample batch and then checked to ensure proper quality assurance and quality control. Soil samples are analysed on site by portable X-ray fluorescence along with duplicates, blanks, and certified standards. Select soil samples are also submitted to AGAT Laboratories and analysed by fire assay and ICP methods and compared with portable X-ray fluorescence results.
Dr. Shane Ebert P.Geo., President of the Company, is the Qualified Person for the Ootsa project as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.
“Shane Ebert”
Shane Ebert, President/Director
For Further information, please contact:
Telephone: 604-718-5454
S. Ebert direct line: 250 964-2699
Toll Free: 888-500-4587
http://goldreachresources.com
Or
B&D Capital Partners
Don Mosher
Telephone: 604-685-6465
Don@bdcapital.com
Neither the 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.
Safe Harbour Statement: The Company relies upon litigation protection for “forward-looking statements.” The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward- looking statements in the event management’s beliefs, estimates obligations or other factors should change.