Balmoral's Area 51 Gold System Program Continues - Preparation for Winter Drilling Underway

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Balmoral Resources Ltd.’s (“Balmoral” or the “Company”) (TSX: BAR; OTCQX: BALMF) previously announced ground geophysical survey targeting the Area 51 gold system (see News Release 19-27; Dec. 16, 2019) and related gold discoveries on its wholly-owned Fenelon Property in Quebec is continuing and on track to be completed later this month. Drill site permitting has already begun for those portions of the survey area completed to date, and drilling is anticipated to commence in February. The Fenelon Property forms part of the Company’s district-scale Detour Gold Trend Project located in west-central Quebec.

“We are very pleased with the early results from the extensive geophysical program being completed at Fenelon, and are in the process of permitting several additional drill sites targeting gold mineralization in Area 52, Area 51 West, and along the Ripley/Sunday Lake gold trends,” said Darin Wagner, President and CEO of Balmoral. “The positive results from our fall Area 52 and Ripley drill programs are aiding in the evaluation of the ongoing geophysical work and allowing us to move rapidly from receipt of survey results to targeting and drill permitting.”

It is currently anticipated that a minimum 5,000 metre diamond drill program will be conducted on several targets throughout the surveyed area during the current winter season. The focus will be on targeting extensions of the Area 51 gold system and on high-grade gold targets along and proximal to the Sunday Lake deformation zone which also transects the property.

2019 Highlights

Between late October and the end of 2019 the Company closed two private placements for gross proceeds totaling approximately $8.05 million dollars, and received a Quebec Exploration Tax Credit of slightly over $1.0 million dollars, to enter 2020 in the strongest financial position it has been in since early 2017.

During 2019 new gold discoveries in Area 52, including the high-grade Ripley discovery, and the on-going growth of the Area 51 gold system provided exciting new paths to growth and discovery in the Grasset-Fenelon-Area 51 (“GFA”) camp which will remain a focal point in 2020. This success built on an inventory of drill-ready gold discoveries and targets throughout the Detour Gold Trend Project and new drill-ready nickel discoveries made earlier in the year at RUM, Gargoyle, and in the central portion of the Grasset Ultramafic Complex. As a result Balmoral ended 2019 as one of the strongest performing mining equities – year over year – on the TSX.  

The pending completion of the acquisition of Detour Gold Corp. by fellow Canadian gold producer Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. promises to further highlight the potential of - and increase the activity level along - the Detour Gold Trend, where the Company remains the dominant land holder. 

With funding in place, an improved share price, and the significantly increased level of activity in the region, Balmoral is well positioned as we enter 2020 to work toward repeating the success of 2019. In the near term, exciting discovery drill programs in the GFA area are set to get underway and as the year progresses the Company will be in a position to resume the expansion of the already substantial, shallow high-grade gold resource on the nearby Martiniere property – which was calculated at US $1,300 / ounce gold – and to advance a number of other gold discoveries and discovery opportunities it currently controls along the Detour Gold Trend.

Upcoming Conference Schedule

Balmoral will be exhibiting and presenting at both the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (January 19-20, 2020) and the AME Roundup (January 20-23, 2020) this coming week in Vancouver.  You can find representatives of the Company at Booth 501 at the VRIC (Vancouver Convention Centre West) and Mr. Wagner will be given a brief corporate presentation at 11:20 am on the 19^th in Workshop #6.

Balmoral was invited to display the drill core from its high-grade GUC Central nickel discovery in the Core Shack at the Roundup (Vancouver Convention Centre East) on January 22^nd and 23^rd. Mr. Michael Tucker, Exploration Manager for the Company, will give a technical presentation on the recent discoveries and exploration potential of the Grasset Ultramafic Complex in the Base Metal Exploration Session at 1:20 pm on January 22.

Qualified Person and Quality Control

Mr. Michael Tucker (P. Geo. B.C., Ont. and Temporary Permit, Que.), Exploration Manager for the Company, is the non-independent qualified person for the technical disclosure contained within this release. Mr. Tucker supervised the recent Area 52 drill program described herein and has worked on the Fenelon property since 2014. Mr. Tucker has reviewed and approved of the technical information contained within this release.

Balmoral has implemented a quality control program for all of its drill programs, to ensure best practice in the sampling and analysis of the drill core, which includes the insertion of blind blanks, duplicates and certified standards into sample stream. NQ sized drill core is saw cut with half of the drill core sampled at intervals based on geological criteria including lithology, visual mineralization and alteration. The remaining half of the core is stored on-site at the Company’s Val d’Or field office in Quebec. Drill core samples are transported in sealed bags to ALS Minerals’ Val d’Or, Quebec analytical facilities. Gold analyses are obtained via industry standard fire assay with atomic absorption finish using 30 g aliquots. For samples returning greater than 5.00 g/t gold follow-up fire assay analysis with a gravimetric finish is completed. The Company has also requested that any samples returning greater than 10.00 g/t gold undergo screen metallic fire assay. Following receipt of assays, visual analysis of mineralized intercepts is conducted and additional analysis may be requested. ALS Minerals is ISO 9001:2008 certified and the Val d’Or facilities are ISO 17025 certified for gold analysis.

About Balmoral Resources Ltd. – www.balmoralresources.com

Balmoral is a multi-award winning Canadian-focused exploration company actively exploring a portfolio of gold and base metal properties located within the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt. The Company’s flagship, 1,000 km² Detour Gold Trend Project hosts the resource-stage Bug and Martiniere West gold deposits and the Grasset nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposit. Employing a drill-focused exploration style in one of the world’s preeminent mining jurisdictions, Balmoral is following an established formula with a goal of maximizing shareholder value through the discovery and definition of high-grade, Canadian gold and base metal assets.

On behalf of the board of directors of
BALMORAL RESOURCES LTD.

“Darin Wagner”

President and CEO

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, “forward looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws.  All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, duration and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the potential continuation of certain geological features, and the potentially discoveries of mineralization on the properties are forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believes, may, could, expects, planned, appears to, potential, anticipates, intends, estimate, postulate and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events.  Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.  The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations include those related to weather, equipment and staff availability; performance of third parties; timing of receipt of assay results from third party analytical facilities; risks related to the exploration stage of the Company’s projects; market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration stage companies and in commodity prices; and uncertainties about the availability of additional financing; risks related to the Company’s ability to identify one or more economic deposits on the properties, and variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located on the properties; risks related to the Company’s ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities on the properties; and risks related to the Company’s ability to produce minerals from the properties successfully or profitably.  Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Company’s public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical reports filed with respect to the Company’s mineral properties.

This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company’s properties.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.