Sitka Drills 422.7 Metres of 0.74 G/T GOLD, Including 111.7 Metres of 1.24 G/T GOLD at Its Rc GOLD Project, Yukon
NEWS RELEASE
June 21, 2023
NR 23-15
www.sitkagoldcorp.com
SITKA DRILLS 422.7 METRES OF 0.74 G/T
GOLD, INCLUDING 111.7 METRES OF 1.24 G/T
GOLD AT ITS RC GOLD PROJECT, YUKON
VANCOUVER, CANADA – June 21, 2023: Sitka Gold Corp. (“Sitka” or the “Company”)
(CSE:SIG) (FSE:1RF) (OTCQB:SITKF) is pleased to announce assay results from diamond
drill hole DDRCCC-23-043 (the “drill hole” or “Hole 43”), the third diamond drill hole of the 2023
winter drill program on the Company’s 376 square kilometre, road accessible RC Gold Project
(“RC Gold” or the “Project”) located in Yukon’s Tombstone Gold Belt (“TGB”), approximately
100 kilometres east of Dawson City. A resource expansion drilling program is currently
underway at RC Gold where an Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,340,000 ounces of gold
beginning at surface and grading 0.68 g/t was announced earlier this year (see news release
dated January 19, 2023).
Assay highlights from DDRCCC-23-043 include:
● 422.7 metres (m) of 0.74 g/t Au from 4.0 m to 426.7 m (end of hole) including:
o 28.0 m of 0.91 g/t Au from 4.0 m
o 40.0 m of 1.02 g/t Au from 81.0 m,
o 111.7 m of 1.24 g/t Au from 315.0 m,
o 14.0 m of 3.28 g/t Au from 345.0 m,
“The results obtained from Hole 43 are quite remarkable and further illustrate just how
consistent and well-endowed the gold mineralization is at our Blackjack deposit”, stated Cor
Coe, CEO and Director of Sitka Gold. “Gold mineralization was encountered at surface and
continued for the entire 422.7 metre length of this drill hole, which averaged 0.74 g/t gold and
had multiple occurrences of visible gold. Hole 43 was designed to fill in an area of our deposit
model that was missing drill core data and test for mineralization at depth. Although the drill
hole was stopped in mineralization at the end of our winter program to avoid any complications
that could arise during the spring thaw, it has since been re -entered and drilling is currently
underway to extend it at depth. Additional step out drilling to expand both the Blackjack and
Eiger gold deposits, both of which r emain wide open, will be the primary focus of our 2023
summer field season at RC Gold along with additional exploration drilling to test for continuity
across the mineralized corridor (see Figure 3).”
DDRCCC-23-043 was collared at the same location as DDR CCC-21-021 (see news release
dated December 13, 2021) and drilled at an azimuth of 005 degrees and a dip of -85 degrees
(see Figures 1 through 3). The purpose of the hole was to fill in a gap of data in the current
resource model and to extend the higher-grade mineralization in the current resource to depth.
Hole 43 intersected dominantly MQMZ from surface to 111.25 m; metasediments intruded by
metre scale MQMZ dykes to 318.45 m; dominantly MQMZ with metasediments to 382.1 m
and then granite dykes with inclusions of MQMZ xenoliths to the end of the hole at 426.7 m.
Quartz sulphide veins intersected all units with the highest intensity of veining occurring from
250 m to the end of the hole at 426.7 m. Visible gold was noted multiple times in quartz –
bismuthinite veins. (see Figure 4).
DDRCCC-23-043 was variably mineralized throughout its entire length with the interval from
4.0 m to the end of the hole at 426.7 m returning 422.7 of 0.74 g/t Au. Significant intervals of
higher-grade mineralization include 40.0 m of 1.02 g/t Au from 81.0 m; 111.7 m of 1.24 g/t Au
from 315.0; 28.0 m of 1.99 g/t Au and 14.0 m of 3.28 g/t Au from 345 m. Narrower intervals
of multi-gram gold mineralization include 1.0 m of 6.95 g/t Au from 27.0 m; 1.0 m of 7.09 g/t
Au from 53.5 m and 2.0 m of 5.00 g/t Au from 241.0 m.
Hole 43 was terminated before target depth in known mineralization to avoid complications
that could arise with the onset of spring thaw conditions. The casing was left in the hole and
the drill rig was left on site in anticipation of resuming drilling efforts once the spring thaw
conditions had passed. Drilling at Hole 043 has since resumed.
