Transition Options High Grade Gold Opportunity in Nova Scotia
Transition Options High Grade Gold Opportunity in Nova Scotia
Sudbury, September 20, 2018 – Transition Metals Corp (XTM – TSX.V) ( “Transition”, “the Company”) is
pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the >45 square
kilometre Highland Gold property located in the Cape Breton Highlands of Nova Scotia. The property covers an
extensive cluster of high grade gold occurrences that have seen very limited exploration.
CEO Scott McLean commented, “We think the potential for the area to host large deposits of gold is strongly
supported by the historical, highly anomalous results coming from stream sediments, tills , soil and bedrock
samples. Rocks of similar age and formation are known to host significant gold deposits in the Carolinas,
Newfoundland, Ireland and Scotland. Cape Breton has an overlooked district scale gold potential that should be
of interest to major gold producers looking for new opportunities. We plan to initiate exploration work this fall.”
Transition retains the right and option to earn a 100% interest in the property by completing $1.5 million of
expenditures and issuing $170,000 in cash and $175,000 i n shares to the Vendor over a 5 year period. If the
Company vests its interest, t he Vendor would retain a 2% N et Smelter Return royalty (NSR) with Transition
retaining the right to buy back 1% NSR for $1.25 million.
Work planned by the Company this fall includes till and soil sampling, a high resolution airborne
magnetic/conductivity survey, and reverse circulation drilling. Additionally, the Nova Scotia Mineral Resources
Development Fund will provide up to $95,000 in exploration funding assistance which will help the Company
offset some of its costs. The funding program provided by the government of Nova Scotia is designed to assist
prospectors, exploration companies, and researchers in the search for new discoveries, to advance projects
closer to production, and to attract investment into the Province.
About The Highland Gold Property
The property is located approximately 60 kilometres northwest of the city of Sydney, Nova Scotia in the Cape
Breton Highlands. It consists of staked mining licenses on crown land that covers approximately 4,576 hectares
in an area of active forestry operations. The property can be easily accessed by a major road (Highland Road)
and network of logging roads that provide truck access to most of this portion of the Cape Breton highlands.
The property straddles the Central Highland Shear that can be traced along a northeast trend across the entirety
of Cape Breton Island. The structure separates Ordovician - Silurian rocks of the western Gander terrane from
the Neo-Proterozoic rocks of the Avalon terrane to the east. The regional geologic framework is analogous to
that hosting First Mining Gold’s Hope Brook deposit in Newfoundland (844,000 ounces of gold grading 4.77 g/t
gold in the Indicated Resource category and 110,000 ounces grading 4.11 g/t gold in the Inferred Resource
category*) and Oceana Gold’s Haile Mine in South Carolina (3.32 million ounces grading 1.77 g/t gold in the
Measured and Indicated Resource category and 0.6 million ounces grading 1.4 g/t gold in the Inferred Resource
category)**.
Work to date on the property has led to the identification more than 30 mineralized bedrock occurrences within
an approximate 50 square kilometre area of which 9 returned bedrock assays greater than 8 g/t gold and up to
104 g/t gold, and 23 returning higher than 1.7 g/t gold¹ (Figure 1).
The initial discovery of gold -bearing quartz vein , mineralized boulders in the area was made in 1986 by
Scominex, a joint venture between Nova Scotia Resources Ltd., Husky Oil and INCO during a follow-up sampling
program of gold anomalies in a regional stream sediment sampling program conducted by the Nova Scotia
Department of Natural Resources . A total of 39 diamond drill holes totaling 2,574 metres were completed by
Scominex targeting soil anomalies/bedrock occurrences. Seventeen of the holes , totaling 1,137 metres, were
put down at the Main Zone where narrow intervals of elevated gold were intersected. Extensive oxidation and
weathering near surface however, contributed to poor overall core recoveries during the drill campaign . A
composite bulk sample collected by Scominex across a 70 metre section of weathered veining averaged 26.5
g/t gold¹. At Zone 10, drilling intersected a wide shear zone hosting quartz veining and disseminated sulphides
where hole 77359-0 intersected 0.8 g/t gold over 8.35 metres including a 1.5 metre section averaging 3.4 g/t
gold².
