iMetal acquires Oakes, Pichette, Longrose projects

Feb 10, 2021

2021-02-10 07:24 ET – News Release

Mr. Saf Dhillon reports

IMETAL ACQUIRES STRATEGIC PROPERTY PACKAGE IN BEARDMORE GERALDTON GREENSTONE BELT

iMetal Resources Inc. has acquired a portfolio of road-accessible gold projects from Riverside Resources Inc. The Oakes, Pichette and Longrose gold projects are located in the Beardmore Geraldton greenstone belt (BGGB), northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont. Highlights from the three projects include:

Oakes is 3,670 hectares and hosts a gold-bearing shear zones. Historic channel sampling of the HG shear zone returned values of 31.9 grams per tonne gold, 19.7 g/t gold and 6.9 g/t gold over 0.5 to 1.0 m intervals.
Pichette is 1,380 hectares and hosts gold in banded iron formation. Historic drill intersection of 4.78 g/t gold over 0.65 m and historic surface grab sample highlights of 24.55 g/t gold, 21.42 g/t gold and 16.01 g/t gold.
Longrose is 360 hectares and adjacent to the historic Leitch mine and hosts gold quartz veins and gold in banded iron formation. Drill highlights include 30.8 g/t gold over 0.15 m and 10.28 g/t gold over 0.45 m from quartz veins.

“The Beardmore Geraldton greenstone belt is fast becoming a significant gold region, highlighted by the recent takeover of Premier Gold Mines Ltd. by Equinox Gold Corp.,” commented iMetal chief executive officer Saf Dhillon. “The Riverside BGGB property package, including the drill-ready Oakes project, gives iMetal a key position in a second significant gold camp and also brings the renowned expertise of the Riverside technical team to iMetal,” he continued.

The BGGB comprises a series of northeast-trending Archean metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks, divided into a northern and southern assemblage. The northern assemblage consists of mafic metavolcanic flows overlain by intermediate pyroclastics and capped to the south by a sulphide facies iron formation. Gold deposits in the BGGB such as the 4.6-million-ounce Hardrock deposit near Geraldton, where Equinox Gold recently took over Premier Gold Mines to acquire 50 per cent of the deposit, are considered classic examples of epigenetic non-stratiform BIF-hosted gold deposits. Other notable deposits within the BGGB include the Brookbank (600,000 ounces measured and indicated), the Sand River and Leitch mine (past production of 900,000 ounces), the Northern Empire mine, and Sturgeon River mine.

Oakes

The Oakes project is located in Long Lac, Ont., east of Equinox’s Hardrock deposit. Early exploration by Hardrock Mining and Noranda Exploration focused on base metals. Exploration for gold began in the 1990s with a successful small drill program. Recent soil geochemistry, VLF (very low frequency) and IP (induced polarization) geophysics programs defined three, east-west-oriented mineralized shear zones. Trenching and sampling along the HG shear zone returned high-grade gold values of 19.7 g/t, 31.9 g/t and 6.9 g/t gold over 0.5 to 1.0 m channel samples perpendicular to strike, while sampling along the strike extension returned grab gold values of 46 g/t and seven g/t, demonstrating a strike length of at least 600 metres. This a high-priority drill target for iMetal.

Pichette

Pichette, lying west of the Hardrock deposit, was first explored in the 1960s for nickel. Gold exploration commenced in the 1980s, with a successful drill program near the southern property boundary. Recent work focused on the Pichette showing shear zone and the banded iron formation. Historic surface grab sample highlights from the Pichette showing include: 24.55 g/t gold, 21.42 g/t gold and 16.01 g/t gold. Additionally, drilling of a porphyry within metasediments by Canamax in 1982 returned positive results for gold.

Longrose

The Longrose project lies immediately west of the formerly producing Leitch gold mine where almost one million ounces of gold were mined. Equinox Gold’s Northern Empire mine is also close to Longrose. Historic drilling focused exclusively on quartz vein, ignoring the hosting banded iron formation. Drill highlights include 30.8 g/t gold over 0.15 m and 10.28 g/t gold over 0.45 m from quartz veins. Gold at Longrose is associated with folds within the banded iron formation, an ideal target for modern IP surveys.

