Banyan Confirms New Mineralized Targets, at the Aurex-Mcquesten GOLD Project, Yukon
BANYAN CONFIRMS NEW MINERALIZED TARGETS, AT THE AUREX-MCQUESTEN
GOLD PROJECT, YUKON
December 10, 2018 TSX-V: BYN
BANYAN GOLD CORP. (“Banyan” or “The Company”), is pleased to announce analytical results from the
final five holes from the 2018, twelve-hole diamond drill campaign on the Aurex -McQuesten Property,
Central Yukon. The property is located just 50 m off the main Yukon highway and also the all season road
that leads to Victoria Gold’s Eagle mine, just 40 km away, wh ich is currently under construction with
Victoria’s first gold pour in H2 2019.
The final five holes of the Aurex-McQuesten 2018 program served to successfully define:
1) The interpreted down dip extension of the stratabound McQuesten Gold Zone “Block 1” via drilling
returning:
• 76.5 metres (m) of 0.49 g/t Au from 57.5 m in DDH MQ-18-36
o Including 1.5m of 7.21 g/t from 129.5 m
2) The on strike extension of the McQuesten Gold Zone and a new mineralized target stratigraphically
above of the main calcareous McQuesten Block (MQ-18-39 to MQ-18-41).
• 23.4 m of 0.34 g/t Au from 6.1 m in DDH MQ-18-39
o Including 1.5m of 1.47 g/t from 17.5m
• 80.7 m of 0.13 g/t Au from 90.0 m in DDH MQ-18-40
• 9.0 m of 0.66 g/t Au and 5.4 g/t Ag from 20.5 m in DDH MQ-18-40
• 17.0 m of 0.45 g/t Au and 13.2 g/t Ag from 7.62 m in DDH MQ-18-41
o Including 1.1 m of 1.57 g/t Au and >100 g/t Ag from 23.8 m
“This season's exploration drilling on our Aurex-McQuesten gold project has validated the McQuesten gold
zone geologic model," stated Tara Christie, Banyan’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to
the geologic model being confirmed, similar nearby gold bearing targets have been identified through this
exploration campaign. Banyan is confident a potential open -pit minable resource exists on the property
and will look to continue to develop this rapidly growing target. The recent expansion of the Victoria Gold’s
Resource at Eagle by 450,000 ounces or 12.5% and a 2.5% increase in grade (Victoria Gold News Release
December 5, 2019), to over a 4.0 M ounce Resource in the Measured and Indicated category* and their
continued exploration success on their +13km Potato Hills trend, continues to validate that this is truly an
underexplored and highly mineralized area of the Yukon. The property is adjacent to two mines, Victoria
Gold and Alexco Resource Corp with existing year round roads and powerlines, making it well positioned
to add value for Banyan following the old adage the best place to find a new mine, is in the shadow of the
headframe of another mine.”
Drillhole MQ-18-36 along with the additional thirteen (13) drillholes released in News Release s dated
November 19 th, 2018, October 24 th 2018, September 13 th 2017, September 11 th 2017, and August 28 th
2017, respectively have demonstrated that an ~500 m wide zone of the interpreted down dip extension
of the stratabound McQuesten Gold Zone persists and is preferentially gold mineralized. The McQuesten
Gold Zone represents the surface expression of an appr oximately 90m thick, calcareous package
interpreted to host gold mineralization preferentially within retrograde skarn-related altered horizons.
Drill sections and a 3D model showing drill holes and the mineralized unit are available on Banyan’s
website at https://banyangold.com/projects/aurex-mcquesten/.
McQuesten Gold Zone “Block 1” intercepts from Banyans’ 2017 and 2018 drilling campaigns are
summarized below:
• 68.3 m of 0.42 g/t Au from 22.7 m in DDH MQ-17-24
• 73.7 m of 0.23 g/t Au from 15.1 m in DDH MQ-17-25
• 96.4 m of 0.74 g/t Au from 5.8 m in DDH MQ-17-26
• 79.0 m of 0.22 g/t Au from 0.0 min DDH MQ-17-27
• 71.2 m of 0.45 g/t Au from 36.2 m in DDH MQ-17-28
• 107.7 m of 0.66 g/t Au from 33.7 m in DDH MQ-17-29
• 80.8 m of 1.06 g/t Au from 10.1 m in DDH MQ-18-30
• 62.5 m of 0.21 g/t Au from 12.2 m in DDH MQ-18-31
• 68.1 m of 0.30 g/t Au from 3.1 m in DDH MQ-18-32
• 80.3 m of 0.32 g/t Au from 25.8 m in DDH MQ-18-33
• 113.0 m of 0.74 g/t Au from 63.5 m in DDH MQ-18-34
• 75.7 m of 0.28 g/t Au from 45.0 m in DDH MQ-18-35
• 76.5 m of 0.49 g/t Au from 57.5 m in DDH MQ-18-36
• 94.9 m of 0.64 g/t Au from 8.9 m in DDH MQ-18-37
*True widths are estimated to be >90% of drilled interval lengths
These broad zones of gold mineralization intersected with Banyan’s 2017 and 2018 drilling campaigns
have averaged 0.51 g/t Au; confirming the geologic model developed by Banyan for the McQuesten Gold
Zone to contain near surface gold mineralization of this tenor over predictable widths.
