Japan Gold Expands its Project Portfolio with Two New Projects in the Southern Kyushu Epithermal Gold Province, Japan
TSX-V: JG
Japan Gold Corp.
Suite 650 – 669 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 0B4 Canada
Phone: +1 778-725-1491
www.japangold.com
NEWS RELEASE
Japan Gold Expands its Project Portfolio with Two New Projects in the Southern
Kyushu Epithermal Gold Province, Japan
October 10, 2017– Vancouver, BC – Japan Gold Corp. (TSX-V: JG) (OTCQB: JGLDF) (“Japan
Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has expanded its epithermal gold exploration
portfolio in Japan with the addition of two new projects in the highly prospective Southern Kyushu
Epithermal Gold Province. The Tobaru, and Ohra-Takamine Projects cover alteration zones and historic
gold-silver mines in a prospective and relatively underexplored part of the province.
The two projects comprising nine applications (3,028 hectares collectively), have been accepted by the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (“METI”). The Company now holds priority over these areas
and is now authorized to commence surface exploration on these projects. With the addition of t hese
new projects, the Company’s portfolio now comprises 69,505 hectares over 17 separate projects on the
three main islands of Japan.
The Tobaru and Ohra -Takamine projects are located within the highly gold endowed Hokusatsu -
Kushikino mining district, in the northern part of the Southern Kyushu Epithermal Gold Province . In
excess of 10 million ounces of gold has been produced from high-grade epithermal deposits of the
district, refer to Figure 1 which shows the northern portion of the district, project loc ations and
significant mines. Notable producers within the district include: the Hishikari mine with 7.1 million
ounces produced to date at average grades of 30-40 g/t1; Kushikino mine, 1.8 million ounces at 6.7 g/t;
Yamagano mine, 910,000 ounces at 17.4 g/t; and the Ohkuchi mine with 714,000 ounces at 13.6 g/t2,3.
The district is underlain by Miocene -Pliocene age volcano -sedimentary rocks and Cretaceous to
Paleogene sedimentary basement rocks2.
The Projects
The Tobaru Project is located in the northern most part of the Hokusatsu -Kushikino mining district
and comprises four applications for a total of 1,347 hectares. Significant gold producers nearby include
the Fuke and Ohkuchi mines located respectively 1.5 and 4 kilometers w est and south of the project,
Figure 1. No historic production is recorded at Tobaru but the project applications enclose a large area
of alteration hosted in andesite-rhyolite volcanics. The alteration zone is centered on a northeast oriented
1,500 by 700 meter zone of silicification and quartz veining which includes pockets of advanced argillic
alteration. The core silicified zone is enveloped by argillic and propylitic alteration outwards, and
controlled dominantly by steeply dipping fractures 4. Hamilton (1993)4 in a study of the Tobaru area
references a single drill hole located outside the southern margin of the main alteration zone, no other
public data on drilling has been sourced to date. The location of the Tobaru alteration zone within the
district makes it a compelling target for further exploration and drill testing.
The Ohra-Takamine Project comprises five application blocks for a total of 1,681 hectares over the
historic Takamine-Urushi, Takamine and Ohra mines. The project is located 7.5 kilometers south of the
historic Yamagano mine which produced 900,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 17.4 g/t, Figure 1.
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Like all of the major gold mines in the Hokusatsu-Kushikino mining district, the Ohra-Takamine project
straddles the margin of a gravity-high feature inferred to indicate upward doming of the basement which
produced suitable fracture pathways for hydrothermal fluid flow.
Initially discovered in 1885 and mined periodically to 1943 the Oh ra mine produced in the order of
27,000 ounces of gold at grades reported between 3.5 to 20 g/t. The northeast st riking vein is reported
as 1,200m long with an average width of 0.9 meter 5,6. Parallel laminated chalcedony boulders inferred
to be sinter were noted in the drainages below the mine by Japan Gold geologists, indicating the
mineralized system may not deeply eroded.
The Takamine and Takamine-Urushi mines were discovered in latter part of the nineteenth century and
mined periodically up to 1943. Tak amine mine produced 9,654 t onnes of ore with average grades of
5.1g/t gold and 28.3 g/t silver. The vein strikes northeast, has a length of 450 meters, and average width
of 1 meter.
