Japan Gold 2021 Year End Update
TSX-V: JG
OTCQB: JGLDF
Suite 650 – 669 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 0B4 Canada
Phone: +1 778-725-1491
www.japangold.com
News Release
Japan Gold 2021 Year End Update
December 23, 2021 – Vancouver, BC – Japan Gold Corp. (TSX -V: JG) (OTCQB: JGLDF)
(“Japan Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on Company activities at year
end. Japan Gold’s most productive year has been 2021, notwithstanding the global COVID 19
pandemic. The Company has operated successfully without any health and safety issues. The
dedicated Japan Gold team has been committed to excellence and has surpassed Company
expectations with the volume and quality of work completed across all elements of the business,
and this is a credit to all involved.
Japan Gold is well funded to continue to advance its 2022 Barrick Alliance work programs with
an initial approved USD $4 mi llion from Barrick Gold Corporation (“Barrick”). With internal
capital from the July 2021 CAD $17 million equity financing, the Company is also well positioned
to advance its two independently held projects.
Highlights:
• Barrick Alliance Workshop held in November 2021 has refined areas of interest from
work programs completed to date
• Barrick Alliance portfolio further expanded to cover more prospective ground with the
acceptance of two new areas of prospecting rights
• Barrick Alliance portfolio increased 42% since formation in February 2020
• Ryuo Prospect: 11 drill holes completed with assay results and data interpretation due in
February 2022
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Barrick Alliance
Vancouver Workshop
The Barrick Alliance was formed in February 2020 (see February 24, 2020 news release). Barrick
has solely funded an initial evaluation of 29 projects from the Japan Gold portfolio. Regional scale
geochemical sampling programs along with geophysical gravity surveys have been completed and
interpreted over the majority of the portfolio. An in-person technical workshop with Barrick and
Japan Gold representatives was held in Vancouver during the last week of November 2021 to
discuss the data collected and refine areas of interest. Following over a month of workshop
preparation including data compilation and analysis, the 3-day workshop included 18 participants
(16 in person) from 7 countries. The program was very comprehensive as the workshop discussed,
in great detail, the large Barrick Alliance portfolio across the five major gold provinces of Japan.
The information reviewed indicates numerous areas of interest with coincident anomalous
geochemistry and alteration, and supporting gravity defined structure. The footprints of well -
preserved hydrothermal alteration systems, which potentially host large epithermal vein deposits,
are being delineated . Interpretations completed to date are now narrowing down the focus of
ongoing exploration programs with the goal of defining priority areas for follow -up and Barrick
Alliance advancement.
The evaluation of the Barrick Alliance portfolio is an ongoing process, and several additional
virtual sessions are planned for January and February 2022 in order to refine the rating and ranking
of the various regions and the camps or prospects within those regions. Once conclusions a re
reached, the Company will make an announcement.
Following the Barrick Alliance workshop, Joel Holliday EVP Exploration for Barrick said, “The
hydrothermal provinces of Japan have the potential to host world class deposits and have received
limited exploration focus in recent times. The Barrick and Japan Gold teams are excited to see the
results from the initial screening programmes begin to highlight the areas for more focussed follow
up work which will begin in 2022.”
Barrick Alliance Increases Portfolio
Japan Gold has expanded the Kanehana and Buho Projects on the island of Hokkaido with the
acceptance by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ("METI") of 26 new
prospecting rights applications covering 83 sq km (Figure 1 & 2 ). These expanded areas are
included in the Barrick Alliance.
Since commencement of the Barrick Alliance in February 2020, the Barrick Alliance portfolio
has increased by 42 % as part of a strategy to expand coverage based on the identification of key
prospectivity indicators, throughout the gold provinces of Japan.
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Kanehana Project Expansion
Located on the west side of the Ikutahara Project in north Hokkaido, the Kanehana Project covers
favorable Miocene- age rhyolite graben- fill volcanics and s ediments which host at least eight
historical mines and workings (Figure 1) . The new applications at Kanehana are positioned to
cover potential en echelon extensions north and south of the histo rical Yahagi Gold Mine where
three ‘blind’ epithermal quartz vein s were discovered in 1934 by an exploration adit developed
below silicified rhyolite . Approximately 2,250 ounces of gold and more than 32,000 ounces of
silver were produced during two periods of mining at Yahagi between 1934 and 1951 1, and the
Company belie ves there is potential for more vein discoveries at depth along the prospective
graben-margin faults. Fifteen new prospecting rights, comprising of 4,916 hectares were lodged to
cover these prospective areas.
Buho Project Expansion
The Buho Project is located on the southern margin of the Akaigawa caldera in the Sapporo-Iwanai
mineral district of southwest Hokkaido (Figure 2). The district is host to over 65 metallic mineral
deposits including the epithermal vein deposits: Chitose (736,000 oz Au @ 14.5 g/t); Tiene
(352,000 oz Au @ 7.5 g/t); and Shizukari (256,000 oz Au @ 7 g/t) 2. The historical workings at
Buho were previously explored by the Austpac/Nishio Iwai Joint Venture between 1988 and 1992.