Prior to exploration activities this season, Banyan completed a geological compilation of all dr illing
campaigns from previous operators who had optioned portions of the property from 1981, 1983, 1997,
2000, 2003, 2010 and 2012 and Banyan's own drilling in 2017 and outlined a 500 m block of calcareous
clastic sediments approximately 90 m thick dipping about 30 degrees to the south that host gold
mineralization within stratabound retrograde skarn -altered horizons. With the addition of this year's
approximately 1,414m of diamond drilling, a volume of about 12 million cubic metres of this i nterpreted
mineralized block was tested with nominal drill -section spacing of 100m and nominal in section drill
spacing of 50 metres. Banyan's interpretations and 2018 drill results confirmed potential extensions to
the east, west and downdip to the south, all of which remain open to further delineation.
Drillhole MQ-18-38 was designed to test a n isolated 2017 gold-in-soil anomaly located ~600 metres east
and ~250m north of “Block 1” . This drillhole intersected 1.0m of 0.94 g/t Au from 17.5m and appears to
be associated with a quartz vein also anomalous in arsenic and bismuth hosted in a graphitic quartzite
unit stratigraphically below the McQuesten gold mineralized calcareous package. This drillhole was a large
step-out from known areas of mineralization and successfully showed that gold -in-soil anomalies in this
glacial till covered terrain are successful in identifying locally sourced gold mineralization. Similar quartz
veins are seen within the McQuesten Gold Zone and are interpreted to b e important fluid conduits that
brought ore-bearing fluids from a buried intrusion below to the McQuesten calcareous package. Drillhole
MQ-18-39 was designed to test the stratabound gold mineralization within the McQuesten calcareous
package ~520m east of “Block 1”. Similar styles of mineralization were observed in this drillhole as were
observed in “Block 1” drilling and intersected 23.4m of 0.34 g/t Au from 6.1 metres. This drillhole was
successful in showing that gold mineralization in the McQuesten calcareous package is laterally extensive
and that the prospective ground for near surface gold mineralization is at least 1.5km wide.
Drillhole MQ-18-40 was designed to test the st ratabound gold mineralization within the calcareous
package ~160m east of “Block 1” and test a near surface gold and silver mineralization identified in a
historic hole (MQ-03-13). Similar styles of mineralization were observed in this drillhole as were observed
in “Block 1” drilling and intersected 80.7m of 0.13 g/t Au from 90.0 metres. This drillhole was successful
in showing that gold mineralization in the McQuesten calcareous package continues for at least 250m
down dip from surface.
The top of drillhole MQ -18-40 and the entire length MQ -18-41 successfully identified similar styles of
mineralization as those seen in MQ-03-13. Steeply dipping quartz veins and breccias appear to be the host
of the gold, silver and base metal mineralization. This structurally controlled style of gold, silver and base
metal mineralization represent a new target, stratigraphically above the McQuesten Gold Zone, for future
drilling programs. Determining the orientation, width and where the se mineralized structure s crosscut
the stratabound McQuesten gold zone will be an ongoing focus of future drill programs.
Table 1: Highlighted Results from McQuesten Gold Zone Drilling Program
Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t)
MQ-18-36 57.5 134.0 76.5 0.49 -
Including 60.5 62.0 1.5 3.55 -
Including 66.5 68.0 1.5 1.12 -
Including 101.1 102.5 1.4 1.59 -
Including 112.0 113.1 1.1 1.05 -
Including 117.5 119.1 1.6 1.22 -
Including 129.5 131.0 1.5 7.21 -
Including 131.0 132.5 1.5 1.07 -
MQ-18-38 17.5 20.2 2.7 0.50 -
Including 17.5 18.5 1.0 0.94 -
MQ-18-39 6.1 29.5 23.4 0.34 -
Including 6.1 7.5 1.4 0.81 -
Including 10.8 11.6 0.8 0.97 -
Including 17.5 19 1.5 1.47 -
MQ-18-40 20.5 29.5 9.0 0.66 5.4
and 52.5 58.5 6.0 0.72 -
including 52.5 54.0 1.5 1.48 -
and 90.0 170.7 80.7 0.13 -
MQ-18-41 10.7 27.7 17.0 0.45 13.2
including 10.7 12.2 1.5 0.83 35.4
including 23.8 24.9 1.1 1.57 >100
Banyan is also pleased to announce analytical results from the trench completed on the McQuesten Gold
Zone, confirming the on-surface mineralization theorized with the McQuesten Gold Zone geologic model.