Mining licenses covering the area encompassing the Main Zone were acquired by Lodestone Ltd. in 1995 which
engaged in bulk sampling and preliminary gold recovery test work from a 60 metre long by 4 metre deep surface
cut. Lodestone reported the average feed grade from a cyanide leach test completed on a 1,000 kilogram
representative sample was 23 g/t gold³. Lodestone did not undertake enough exploration or delineation drilling
work to establish a resource estimate for Main Zone showing.
Mining licenses surrounding the Main Zone were acquired by award-winning Nova Scotia prospector Joe
Richman in 2009 with the Main Zone being acquired in late 2015 . Work completed by Richman from 2009 to
present highlighted the attractive potential of areas in the central portion of the property and especially around
the Scominex Main Zone, 6A-B and Zones 1,2,3 Zones. Channel samples from trenching completed on these
zones in 2014 returned 12.8 g/t gold over 3.1 metres, 3.18 g/t gold over 3.3 metres, and 17.1 g/t gold over 0.7
metres⁴.
In 2014, IAMGOLD Ltd undertook a small program of drilling consisting of 7 diamond drill holes total ing 1,059
metres. Results from this drill program included an intersection of 4.95 g/t gold over 3.0 metres at Zone 6B, and
up to 2.52 g/t gold over 1.03 metres in a strongly altered pyritic shear zone with quartz veining approximately 2
kilometres to the east of the 6A and 6B Zones near Zones 1, 2 and 3⁴.
Recent grab sampling completed by the Geoscience and Mines Branch, Nova Scotia Department of Energy and
Mines Geological Survey, returned values from nil to 71.6 g/t gold at the Main Zone, 0.03 to 28.0 g/t gold at Zone
6A, 0.01 to 80.3 g/t gold and 0.02 to 84.9 g/t gold at Zone 6B⁵. Grab sampling by Transition geologists from the
6A Zone returned assays ranging from nil to 12.1 g/t gold.
The Company views the property as a key gold asset acquisition. The widespread occurrence of gold together
with the regional geologic contex t that is analogous to other significant deposits in Newfoundland and the
southeast USA make this overlooked area a prime exploration opportunity for discovery. Under the Transition
business model, the Company will undertake sufficient exploration to attract a Partner.
¹ Source: Novascan report AR-ME-1987-204, Report of Exploration on the Cape Breton Highlands Project, Scominex .
² Source: Novascan report AR-ME-1990-161, Exploration Program 1990, The Cape Breton Highlands, Scominex.
³ Source: Novascan report AR-ME-1995-008, Work Report, The McMillan Flowage Gold Project, Lodestone Ltd., 1995.
⁴ Source: Novascan report AR -ME-1020615, Assessment Report on the 2014 -2015 Exploration Programs License
50372 held by Joe Richman.
⁵ Source: 2018 Personal Communications, Economic Geologist, Geological Services Division, Nova Scotia Department
of Energy and Mine.
*Source: First Mining Gold Website - https://firstmininggold.com/projects/newfoundland/hope-brook-project/
*Source: Oceana Gold Media Release dated March 29, 2018
Qualified Person
The technical elements of this press release have been approved by Mr. Greg Collins, P.Geo. (APGO,
APGNS), a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Grab samples are selected samples and are
necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. Historical assay results cited above
have not been verified by the Qualified Person. All analytical work performed on grab samples was conducted
at Agat Laboratories with analyses completed in Mississauga, Ontario The quality system used by Agat
complies with international standards ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17025:2005.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information
Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes
“forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward -looking information
may be identified by words such as “plans”, “proposes”, “estimates”, “intends”, “expects”, “believes”, “may”, “will”
and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production
timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There
can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ
materially from such statements. Factors that coul d cause actual results to differ materially include, among
others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors
are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undu e reliance on forward-looking
information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly
disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward -looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies
of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Further information is available at www.transitionmetalscorp.com or by contacting:
Scott McLean
President and CEO
Transition Metals Corp.
Tel: (705) 669-1777
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