Liberty GOLD Reports Q1 2017 Financial and Operating Results
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NEWS RELEASE 17-10 May 16, 2017
LIBERTY GOLD REPORTS Q1 2017 FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Liberty Gold Corp. (LGD - TSX) ("Liberty Gold" or the "Company"), formerly Pilot Gold
Inc., is pleased to announce its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2017.
All amounts are presented in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.
Company highlights through and subsequent to March 31, 2017:
– Changed our name to Liberty Gold Corp. from Pilot Gold Inc. on May 9, 2017.
– Published the results from our phase 1 metallurgical test work of oxide material from Goldstrike on April 3,
20171 with the following highlights:
o 20 Column leach tests produced a weighted average2 85.9% extraction.
o Rapid gold extraction with >80% of the extractable gold recovered within the first 10 days of column
leaching.
o Gold extraction can be projected out to 80% passing 150 mm (6 inch) particle size, simulating run of
mine conditions, without significant loss of gold recovery.
– Reported drill results from the Warrior, Aggie, Peg Leg and Dip Slope targets at Goldstrike, all located
within the Main Zone. Highlights include3:
o Peg Leg
‐ 2.05 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 9.1 m within 1.61 g/t Au over 13.7 m and 0.98 g/t Au
over 15.2 m in PGS227
- 1.15 g/t Au over 16.8 m within 0.94 g/t Au over 29.0 m in PGS224
o Dip Slope
- 1.02 g/t Au over 9.1 m, within 0.41 g/t over 56.4 m in PGS212
- 1.41 g/t Au over 4.6 m in PGS199
o Warrior and Aggie
- 1.93 g/t Au over 15.2 m in PGS197
- 1.08 g/t Au over 13.7 m, within 0.56 g/t Au over 45.7 m in PGS201
- 1.21 g/t Au over 7.6 m, within 0.83 g/t Au over 15.2 m, and 0.46 g/t Au over 13.7 m, and 1.16 g/t
Au over 6.1 m in PGS193
Goldstrike, Utah
The 2017 RC drilling program began on February 1, 2017 and will continue through to November, for a total of
42,500 m of drilling. Areas of focus are located to the north and west of the Main Zone, and include the Peg
Leg Graben, Warrior, Aggie and Dip Slope targets. There are 7 historical mined pits within this initial 4km 2
area.
The results from the metallurgical testing of oxid e material provide support for a simple heap leach mining
scenario. Twenty column leach tests produced a weighted average of 85.9% gold extraction. The g old
recoveries from 19 of these 20 column tests were rapid and >80% complete within 10 days, with fin al column
leach recoveries ranging from 65% to 97%. Importantly, gold extraction has proven relatively insensitive to
particle size, and can be projected out to 150 millimetres (mm) (6 inch) particle size, simulating run of mine
conditions, without significant loss of gold recovery.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, expenditures, including non-cash items, at Goldstrike were $1.08
million, including: drilling and assaying ($ 0.61 million), salaries ($0.21 million), and analyses and surveys
($0.13 million).
1 See press release of April 3, 2017.
2 Weighted average gold extraction is obtained using the following equation: (composite head grade (g/t) x extraction (%) for a ll head grades)/sum of all head grades. Using
arithmetic averages tend to over-represent low grade composites and under-represent high grade composites. The arithmetic average of the 24 coarse bottle rolls is 77.5%. The
arithmetic average of the 20 column tests is 81.3%.
3 See press release of April 25, 2017.
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The Company is operating under a Notice of Intent ("NOI"), allowing for up to almost 10 acres of disturbance
for access and drill sites. In February 2017, the Company applied for an additional NOI for a further 1.8 acres
of disturbance in the property’s Minera l Mountain area. W e expect to receive approval on a full Plan of
Operations ("PoO") by the mid-June 2017, which will allow access for drilling over a large number of targets
property-wide.
The Company also expects to report a first -time mineral resource estimate at Goldstrike in a revised technical
report in Q3-Q4 2017.
Kinsley, Nevada
The 2017, 1200 m reverse circulation drill program began on April 19, 2017 focussed along the Western
Flank’s eastern extension and in an area southeast of the historic al Main Pit . The Company’s share of
expenditures at Kinsley for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was $0.02 million.
Moira Smith, Ph.D., P.Geo., Vice President Exploration and Geosciences, Liberty Gold, is the Company's designated
Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43 -101, Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and validated that the scientific and technical informat ion contained in
this release is accurate.
Goldstrike and Kinsley are early stage exploration projects ; the potential quantities and grades disclosed herein are
conceptual in nature and, except for the mineral resource estimate at the Western Flank deposit at Kinsley, there has
been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource for other targets disclosed herein. It is uncertain if further
exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource. The potential to define an additional mineral
resource at Kinsley or a resource at Goldstrike is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to
define a mineral resource thereat.
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following selected financial data is derived from our condensed interim consolidated financial statements
and related notes thereto (the “Interim Financial Statements”) for the three months ended March 31, 2017 , as
prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. A copy of the Interim Financial
Statements can be found on the Company’s website (www.Libertygold.ca) or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Beginning January 1, 2017, in order to enhance the relevance to the decision making needs of users, and
improve comparability with our peers, the Company has voluntarily changed its accounting policy with respect
to exploration properties and deferred exploration expenditures . In prior periods, the Company’s policy was to
defer exploration expenditures until such time as the properties are put into commercial production, sold or
become impaired. The Company has elected to change this accounting policy to expense exploration
expenditures as incur red, effective with the presentation of the March 31, 2017 Interim Financial Statements,
on a retrospective basis. The Company will continue to defer acquisition expenditures on mineral properties
until such time as the properties are put into commercial production, sold or become impaired.