Takamine-Urushi mine was estimated to have produced 13,000 ounces of gold between 1896 and 1916.
Three northeast striking gold-bearing quartz veins, with lengths up to 350m were mined, the so-called
number 2 vein was reported to carry gold grades between 50 to 100 g/t5,6. Parallel laminated chalcedony
boulders inferred to be sinter were also noted at this location, similarly indicating the vein systems are
exposed at a high level.
The Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ) conducted regional and more detailed studies over the
Ohra-Takamine area between 1983 and 1989, six drill holes were completed as part of this work. Drill
hole 60MAH-2 located to the east of the Takamine-Urushi mine intersected two 10 centimeter wide
quartz veins with respective gold grades of 12.3 and 13.3 g/t , 100 meters below the deepest mine
workings, and approximately 245 meters vertically below surface7.
Due to the high prospectivity of the district and the level of modern exploration completed on these
prospects, Japan Gold believes these areas are worthy of more detailed exploration. The Company will
seek to define the limits of the alteration around these vein systems by building on the existing data
with detailed surface mapping, geochemical -sampling and geophysics to target new zones and
extensions to known veins for scout drill testing.
John Proust, Chairman and CEO of Japan Gold, commented, “We are pleased to acquire these new
exploration projects in this world class gold-rich district of Japan. These new projects add significantly
to our portfolio of high-quality exploration projects in productive and under-explored gold districts of
Japan.”
On behalf of the Board of Japan Gold Corp.
“John Proust”
Chairman & CEO
About Japan Gold Corp.
Japan Gold Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused solely on gold and copper -gold
exploration in Japan. The Company has applied for 210 prospecting rights licenses in Japan for a
combined area of 69,505 hectares over seventeen separate projects. Thirty-two of the applications have
been granted as Prospecting Rights. The applications cover areas with known gold occurrences and a
history of mining, and are prospective for both high -grade epithermal gold mineralization and gold -
bearing lithocaps, which could indicate the presence of porphyry mineralization. Japan Gold’s
leadership team has decades of resource industry and business experience, and the Company has
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recruited geologists and technical advisors with experience exploring a nd operating in Japan. More
information is available at www.japangold.com or by email at [email protected].
Japan Gold Contacts
John Proust
Chairman & CEO
Phone: 778-725-1491
Email: [email protected]
References
1 Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., LTD. website, production as of end of March 2016.
2 Watanabe, 2005. Late Cenozoic evolution of epithermal gold metallogenic provinces in Kyushu,
Japan. Mineralium Deposita (2005) 40: pp 307-323
3 Garwin et al. 2005. Tectonic setting, Geology, and gold and copper mineralization in the Cenozoic
magmatic arcs of Southeast Asia and the West Pacific. Economic Geology 100th Anniversary Vol. pp
891-930
4 Hamilton, 1993. Tourmaline and Pyrophyllite-bearing hydrothermally altered volcanic rocks at
Tobaru, Japan. Resource Geology Special Issue, No. 14, pp 115-121
5 Michitoshi Miyahisa, 1967: Report of gold deposits survey in Takamine/Ohra district, Kagoshima
prefecture, Association of Kagoshima Prefecture mineral resources development promotion.
6 Gold Mines of Japan, 1989. The Mining & Materials Processing Institute of Japan.
7 MITI (1984- 1989): Report on the regional survey of the Hokusatsu-Kushikino region, Showa 58
(FY) to 63(FY). Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
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. The technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Japan Gold’s President
& Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Mike Andrews, PhD, FAusIMM, who is a Qualified Person as defined
by National Instrument 43-101.
This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or anticipated future events
and anticipated results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks
and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, competition for qualified
staff, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from
potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in a new political
jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and
granting of prospecting rights, uncertainties regarding the Company’s ability to execute and implement
future plans, and the occurrence of unexpected events. Actual results achieved may vary from the
information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and
other factors.
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Figure 1, The Northern Hokusatsu -Kushikino Mining District, southern Kyushu, Tobaru and Ohra -
Takamine projects on simplified geology with historic and recent gold mines.