Japan Gold Commences Drilling at the Barrick-Alliance Mizobe Project in Southern Kyushu
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2023) - Japan Gold Corp. (TSXV: JG) (OTCQB: JGLDF) ("Japan Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce commencement of drilling at the Barrick Alliance Mizobe Project in Southern Kyushu, Japan. Mizobe is one of six projects selected by Barrick to advance to the second evaluation phase under the Strategic Alliance Agreement.
Highlights
- The Mizobe Project lies within the Hokusatsu Region of southern Kyushu, along the western edge of the Kagoshima Graben in a similar geological setting as the Hishikari gold mine, located 23 km to the north. Hishikari is one of the highest grade Tier 1 gold mines in the world and has produced in excess of 8.3 million ounces of gold since 19851.
- An initial reconnaissance phase of three widely spaced 500 m deep drill holes are planned at Mizobe, targeting the concealed extensions of gold-bearing antimony-rich hydrothermal breccias for gold-rich feeder-veins.
Mizobe Project
The Hokusatsu Region of Southern Kyushu is Japan's largest gold producing district, with more than 11 million ounces of combined production from low-sulphidation epithermal deposits1-5, (Figure 1).
Within the Mizobe Project, historical mining activities focused on antimony-rich hydrothermal breccias at the Semari and Nakazon workings, prior to 1942. In 2000, as part of government supported regional geological surveys, the Metal Mining Agency of Japan ("MMAJ") drill hole 12MAHT-2 was drilled 1 km to the southeast of the historical antimony workings, targeting a geophysical anomaly below a mineralized outcrop grading 0.3 g/t gold. Drilling intersected a mineralized interval of 43.35 m @ 0.89 g/t gold, with an included interval of 20.3 m @ 1.16 g/t gold from 307.0 m down-hole5, (Figure 2). No further drilling was completed around this mineralized intersection.
Alliance sampling of altered outcrop and quartz-vein breccia float across a 2 by 2.5 km area in the eastern side of the project show strong gold and pathfinder element anomalies with channel samples including composited intervals up to 24.7 m grading 1.0 g/t gold, and river float samples up to 18.9 g/t gold. The extent of gold and antimony anomalism is highly encouraging considering much of the target area is concealed by a veneer of post-mineral volcanic ash. Strong antimony and gold mineralization and the super-imposition of banded quartz veins over hydrothermal breccias indicate the potential presence of a dynamic and well-preserved gold-bearing epithermal system. Interpretation of combined geological, geochemical, and geophysical data sets support the definition of drill targets along strike of mineralization exploited at the Nakazon and Semari workings, and the more recently defined Fusayama and Tamari areas. The three initial, widely spaced drill holes at Mizobe are part of an open-ended drill program to test the framework of current interpretations and improve ongoing drill targeting below post-mineral cover at Mizobe and across the district.
References
1 Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., LTD. Integrated Report, March 2022.
2 Watanabe Y, 2005. Late Cenozoic evolution of epithermal gold metallogenic provinces in Kyushu, Japan. Mineralium Deposita (2005) 40: pp 307-323
3 Garwin, S.G. et al. 2005. Tectonic setting, Geology, and gold and copper mineralization in the Cenozoic magmatic arcs of Southeast Asia and the West Pacific. Economic Geology 100th Anniversary Vol. pp 891-930
4 Shikazono, N. 2003. Geochemical and Tectonic Evolution of Arc-Backarc Hydrothermal Systems, Volume 1. Elsevier, 2003.
5 Metal Mining Agency of Japan, June 2001, Regional Geological Structure Survey Report for Fiscal Year 2000, Hokusatsu, Kushikino District.
Sampling Techniques and Assaying
Rock results presented in this news release and accompanying figures are from 1-3 kg selected grabs of river float samples, and continuous chip-channel samples. The grab samples of float material reported in this announcement are believed to originate from the underlying bedrock of the drainage basin from which they were collected. The Company cautions that grab and float samples are selective by nature and may not be representative of typical mineralization on the property. Composited chip-channel samples have been collected continuously along exposures of bedrock at intervals between 0.5 to 1.5 m. Sample preparation and assaying were done by ALS Perth, WA, Australia. Samples were crushed and pulverised and gold was analysed by 50 gram-charge Fire Assay and AAS finish. A 48 multielement analysis including silver was done by four-acid digest and ICP-MS determination.
A Chain-of-Custody was established between the Company and receiving laboratory to ensure the integrity of the samples during transportation from site to the lab. Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) were inserted by Japan Gold at every 20th sample to assess repeatability and assaying precision of the laboratory. In addition, the laboratory applied its own internal Quality Control procedure that includes sample duplicates, blanks & geochemical standards. They report these results with the certified Assay Report. Laboratory procedures and QAQC protocols adopted are considered appropriate. The CRMs and internal QC-QA results fall within acceptable levels of accuracy & precision and are considered to lack any bias.
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Japan Gold's Vice President of Exploration, Andrew Rowe, BAppSc, FAusIMM, FSEG, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
On behalf of the Board of Japan Gold Corp.
"John Proust"
Chairman & CEO
About Japan Gold Corp.
Japan Gold Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused solely on gold exploration across the three largest islands of Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu. The Company holds a portfolio of 32 gold projects which cover areas with known gold occurrences, a history of mining and are prospective for high-grade epithermal gold mineralization. Japan Gold's leadership team represent decades of resource industry and business experience, and the Company has an operational team of geologists, drillers and technical advisors with experience exploring and operating in Japan.
Japan Gold has a country-wide alliance with Barrick Gold Corporation to jointly explore, develop, and mine certain gold mineral properties and mining projects. The Barrick Alliance has completed a successful two-and-a-half-year country-wide screening program of 29 projects and has selected 6 with the potential to host Tier 1 or Tier 2 gold ore bodies for further advancement and 3 more recently acquired project areas and one recently acquired project, for initial evaluation.
For further information please contact:
John Proust
Chairman & CEO
Phone: 778-725-1491
Email: info@japangold.com
Website: www.japangold.com
Cautionary Note
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or anticipated future events and anticipated results related to future partnerships and the Company's 2023 gold exploration program. These statements are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that include, but are not limited to, the timing and granting of prospecting rights; the Company's ability to convert prospecting rights into digging rights within the timeframe prescribed by the Mining Act; general economic, market and business conditions; competition for qualified staff; the regulatory process and actions; technical issues; new legislation; potential delays or changes in plans; working in a new political jurisdiction; results of exploration; the Company's ability to execute and implement future plans, arrange or conclude a joint-venture or partnership; and the occurrence of unexpected events. Actual results achieved may differ from the information provided herein and, consequently, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein speaks only as of the date of this News Release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward‐looking information or to explain any material difference between such and subsequent actual events, except as required by applicable laws.
Figure 1: Japan Gold and Barrick Alliance projects and significant gold mines across the Hokusatsu Region of southern Kyushu.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5665/158663_769a9d6d94274a49_001full.jpg
Figure 2: Simplified geological map of the east side of Mizobe Project with the three initial Barrick Alliance drill holes now commenced, historical drilling by the MMAJ, and Alliance rock-outcrop and float gold geochemistry.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5665/158663_769a9d6d94274a49_002full.jpg
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/158663