The transaction

The aggregate purchase price payable to Riverside Resources in connection with the acquisition of the Oakes, Pichette and Longrose properties includes the following:

iMetal will issue eight million common shares to Riverside Resources at a deemed issue price of 12.5 cents per share on closing.
iMetal will grant a 2.5-per-cent net smelter returns royalty on each of the acquired properties, of which 1.5 per cent of the royalty may be acquired by iMetal at any time during the 60 months following closing in consideration for cash payments totalling $7.5-million as follows:
- 0.5 per cent of the royalty may be acquired for $500,000;
- A further 0.5 per cent of the royalty may be acquired for $2-million;
- A further 0.5 per cent of the royalty may be acquired for $5-million.

iMetal will also pay a one-time bonus payment to Riverside Resources of $500,000, payable in cash or common shares of iMetal at its discretion, if at any time during the 60 months following closing iMetal receives results from any drilling program on the Oakes, Pichette and Longrose properties, which indicates the presence of at least 100 gram-metres of gold.

Closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions to the benefit of iMetal and Riverside Resources ordinary of transactions such as this, including the conditional on the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Closing is also conditional of iMetal completing an equity financing of not less than $2.5-million. iMetal will announce terms of the financing at a later date. iMetal is arm’s length of Riverside Resources.

In connection with closing of the transaction, Riverside Resources will provide to iMetal access to its technical advisers, engineers and geologists with prior experience involving the Oakes, Pichette and Longrose properties.

The common shares issuable to Riverside Resources shall be subject to a four-month-and-one-day hold period prescribed under securities laws.

About Gowganda West

The Gowganda West property covers approximately 147 square kilometres in the Shining Tree volcanosedimentary succession of the southwestern Abitibi greenstone belt contiguous to the north and west of Aris Gold Corp.’s Juby gold deposit, a series of four mineralized alteration zones along the Tyrrell shear zone. Gold mineralization at Juby is associated with narrow quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins hosted within 20- to 330-metre-wide zones of ankerite-albite-silica-sericite alteration and variable amounts of fine-grained, disseminated pyrite and also with multiple lenses containing narrow (less than five m), higher-grade quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins hosted within five- to 50-metre zones of ankerite-albite-silica-sericite alteration and variable amounts of fine-grained, disseminated pyrite. The Juby deposits host indicated resources of 774,000 ounces at 1.13 g/t Au and inferred resources of 1,488,000 ounces at 0.98 g/t Au. iMetal cautions investors mineralization at Juby is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization at Gowganda West.

iMetal acquired Gowganda West in 2016, discovering zone 1 and zone 3 through focused exploration proximal to the Aris property border, and subsequently completing programs of prospecting, channel sampling, airborne VTEM, ground IP and limited diamond drilling.

Zone 1 has excellent access and has been traced over 500 m south from the Juby property boundary. Two distinct outcrop areas approximately 300 m apart have been sampled, zone 1 and zone 1 south. Highlight grab samples include: 6.47 g/t Au from zone 1 and 39.3 g/t Au and 16.9 g/t Au from zone 1 south. Six holes were subsequently drilled at zone 1, focusing on a short 150 m strike length of zone 1S. Highlight drill intersections included: 2.95 g/t Au over 2.5 metres, 1.43 g/t Au over 4.6 metres and longer intervals of 0.37 g/t Au over 29.4 metres and 0.32 g/t Au over 30.25 metres.

Zone 3 consists of two distinct area, 3A and 3B approximately six kilometres due south of zone 1, separated by 225 metres. Highlight zone 3A grab sample results include 56.59 g/t Au and 34.81 g/t Au, while highlight zone 3B grab sample results include 14.74 g/t Au and 12.7 g/t Au. Zone 3A and zone 3B remain undrilled.

About iMetal Resources Inc.

A Canada-based junior exploration company focused on the exploration and development of its portfolio of resource properties in Ontario and Quebec. iMetal is focused on advancing its 100-per-cent-owned Gowganda West project that borders the Juby project, an advanced exploration-stage gold project located within the Shining Tree area in the southern part of the Abitibi greenstone belt about 100 kilometres south-southeast of the Timmins gold camp.

The company is also evaluating development of its 100-per-cent-owned Ghost Mountain property that consists of seven claim units (11 square kilometres) of land, straddling the gold-prolific Destor-Porcupine structure in Kirkland Lake, Ont. This property is located a couple kilometres west of Kirkland Lake Gold’s, Holt and Holloway mine, and the Destor-Porcupine gold camp has historically produced over 70 million ounces of gold.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by R. Tim Henneberry, PGeo (British Columbia), a director of iMetal, and a qualified person& as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

We seek Safe Harbor.

https://www.imetalresources.ca/