Orea Drills 5.39 g/t Gold Over 24.3 Meters at the Maripa Gold Project in French Guiana

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 22, 2022 /CNW/ - Orea Mining Corp. ("Orea") (TSX: OREA) (OTCQX: OREAF) (FSE: 3CG) is pleased to report on the first results of the 2022 diamond drilling program at the Maripa Gold Project ("Maripa"), located in eastern French Guiana, France. As announced on February 15, 2022, Orea has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD") to purchase a 100% interest in Maripa.

• Permits for 10,000 meters of diamond drilling on Maripa were approved by the Direction Générale des Territoires et de la Mer ("DGTM"), which regulates mining and exploration activities in French Guiana;
• Orea completed 6 diamond drill holes as an initial reconnaissance of the Changement Gold Zone, which has been traced over a strike extent of 1.5 km;
• Gold assay results were received for a fence of 4 drill holes centered on the main pit of the former Changement mine; and
• Drill holes CHT-22-060B and CHT-22-061 returned important gold mineralized intersections below the main pit:
• 4.13 g/t gold over 8.1 meters (CHT-22-060B from 27.4 to 35.5 m);
• 5.39 g/t gold over 24.3 meters (CHT-22-061 from 106.4 to 130.7 m); and
• Visible gold ("VG") was observed in both intersections.

Rock Lefrancois, President & CEO of Orea commented "We are extremely pleased with the initial drill results, which have confirmed significant economic potential at Changement, one of the five identified targets at Maripa."     

Changement Gold Zone

The Changement Gold Zone, located at the northern end of Maripa, is one of five partially drill-defined gold zones at Maripa. The Changement area was subject to placer gold mining from 1859 to 1950. All creeks peripheral to the deposit have been worked over time. Underground hard rock mining was recorded as early as 1880 and the deposit was exploited at surface by three shallow open pits from 1985 to 1996. Total declared historical placer and hard rock gold production is estimated to be approximately 100,000 ounces, with 42,000 ounces from hard rock. The Changement gold mineralization was interpreted to be localized within two subparallel north-northwest striking, moderately west dipping, shear zones of 10 to 25 meters in width cutting Paramaca Formation mafic volcano-sedimentary sequences. Gold mineralization is associated with quartz veining and sulfides, mainly as pyrite. The deposit has been traced by drilling to shallow depths over a lateral (strike) distance of 1,250 meters. A total of 63 diamond drill holes (4,500 meters) were completed by the French geological survey (BRGM, 1978-1998) and by IAMGOLD (2002-2004). Most of the drilling was confined to the weathered saprolite layer.

Prospecting by Orea in 2019 identified numerous abandoned mine shafts and adits excavated by illegal artisanal miners, located some 650 to 850 meters to the south of the former Changement mine main pit. Stockpiles of rock extracted from the mine workings consist of mineralized quartz-pyrite veins and mafic volcanic wall rock. Select samples of the mineralized material returned numerous high-grade assays including 115.70, 83.48, 68.43, 42.60, 29.57, 15.51, 14.70, 9.42, 6.05, 5.98, 52.33, 17.20, 16.99, 14.64, 14.50, 9.75, 9.00, 7.36 and 6.83 g/t gold (see news releases dated November 26, 2019). The discoveries extended the Changement gold mineralized trend another 250 meters to the south.

2022 Drilling Program

As announced on January 14, 2022, Orea commenced a diamond drilling program at the Changement Gold Zone, with 1,000 meters of drilling to be completed in January and February. This initial drilling phase was conducted between January 15^th and February 8^th. Six (6) drill holes, for a total of 911.5 meters, were completed (refer to the Changement Drill Hole Location and Changement Drill Hole Section 1100 maps at the links below).

CHT-22-059, -060, -060B and -061 served as a continuous fence of drill holes centred on the former Changement mine main pit with the objective to trace at depth the principal gold mineralized structure exploited at surface and to test for any subsidiary gold mineralized zones. Hole CHT-22-060B was drilled as a twin of hole CHT-22-060 due to poor core recovery in quartz veining zones within the weathered saprolite layer.