Mapping, geochemical sampling and CSAMT surveying culminated in five drill holes , drill hole
DDH-B1 intersected a quartz- adularia vein 140 m below exposed sinters giving a result of:
3.5 m @ 22.0 g/t Au and 42.0 g/t Ag, including 0.9 m @ 73 g/t Au and 65 g/t Ag3.
Eleven new prospecting rights comprising 3,383 hectares were lodged to cover prospective strike
extensions to the northwest , and southeast of the Buho Project adjacent to the Todoroki M ine
which produced more than 190,000 ounces of gold1.
Ryuo Prospect Drilling Program
On May 26, 2021, Japan Gold commenced drilling at the Ryuo Mine prospect located within the
Ikutahara Project in the Kitami Region of northeast Hokkaido, Japan. The Ikutahara Project is
100% held by Japan Gold and is not included in the Barrick Alliance. Newmont Corporation has
a right of first refusal to become a joint venture partner on this project (and the Ohra -Takamine
Project in Kyushu) and this right combined with the Newmont 10% equity holding in Japan Gold
has led to their active participation in the technical committee which guides the exploration of the
Ikutahara and Ohra-Takamine Projects.
The Ryuo Mine operated before the Second World War and workings were developed on up to six
levels on two veins, the Jinja and Shouei veins. Workings on the main Jinja vein were developed
over an approximate 75 m vertical extent before the government impos ed mine closure in 1943.
Underground sampling carried out in the 1950's at the Jinja vein workings, revealed zones of high-
grade gold mineralization including one vein sampled over a strike length of 72 m returning
average grades of 40.8 g/t Au and 193 g/t Ag with an average vein width approximately 0.5 m.
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A number of peripheral veins were also mined along a 1 km long, open ended zone of alteration
and mineralization.
11 Drill Holes Completed
On September 14, 2021, Japan Gold announced high grade gold- silver intercepts from the first
three drill holes at the Ryuo prospect. The Company has subsequently completed a further 8 drill
holes, using 3 of Japan Gold’s in-house diamond core drill rigs and drilling team (Figure 3) .
Samples from the additional 8 drill holes have been cut, sampled and dispatched to the ALS
laboratory in North Vancouver for assay. Results f rom these 8 drill holes are anticipated in
February 2022.
The Ikutahara Project also hosts the Kitami Region's third largest gold mine, the historic Kitano-o
Mine along with numerous other historical mines and workings that the Company is in the process
of advancing.
Stock Option Grant
Japan Gold announces that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the granting of
6,090,000 stock options (the "Options") to certain directors, officers, employees and consultants
of the Company. The Options are exercisable at a price of $0.35 per share for a period of 5 years
from the date of grant.
On behalf of the Board of Japan Gold Corp.
“John Proust”
Chairman & CEO
References
1Gold Mines of Japan, 1989. The Mining & Materials Processing Institute of Japan.
2Garwin, Hall, Watanabe, 2005. Tectonic Setting, Geology, and Gold and Copper Mineralization
in Cenozoic Magmatic Arcs of Southeast Asia and the West Pacific, Economic Geology 100th
Anniversary Volume pp. 891–930.
3Austpac Gold NL. Company Reports, 1988 to 1994.
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Japan Gold's
Vice President of Exploration and Country Manager, Andrew Rowe, BAppSc, FAusIMM, FSEG,
who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
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Note: The Company’s compilation of underground sampling data at Ryuo has been based on data
published by the MMAJ and the Company has not resampled the underground workings or re -
assayed samples. The MMAJ report does not refer to QA/QC protocols followed historically.
About Japan Gold Corp.
Japan Gold Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused solely on gold exploration
across the three largest islands of Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu. The Company has a
country-wide all iance with Barrick Gold Corporation to jointly explore, develop and mine
certain gold mineral properties and mining projects. The Company holds a portfolio of 31 gold
projects which cover areas with known gold occurrences, a history of mining and are prospective
for high-grade epithermal gold mineralization. Japan Gold's leadership team represent decades of
resource industry and business experience, and the Company has recruited geologists, drillers and
technical advisors with experience exploring and operating in Japan. More information is available
at www.japangold.com or by email at [email protected]
For further information please contact:
John Proust
Chairman & CEO
Phone: 778-725-1491
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.japangold.com
Cautionary Note
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains forward -looking statements relating to expected or anticipate d future events
and anticipated results related to future partnerships and the Company's 2021 gold exploration program.
These statements are forward -looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that include, but are not limited to, general economic, market and business conditions;
competition for qualified staff; the regulatory process and actions; technical issues; new legislation;
potential delays or changes in plans; working in a new political jurisdiction; results of exploration; the
timing and granting of prospecting rights; the Company's ability to execute and implement future plans,
arrange or conclude a joint-venture or partnership; and the occurrence of unexpected events. Actual results
achieved may differ from the information provided herein and, consequently, readers are advised not to
place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein
speaks only as of the date of this News Release. The Company disclaims any i ntention or obligation to
update or revise forward‐looking information or to explain any material difference between such and
subsequent actual events, except as required by applicable laws.
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Figure 1: Kanehana Project, north Hokkaido with historical mines and workings.
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