The information in the tables below is presented in $000s except per share data:
Three months ended March 31,
2017 2016
Attributable to shareholders:
Loss for the period $2,513 $2,438
Loss and comprehensive loss for the period $2,390 $1,801
Basic and diluted loss per share $0.02 $0.02
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Losses attributable to shareholders for the three months ended March 31, 2017 of $2. 51 million were higher
than the $2. 44 million incurred in the comparative period, due mostly to an additional $0.43 million in
exploration and evaluation expenditures in 2017, offset by $0.33 million collective reduction in expenditures on
wages and office and general expenditures over the comparative period. The largest contributions to loss in
the three months ended March 31, 2017 , are exploration and evaluation expenditures, wages and benefits,
and office and general costs , which combined comprise $1.94 million of the overall loss; these same three
categories are the largest contributors to the loss in the three months ended March 31, 2016 (combined: $1.85
million). Net cash o perating outflows of $1.78 million in the three months ended March 31, 2017, were $0.27
million lower compared to the comparative period, despite higher costs in the current quarter, due to the receipt
on January 5, 2017 of $0.50 million in VAT recoverable at our Turkish subsidiary.
The net other comprehensive income attributable to shareholders for the three months ended March 31, 2017,
was $0.12 million compared to $0.64 million in the same period in 2016, driven by lower exchange gains on
translation of foreign currency subsidiaries in 2017. The impact from exchange differences will vary from period
to period depending on the rate of exchange; in the period between January 1, 201 7 and March 31, 2017, the
United States dollar appreciated 0.9% relative to the Canadian dollar ( three months ended March 31, 2016:
7.7%).
Total assets comprise primarily exploration and evaluation assets of $24.02 million and cash, cash equivalents
and short term investments of $ 10.80 million. The 40% share of capitalised acquisition costs of TV Tower
owned by Teck is included as a component of the $ 9.95 million non -controlling interest on the Company’s
statement of financial position. Total assets also include $0.18 million in receivables, and prepayments, and
$1.43 million in value recorded for the Company’s 40% interest in the PEA -stage Halilaga copper-gold project
in Turkey.
Total liabilities at March 31, 2017, December 31, 2016 and 2015 primarily reflect accounts payable and
accruals recorded at period end arising from ongoing activities . The March 31, 2017 and 2016 balance also
includes a deferred tax liability of $0.58 million and $0.50 million respectively (2015: $nil million) arising from
the impact of foreign exchange differences on the carrying value of TV Tower.
ABOUT LIBERTY GOLD
Liberty Gold is led by a proven technical and capital markets team that continues to discover and define high -
quality assets. Our core projects are Goldstrike in Utah, Black Pine in Idaho and Kinsley Mountain in Nevada.
The management group at Liberty Gold is responsible for discovering, developing and/or building two of the
latest seven heap leach gold deposits in the world that are now operating mines, including Long Canyon in
Nevada and Karma in Burkina Faso.
For more information, visit www.libertygold.ca or contact:
Evelyn Cox, Director Corporate Communications
Phone: 604-632-4677 or Toll Free 1-877-632-4677
As at
March 31,
As at
December 31,
As at
December 31,
2017 2016 2015
Cash and short-term investments $10,796 $12,469 $7,912
Working capital $10,357 $12,399 $8,215
Total assets $38,585 $40,881 $36,395
Current liabilities $623 $897 $477
Non-current liabilities $661 $585 $130
Shareholders’ equity $27,352 $29,490 $25,768
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All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward -looking information" with respect to Liberty Gold within the
meaning of applicable securities laws, potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential size and expansion of a mineralized zone, proposed timing of
exploration and development plans the release of an initial resource report at Golds trike, and the successful delivery of results of metallurgical testing
and positive results thereof. Forward -looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan",
"continue", "planned", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal",
or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", " might" or "will" be taken, occur
or be achieved. Forward -looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of
management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumpt ions about future prices of gold, copper, silver and other metal
prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates, favourable operating conditions, political stability, obtaining governmental approvals and financing on
time; obtaining renewals for existi ng licences and permits and obtaining required licences and permits, labour stability, stability in market and geo -
political conditions, availability of equipment, accuracy of any mineral resources, the amenability of mineralization to prod uce a grade or q uality of
concentrate sufficient to be economic (as there can be no assurances as to the results of the metallurgical testing and no in ferences should be drawn
therefrom), the accuracy of any metallurgical testing completed to date, successful resolution o f disputes and anticipated costs and expenditures. Many
assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Liberty Gold and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.
Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the actual results to be materially different from
any future results expressed or implied by such forward -looking information, including, the timely receipt of regulatory approvals; risks related to the
interpretation of results and/or the reliance on technical information provided by our joint venture partner or other third pa rties as related to the
Company’s mineral property interests; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; curren t economic conditions; future prices of
commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; the costs and timing of the development of new deposits; failure of equipment or processes
to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; the timing and success of exploration activities generally; delays in permitting;
possible claims against the Company or its joint venture partners; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; th e uncertainty of negotiating
with foreig n governments, expropriation or nationalization of property without fair compensation, adverse determination or rulings by go vernmental
authorities delays in obtaining governmental approvals, government regulation of exploration and mining operations, and the application thereof in
accordance with the rule of law, financing or in the completion of exploration as well as those factors discussed in the Annu al Information Form of the
Company dated March 28, 2017 in the section entitled "Risk Factors", under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Although Liberty Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those
described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ m aterially from those
anticipated in such statements. Liberty Gold disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.