Gold assay results were received for drill holes CHT-22-059, -060, -060B and -061 (up to 130.7 m). Drill holes CHT-22-060B and CHT-22-061 confirmed the depth extension of the principal gold mineralized structure exploited in the main pit:  

• CHT-22-060B cut a sulfide mineralized quartz veining zone from 28 to 49 meters (21 m) hole depth within the weathered saprolite layer. Specks of VG were observed at one location. The zone returned an intersection averaging 4.13 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 8.1 meters from 27.4 to 35.5 meters hole depth (25 meters vertical depth).
• CHT-22-061 cut a shear zone with intense alteration from 67 to 130 meters (63 m) hole depth containing two sections of sulfide mineralized quartz veins from 67 to 93 meters (26 m) and 106 to 130 meters (24 m). Specks of VG were observed at three locations in the latter section, which returned an intersection averaging 5.39 g/t gold over 24.3 meters from 106.4 to 130.7 meters hole depth (90 meters vertical depth).

The dominant structural fabric in drill hole CHT-22-061 is close to 90° to the core axis indicating that the true width of the gold mineralized zone approximates core length. Oriented core measurements confirmed that the dominant structural fabric in the gold mineralized zone strikes northwest-southeast and dips moderately to the west.

Highlights of results received for drill holes CHT-22-059, -060, -060B and -061 are as follows (true width = approximate core length):

CHT-22-062 and CHT-22-063, drilled 850 meters and 650 meters south of the main pit, respectively, targeted high-grade gold veins exploited by artisanal miners and the southern extent of the principal gold mineralized structure exploited by open pit. Gold assay results are pending for these holes.

Maripa and Changement maps are available at the following links:

Orea Project Locations:
www.oreamining.com/i/nr/2022-02-22-map-maripa-location.pdf 
Maripa Project Geology:
www.oreamining.com/i/nr/2022-02-22-map-maripa-geo.pdf 
Changement Drill Hole Location:
www.oreamining.com/i/nr/2022-02-22-map-maripa-changement.pdf 
Changement Drill Hole Section 1100:
www.oreamining.com/i/nr/2022-02-22-map-maripa-changement-section1100.pdf

About Maripa

Maripa is located in eastern French Guiana along a paved national road, approximately 60 kilometers south of the capital city of Cayenne. The project is comprised of up to five contiguous exploration permits that cover an area of 120 square kilometers, namely the Changement, Maripa, Orapu, Crique Véoux (pending) and Maripa Sud-Est permits.

Past exploration at Maripa includes 134 diamond drill holes, for a total of 9,000 meters, which partially defined 5 broad gold zones; namely, from north to south, Changement, Filon Dron, Maripa Sud-Est, Rhyodacite and Filon Scieur. Drilling was limited to shallow depths within the weathered saprolite layer with all 5 prospects returning drill hole intersections of economic interest with demonstrated potential for expansion and mineral resource delineation. Gold mineralization is associated with shear-tension quartz vein systems and vein stockworks localized along major fault zones marking a regional deformation corridor known as the Northern Guiana Trough ("NGT").

Initial prospecting by Orea in 2019 and 2020 in the northern half of Maripa led to the discovery of 5 new quartz-gold vein systems with high-grade gold potential in the vicinity of the Changement and Filon Dron gold zones.

In October-November 2020, Orea completed 8 diamond drill holes, for 1,168 meters, which tested 4 separate targets identified in the central part of the Maripa Gold Project (see news release date January 27, 2021). Six (6) of the 8 drill holes served to test the depth and lateral extent of 3 gold mineralized shear-hosted vein systems traced at surface in and around the Filon Dron gold zone. Four (4) drill holes intersected wide shear zones marked by quartz veining, strong hydrothermal alteration, and sulfide mineralization over 18 to 27 meters, which returned gold values.

Technical Info, QA/QC and Qualified Person

Orea obtained all permits required to conduct drilling operations on Maripa. Mining work declarations ("DOTM") to conduct 10,000 meters of diamond drilling on Maripa were submitted to and approved by the DGTM.

Diamond drill holes were bored with HQ-size core (63.5 mm) in the upper weathered saprolite zone and telescoped to NQ size core (47.6 mm) in fresh rock. The core was placed in heavy PVC plastic core boxes with covers and transported by Orea personnel to the Company's Matoury logging facilities, located at the outskirts of Cayenne along National Road 2 (RN2), 65 km by road north of the Maripa project. Orea personnel were present on site at all times during the drilling program.