Table 1 – Assay Highlights for DDRCCC-23-043
HoleID Azimuth (°) Dip (°)
From
(m) To (m)
Length
(m) Au (g/t)
DDRCCC-23-043 005 -85 4.0 426.7 422.7 0.74
Including 4.0 32.0 28.0 0.91
Including 27.0 28.0 1.0 6.95
Including 53.5 54.5 1.0 7.09
Including 81.0 121.0 40.0 1.02
Including 96.0 106.0 10.0 2.86
Including 173.0 203.0 30.0 1.38
Including 241.0 243.0 2.0 5.00
Including 320.0 331.0 11.0 2.39
Including 345.0 373.0 28.0 1.99
Including 345.0 359.0 14.0 3.28
Including 315.0 426.7 111.7 1.24
*Intervals are drilled core length, as insufficient drilling has been completed at this time to determine true widths
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
On receipt from the drill site, the NQ-sized drill core was systematically logged for geological
attributes, photographed and sampled at Sitka’s 2022 field camp. Sample lengths as small as
0.3 m were used to isolate features of interest, otherwise a default 2 m downhole sample
length was used. Core was cut in half lengthwise along a predetermined line, wit h one-half
(same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one -half stored as a record. Standard
reference materials, blanks and duplicate samples were inserted by Sitka personnel at regular
intervals into the sample stream. Bagged samples were placed in secure bins to ensure
integrity during transport. They were delivered by Sitka personnel or a contract expeditor to
ALS Laboratories' preparatory facility in Whitehorse, Yukon, with analyses completed in North
Vancouver.
ALS is accredited to ISO 17025 :2005 UKAS ref. 4028 for its laboratory analysis. Samples
were crushed by ALS to over 70 per cent passing below two millimetres and split using a riffle
splitter. One -thousand-gram splits were pulverized to over 85 per cent passing below 75
microns. Gold d eterminations are by fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma mass
spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish on 50 g subsamples of the prepared pulp (ALS code: Au -ICP-
22). Any sample returning over 10 g/t Au was re -analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric
finish on a 50 g subsample (ALS code: Au -GRA21). In addition, a 51 -element analysis was
performed on a 0.5 g subsample of the prepared pulps by an aqua regia digestion followed by
an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish (ALS code: ME-MS41).
Figure 1: Plan map of drill hole locations at the Blackjack Zone
Figure 2: Cross Section of DDRCCC-23-043
Figure 3: Plan map across Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger Zones
Figure 4: Examples of Visible Gold Observed in DDRCCC-23-043
Figure 5: Examples of Drill Core and Sample Intervals for DDRCCC-23-043
About the RC Gold Project
The RC Gold Project (RC Gold) consists of a 376 square kilometre contiguo us district-scale
land package located in the newly road accessible Clear Creek, Big Creek, and Sprague
Creek districts in the heart of Yukon's Tombstone Gold Belt. The project is located
approximately 100 kilometres east of Dawson City and is accessed via a secondary gravel
road from the Klondike Highway an approximate 2 hour drive from Dawson. It is the largest
consolidated land package strategically positioned mid -way between Victoria Gold's Eagle
Gold Mine - Yukon’s newest gold mine which reached commercial production in the summer
of 2020 - and Sabre Gold Mine’s Brewery Creek Gold Mine. The RC Gold Project land package
comprises five underlying properties, namely, the RC, Bee Bop, Mahtin, Clear Creek, and
Barney Ridge properties*. The planned 10,000 met re drill program for 2023 is currently
underway and is focused on expanding the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits, both of which
remain open in all directions.
On January 19, 2023 Sitka Gold announced an Initial Mineral Resource Estimate prepared
in accordance with National Instrument 43 -101 (“NI 43-101”) guidelines for the RC Gold
Property of 1,340,000 ounces of gold (1). The road accessible, pit constrained Mi neral
Resource is classified as inferred and is contained in two near/on -surface zones: The
Blackjack and Eiger deposits. The Mineral Resource estimate is presented in the following
table at a base case cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au:
Table 2: RC Gold Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate
COG g/t Au
Blackjack Zone Eiger Zone Combined
Tonnes
000's Au g/t 0z Au
000's
Tonnes
000's Au g/t 0z Au
000's
Tonnes
000's Au g/t 0z Au
000's
0.20 35,798 0.80 921 32,523 0.45 471 68,321 0.63 1,391
0.25 33,743 0.83 900 27,362 0.50 440 61,105 0.68 1,340
0.30 31,282 0.88 885 22,253 0.55 393 53,535 0.74 1,279
0.35 29,065 0.92 860 17,817 0.60 344 46,882 0.80 1,203
0.40 26,975 0.96 833 14,506 0.66 308 41,481 0.86 1,140
Notes
1. Mineral resource estimate prepared by Ronald G. Simpson of GeoSim Services Inc. with an effective date of January 19,
2023. Mineral Resources are classified using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards.
2. The cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au is believed to provide a reasonable margin over operating and sustaining costs for open-pit
mining and processing
3. Mineral resources are constrained by an optimised pit shell using the following assumptions: US$1800/oz Au price; a 45°
pit slope; assumed metallurgical recovery of 85%; mining costs of US$2.00 per tonne; processing costs of US$8.00 per
tonne; G&A of US$1.50/t.
4. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
5. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
The Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,340,000 ounces of gold at the RC Gold
Project is comprised of two deposits: the Blackjack deposit containing 900,000 ounces of
gold at a grade of 0.83 g/t gold and the Eiger deposit containing 440,000 ounces of gold
at a grade of 0.50 g/t gold (see news release dated January 19, 2023). Both of these
deposits are at/near surface, are potentially open pit minable and amenable to heap
leaching, with initial bottle roll tests indicating that the gold is not refractory and has high
gold recoveries of up to 94% with minimal NaCN consumption (see News Release July
13, 2022).
The Blackjack and Eiger deposits are in close proximity to highway and power
infrastructure, are road accessible year -round, remain open in all directions and are
respectively located at the western and eastern end of a large, 500 metre by 2 kilometre
intrusion related gold system that was recently discovered on the Property. To date, just
41 diamond drill holes have been drilled into this system for a total of approximately 14,500
metres with results of up to 201.0 m of 1.26 g/t gold from surface, including 82.0 m of
2.04 g/t gold and 19.5 m of 4.87 g/t gold at Blackjack (drill hole DDRCCC-22-040; see
news release dated January 11, 2023) and 354 m of 0.41 g/t gold including 72 m of
0.72 g/t gold at Eiger (drill hole DDRCCC-21-09; see news release date August 19, 2021).
Several high priority intrusion related gold targets exist at RC Gold with nine outcropped
intrusions identified to date over the 376 sq km property, however Sitka’s main focus at the
RC Gold Project has been on the underlying Clear Creek Pro perty where a large 500 metre
by 2000 metre intrusion related gold system covering the area over the Blackjack, Saddle and
Eiger zones was identified. Prior to the onset of the 2023 winter drilling program, the Company
had drilled 38 diamond drill holes into this system for a total of approximately 13,000 metres.
This drilling culminated in the discovery of the Blackjack and Eiger deposits with an initial
inferred mineral resource estimate of 1,340,000 gold ounces(1).
Sitka Gold inherited a wealth of histor ical and current data from these properties from work
spanning the last 40 years. Recent exploration work and the compilation of historical data
have defined several mineralized zones with both bulk tonnage, intrusion-related gold deposit
targets and high-grade, vein- and breccia-hosted gold targets. The RC Gold Project also has
a common border with Victoria Gold’s Clear Creek property at its western boundary and Florin
Resources’ Florin Gold property at its northern boundary.
(1) Simpson, R. January 19, 2023. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson
Mining District, Yukon Territory.
*For more detailed information on the underlying properties please visit our website at
www.sitkagoldcorp.com.
Deposit Model
Exploration on the Property has mainly focused on identifying an intrusion-related gold system
(“IRGS”). The property is part of the Tombstone Gold Belt which is the prominent host to IRGS
deposits within the Tintina Gold Province in Yukon and Alaska. Notable deposits from the belt
include: Fort Knox Mine in Alaska with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 230 million
tonnes at 0.3 g/t Au (2.471 million ounces; Sims 2018) (1); Eagle Gold Mine with current
Measured and Indicated Resources of 233 million tonnes at a grade of 0.57 g/t Au at the Eagle
Main Zone (4.303 million ounces; Harvey et al, 2022) (2); the Brewery Creek deposit with
current Indicated Mineral Resource of 22.2 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.11 g/t (0.789
million ounces; Hulse et al. 20 20)(3); the Florin Gold deposit, located adjacent to Sitka’s RC
Gold project, with a current Inferred Mineral Resource of 170.99 million tonnes grading 0.45
g/t (2.47 million ounces; Simpson 2021) (4) and the AurMac Project with an Inferred Mineral
Resource of 207.0 million tonnes grading 0.60 gram per tonne gold (3.99 million ounces;
Jutras 2022)(5).