The trenching program returned 26 metres of 0.36 g/t Au before the thickness of the overburden became
problematic.
Analytical Method
All drill core and trench samples collected from the 2018 McQuesten program were analyzed at Bureau
Veritas Minerals of Vancouver, B.C. utilizing the aqua regia digestion ICP-MS 36-element AQ200 analytical
package with FA450 50-gram Fire Assay with AAS finish for gold on all samples. All core samples were split
on-site at Banyan’s core processing facilities in Elsa, Yukon. Once split, half samples were placed back in
the core boxes with the other half of split samples sealed in poly bags with one part of a three-part sample
tag inserted within. Samples were delivered by Banyan personnel or a dedicated expediter to the Bureau
Veritas, Whitehorse preparatory laboratory where samples are prepared and then shipped to Bureau
Veritas’s Analytical laboratory in Vancouver, B.C. for pulverization and final chemical analysis. A robus t
system of standards, ¼ core duplicates and blanks was implemented in the 2018 exploration drilling
program and was monitored as chemical assay data became available.
About Victoria Gold’s 2018 Eagle Resource, from the Victoria Gold Press release December 5, 2018
Table 1. 2018 Eagle Mineral Resource* Estimate at a 0.15 g/t Au Cut-Off – Effective November 16, 2018 –
Inclusive of Mineral Reserves
*Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the
mineral resources estimated will be converted into mineral reserves. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affe cted by
environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio -political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
The CIM definitions were followed for the classification of indicated and inferred mineral resources. The quantity and grade of reported inferred
mineral resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred mineral resources
as an indicated mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an indicated mineral resource category.
The updated Resource was constrained in the 2016 FS Resource pit.
Technical Information
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Paul D. Gray, P.Geo.,
a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
About Banyan Gold
Banyan is a growth stage gold exploration com pany whose flagship property, the Hyland Gold Project, is
approximately 70km NE of Watson Lake, Yukon, along the southeast end of the Tintina Gold Belt.
The Hyland Main Zone Indicated Gold Resource Estimate, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, at a 0.3
g/t gold equivalent cutoff, contains 8.6 million tonnes grading 0.85 g/t AuEq for 236,000 AuEq ounces with
an Inferred Mineral Resource of 10.8 million tonnes grading 0.83 g/t AuEq for 288,000 AuEq ounces.
Cut-off Grade
(AuEq g/t) In situ Tonnes
Au Ag AuEq
Grade
(g/t) Ozs Grade
(g/t) Ozs Grade
(g/t) Ozs
Indicated
0.3 8,637,000 0.78 216,000 7.04 1,954,000 0.85 236,000
Inferred
0.3 10,784,000 0.77 266,000 5.32 1,845,000 0.83 288,000
(1) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect
the relative accuracy of the estimate.
(2) Mineral resources are reported at a cut -off grade of 0.3 g/t AuEq. AuEq grade i s based on $1,350.00/oz Au, $17.00/oz Ag and
assumes a 100% recovery. The AuEq calculation does not apply any adjustment factors for difference in metallurgical recoverie s of
gold and silver. This information can only be derived from definitive metallurgical testing which has yet to be completed.
The 9,230 ha Aurex -McQuesten Property, in close proximity to Victoria Gold's Eagle Project and Alexco
Resource's Keno Hill Silver District, is highly prospective for structurally controlled, intrusion related gold-
silver mineralization in relation to quartz monzonite dykes of the Tombstone intrusive suite.
Banyan trades on the TSX-Venture Exchange under the symbol “BYN”. For more information, please visit
the corporate website at www.BanyanGold.com or contact the Company.
ON BEHALF OF BANYAN GOLD CORPORATION
(signed) "Tara Christie"
Tara Christie
President & CEO
For more information, please contact:
Tara Christie David Rutt
Tel: (888) 629-0444 Tel: (888) 629-0444
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
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