The core was photographed for reference and logged by Orea geologists who also identified the sampling intervals. Samples were collected by sawing the core in half; sample lengths vary between 0.7 and 1.3 meter. Individual half-core samples were sealed in heavy duty cellophane plastic bags and placed by batch in sealed polypropylene bags and delivered by Orea personnel to the Filab Amsud depot in Cayenne for trucking to Filab Amsud laboratory in Paramaribo, Suriname, an ISO 9001:2015 accredited laboratory. The remaining half-core is stored in sturdy core racks at the Matoury logging facility. Samples were assayed for gold by the fire-assay method using an atomic absorption finish on a 50-gram pulp split. Samples assaying above 5 g/t gold are systematically re-analyzed with gravimetry finish. Mineralized sections were also analyzed by ICP-MS multi-element analysis, including copper.

A quality assurance and quality control program (QA/QC) was implemented by Orea and Filab Amsud to ensure the accuracy and reproducibility of the analytical method and results. The QA/QC program includes the insertion of gold standards, blanks and field duplicates in each laboratory assay batch. Check assaying of select gold mineralized sections was performed by screen metallics method for better reproducibility when metallic gold is present in the sample to overcome the "nugget effect". In this method, a 500g sample is screened to 140 mesh (106µ). The fraction plus fraction is fire assayed for gold and a duplicate assay is performed on the minus fraction. The size fraction weights, coarse and fine fraction gold content and total gold content are reported.  

The drilling program was conducted under the supervision Rock Lefrançois, President & Chief Executive Officer of Orea and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed this news release and is responsible for the technical information reported herein, including verification of the data disclosed.

About Orea Mining Corp.

Orea is a leading gold exploration and development company operating in a prospective and underexplored segment of the Guiana Shield, South America. Its mission is to develop gold deposits with a reduced environmental footprint using innovative technologies, upholding the highest international standards for responsible mining. In French Guiana, Orea holds a major interest in the world-class Montagne d'Or mine development project and is also advancing the Maripa and Suriname gold exploration projects.

For more about Orea visit the company's website at www.oreamining.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:

Rock Lefrançois
President & CEO

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements made herein, including statements relating to matters that are not historical facts and statements of the Company's beliefs, intentions and expectations about developments, results and events which will or may occur in the future, constitute "forward looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events and are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "could", "should", "expect", "seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "budget", "plan", "estimate", continue", "forecast", "believe", "predict", "potential", "target", "would", "might", "will", and similar words, expressions or phrases (including negative variations) suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. These include, but are not limited to, statements and information regarding: the Company's plans to purchase a 100% interest in Maripa; the Company's objective of become an emerging gold producer; the acquisition of exploration projects including terms of acquisition, exploration or development plans, intentions to acquire additional exploration or development interests and the implications thereof; the production capacity and potential of future plant and equipment; future exploration and mine plans, objectives and expectations and corporate planning of the Company, future studies and environmental impact statements and the timetable for completion and content thereof and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the matters and activities contemplated in this news release.

Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such assumptions and analyses are made by the Company's management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. All assumptions and analyses are those of the Company's. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies, local and global economic conditions, and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including compliance by the Company with regulatory and permitting requirements applicable in French Guiana, the sufficiency of Company's working capital; the Company's ability to secure additional funding for the continued exploration and development of its properties; the price of gold and other metals; and the Company's ability to retain key personnel. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, political and economic risks in France, political and economic risks in French Guiana, regulatory risk including but not limited to unforeseen changes in regulatory requirements, the Company's ability to enforce its contractual and other legal rights to explore and exploit its properties, risks related to exploration and development, permitting and licensing risk, future profitability of the Company, the ability to obtain additional financing on a timely basis, the price of gold and marketability thereof, government regulations including with respect to taxes, royalties, land tenure and land use, title to the Company's properties, currency exchange rates and fluctuations, environmental risks, dilution resulting from the issuance of additional securities of the Company, joint venture risks, the availability of equipment, conflicts of interest, competition in the mining industry, uninsured risks, market fluctuations, global financial conditions, credit risk and risks arising from pandemics and epidemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcomes will not occur. Events or circumstances could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those estimated or projected and expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements are included in the "Risk Factors" section in Company's annual information form dated December 15, 2021 for the year ended September 30, 2021 ("AIF").

Readers are further cautioned that the list of factors enumerated in the "Risk Factors" section of the AIF that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions with respect to the Company, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements and information contained herein are made as of the date of this document and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements and information contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

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SOURCE Orea Mining Corp.

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