Diamonds and GOLD Discovered IN Tree River Conglomerate IN Nunavut, Canada
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DIAMONDS AND GOLD DISCOVERED IN TREE RIVER CONGLOMERATE IN
NUNAVUT, CANADA
Highlights:
• A University of Alberta research team has recovered three alluvial, kimberlitic diamonds from
two small, separate samples of the Tree River Conglomerate following up on a previous
discovery.
• Panel s ampling of the Tree River Conglomerate by Silver Range returned up to 36. 3 g/t Au
from a one-metre by one-metre sample.
• Zircon dating conclusively dated the Tre e River Conglomerate at 2.9 Ga, in the “Great Gold
Deposition Window” postulated for gold deposition in the Pilbara and Witwatersrand.
October 7, 2020 – Silver Range Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SNG) (“S ilver Range ” or
“Company”) is pleased to provide an update on exploration work conducted by the Company at
its Tree River Pr operty in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut; and on surprising research work
results from the Tree River Conglomerate recently released at the American Geophysical Union
annual general meeting.
The Tree River Conglomerate (“TRC”) is an Archean metasedimentary rock unit in the Anialik
Greenstone Belt within the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. The known exposures of the TRC are
on permits staked as Silver Range’s Tree River Property and on adjacent Inuit Owned Lands
(“IOL”) Parcel CO-69.
Diamonds recovered from the Tree River Conglomerate
During 1997, noted northern geologist Valerie Jackson collected samples from the TRC
approximately 3.1 km NW of Cracker Lake while conducting regional mapping of the Anialik
Lake Greenstone Belt. The samples were processed to recover zircons for dating purposes and
unexpectedly yielded two suspected diamonds. The discovery was never verified.
In 2018, Drs. Graham Pearson and Jesse Reimink of the University of Alberta and Pennsylvania
State University, respectively, conducted follow-up work in the area. They collected two 10 kg
samples from the general area of the 1997 sampling and recovered 2 diamonds from one sample
and a third diamond from the second sample. In a meeting abstract published on October 6,
2020 by the American Geophysical Union (link) they reported that:
“The three recovered diamonds (< 210 μm) have (cubo -)octahedral morphological features and
have nitrogen contents ranging from <10 ppm (n=2) up to 1770 ppm N (Type IaA), the latter
having positive δ 15N (+3.1 to +4.4‰). Carbon i sotope compositions of the 3 diamonds range
from -3.5 to -0.3 ‰, similar to the heaviest values found in microdiamonds on the Slave Craton
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[1] and potentially indicating an oxidized source. The Type IaA diamond contains a high -Mg
olivine inclusion, representing a lithospheric origin.”
The samples were collected from the basal unit of the TRC which contains abundant pyrite and
anomalous to high -grade gold. The samples were collected on IOL parcel CO -69 about 300
metres from the boundary with the Tree River Property.
Silver Range sampling of the Tree River Conglomerate
In April 2020, Silver Range collected two panel samples of TRC from each of the Main Zone
and the West Zone, on its wholly -owned Tree River Property. The samples were extracted with
an electric rock breaker and weighed 49.5 and 55.5 kg respectively. The samples were sent to
the Saskatchewan Research Council where they were crushed to less than 2 mm and
homogenized. A 5 kg split was taken with a rotary splitter and analyzed for gold by fire assay (1
assay-ton) and a 3 kg sub -split was analyzed with metallic screen fire assay. The remainder of
each sample (44.5 & 50.5 kg initial splits) were analyzed for diamonds and heavy minerals using
dense media separation. The metallic screen assays from the panel samples returned 36.3 g/t Au
from the Main Zone and 0.29 g/t Au from the West Zone. The metallic screen results suggest
that gold in the TRC basal zone is syngenetic in origin. No diamonds were recovered from either
of the panel samples.
Conclusive zircon age dating places the Tree River Conglomerate in the “Great Gold Deposition
Event”
During the April 2020 sampling program, Silver Range collected a sample from the lower
section of the TRC for zircon analysis. The sample site was located mid-way between the Main
and West Zones. Results from subsequent analyses are reported in another AGU abstract ( link).
Extracted zircons were dated with laser ablation split -stream analysis of U -Pb and Hf isotopes
and yielded a maximum deposition age of 2964 + 9 Ma. This age date indicates that the TRC
was deposited in the inferred Mesoarchean gold deposition event associated with the first organic
production of oxygen and consequent fixing of soluble gold (Kimmel & Hennigh 2015 [2]).
Conglomerate-hosted gold deposits in the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the Pilb ara region
in Australia occur within this this age bracket.
In light of these remarkable results, Silver Range is designing a program to systematically test
the gold and newly discovered diamond potential of the Tree River Conglomerate. As a
precursor, the Company has a submitted a n Expression of Interest to Nunavut Tun ngavik Inc. to
obtain the mineral rights to explore IOL Parcel CO -69. The Tree River Conglomerate is very
resistive and well exposed; as a consequence, it might be rapidly explored with surface sampling.
A summary o f the Tree River Project including photographs of the recovered diamonds is
available at www.silverrangeresources.com.
Silver Range wishes to acknowledge generous and cooperative support from the University of
Alberta Department of Earth and Geological Sciences. The research work leading to the
discovery of diamonds at Tree River was funded by the NSERC through the Canada Excellence
Research Cahir Program, The Metal Earth Program and through the N ational Science
Foundation.
The sampling program was conducted by professional staff of Aurora Geosciences Ltd. in
Yellowknife NT. Samples were shipped under secure chain of custody to the Saskatchewan
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Research Council lab in Saskatoon SK for subsequent processing and analysis. Technical
information in this news release has been approved by Mike Power, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and
CEO of Silver Range Resources Ltd. and a Qualified Person for the purposes of National
Instrument 43-101.
About Silver Range Resources Ltd.
Silver Range is a precious metals prospect generator working in Nevada and Northern Canada.
It has assembled a portfolio of 43 properties, 11 of which are currently under option to others.
Silver Range is actively seeking other joint venture partners to explore the high -grade precious
metals targets in its portfolio.
[1] Melton et al. (2013) Lithos 177, 110-119.
[2] Frimmel, H.E and G. Hennigh . 2015. First whiffs of atmospheric oxygen triggered onset of crustal
gold cycle. Minera Deposita 2015, Vol 50, p5-23.
ON BEHALF OF SILVER RANGE RESOURCES LTD.
“Mike Power”
President, C.E.O. & Director
For further information concerning Silver Range or its exploration projects please contact:
Investor Inquiries
Richard Drechsler
Vice-President, Communications
Tel: (604) 687-2522
NA Toll-Free: (888) 688-2522
http://www.silverrangeresources.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (a s that term is
defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments
of management regarding fu ture events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of
exploration and other risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially
from the expected results.
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