Eagle Plains Acquires St. Paul Mines' Crown Grants at Donna Project

CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 14, 2020 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSXV:EPL) ("EPL" or "Eagle Plains") is pleased to announce the purchase of four Crown Grant mineral claims underlying Eagle Plains' 100%-owned Donna Gold Project located 60km east of Vernon, B.C. The recently acquired tenures cover the historical gold and silver workings of the St. Paul and Morgan Mines and carry no underlying royalties or encumbrances. The claims were purchased from St. Paul Mines Limited, an arms-length company that has controlled the property since at least 1927. Placer mining activity is currently underway on many of the creeks which drain the Donna property.

St. Paul/Morgan Property History

Prospectors following the discovery of placer gold in Cherry and Monashee Creeks discovered gold at the Morgan (BCMINFILE 082LSE022) in the 1890's and the Toughnut, Zilpah, Minerva and Black Bess claims were surveyed as Crown Grants in 1915.

Historic development workings documented at the St. Paul (BCMINFILE 082LSE010) and Morgan include two shafts, 7 tunnels up to 116 meters in length, 3 winzes, an unknown number of open cuts and trenches, as well as a tramline and stamp mill that operated in the 1910's. Production ceased in 1916 due to the death of the property owner. The last reported development work was the construction of a 60 meter tunnel at the St. Paul in 1961. Recorded production from the St. Paul and Morgan deposits for the period 1914-1961 total 392 tonnes containing 5,630 grams of gold, 112,406 grams of silver, 3,720 kilograms of lead and 1,258 kilograms of zinc. Various geological reports and government publications report underground sampling returning values ranging from trace quantities to highs of up to 93.9 g/t (2.74 oz/t) gold and 60.3 g/t (1.76 oz/t) silver over a 0.6m sample width. All historical mine workings are currently inaccessible.

Development work was focused on a series of parallel and cross-cutting quartz veins up to 1.2 meters thick carrying gold, silver, lead, zinc, antimony. The quartz veins occur within a Jurassic-aged diorite sill and along the margins of the contact with sedimentary and volcanic host rocks.

The last significant work program on the Crown Grants occurred in 1996 when Discovery Consultants carried out a data review and property exam on behalf of St. Paul Mines Ltd. Discovery recommended a program of detailed mapping of gold-bearing quartz veins and trenching of the Morgan showing, followed by a small diamond drilling program. A magnetometer survey of the St. Paul area was also recommended to locate drill targets along the diorite contacts. No historical drilling activity has been reported on the St Paul/Morgan property.

The above results were taken directly from the BCMINFILE descriptions and assessment reports filed with the BCEMPR. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work at the Donna property.

Donna Project Summary

The core claims of the Donna property were acquired in 2016 by Eagle Plains through an agreement with ALX Uranium Corp., with additional tenures subsequently added through staking. The Property is located in the Monashee Mountains within the source headwaters of the historic Kettle River and Yeoward Creek placer gold camps. The claims lie within one of the largest clusters of anomalous values in gold and typical associated pathfinder elements identified in the British Columbia Regional Geochemical Surveys stream-sediment program carried out in the joint Federal - Provincial programs from 1985 -1990. Active placer mining activity occurs along creeks draining the property area.

The Property is underlain by a sequence of marine sediments comprising carbonaceous black argillite, limestone, and volcanic rocks of Permian to Lower Triassic age. Locally these rocks were intruded by stocks and plugs of mafic-intermediate composition. The project area is considered to hold good potential to host intrusive-related gold mineralization.

Since acquiring the property in 2016, Eagle Plains has carried out annual systematic exploration including a 470 line-km geophysical survey in 2017 which followed a comprehensive compilation of all historical work. The property boasts a robust GIS database consisting of rock, soil, silt, till, trench and drill-hole results within and adjacent the property area.

Donna Project History

The Donna showing was discovered in 1973 by El Paso Mining and Milling Company ("El Paso"), during follow-up of anomalous gold values generated by a regional stream sediment sampling program. Trenching by El Paso in 1974 in an area defined by an As-Au-Ag-Pb soil anomaly exposed numerous narrow quartz veins which returned assays including 29.5 g/t Au and 89.4 g/t Ag over 2.29 m in Trench 4, and 122.4 g/t Au and 39.3 g/t Ag over 0.8 m in Trench 8 (Ainsworth, 2010).

Subsequent work carried out between 1975 and 2009 by previous operators consisted of trenching, silt sampling, extensive soil and biogeochemical surveying and limited drilling. Between 2009 - 2011 ESO Uranium (later named Alpha Minerals) conducted exploration programs consisting of reconnaissance stream sediment, rock geochemical and detailed soil surveys to define targets for a total of 20 diamond drill holes. Alpha and Interconnected Ventures Corporation carried out the most recent work on the property in 2014 comprising an induced polarization ("IP") geophysical survey, followed by a four-hole, 492m diamond drilling program. All four holes intersected gold mineralization. The best intercept was in DDH14-21 which returned 2.0 m of 8.72 g/t gold. This drill collar is located 1.5 km west of the area of historic trenching and drilling, significantly expanding the area of known gold mineralization (Koffyberg, 2015). Pinnacle North optioned the property in January 2019 and commenced a single drill-hole to a depth of 331.2m on the property in October 2019. The hole was not completed to target depth due to budgetary constraints, though an interval grading 9.41 g/t gold over 1.5m from 134.0-135.0m was published by Pinnacle North. (SEDAR filing Summa Silver Corp. Feb. 04, 2020)

Outlook

Eagle Plains plans to review technical data associated with the recently acquired crown grants and assess within the geological context of the overall Donna property holdings. Should results warrant, Eagle Plains intends to carry out additional diamond drilling activity.

Technical aspects of this news release were reviewed and approved by Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101-Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and a director of Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.

About Eagle Plains Resources

Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team. Managements' current focus is to preserve its treasury while advancing its most promising exploration projects. In addition, Eagle Plains continues to seek out and secure high-quality, unencumbered projects through research, staking and strategic acquisitions. Since 2012, Eagle Plains has added to its portfolio a number of new projects exceeding 130,000 ha targeting mainly gold, uranium and base-metals in Saskatchewan, a highly-prospective mining jurisdiction which was recently recognized by the Fraser Institute as one of the top 3 jurisdictions in the world in terms of Investment Attractiveness. Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices.

Expenditures from 2011-2019 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $20M, most of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 30,000 m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Tim J. Termuende"
President and CEO

For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at
1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

SOURCE: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.