Pancon Completes Phase 1 Drilling at Flagship Brewer Gold Project
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2021) - Pancontinental Resources Corporation (TSXV: PUC) (OTCQB: PUCCF) ("Pancon" or the "Company") has completed Phase 1 of a fully funded 10,000-meter diamond drill program at its flagship Brewer Gold Project. The Brewer Project covers nearly 1,000 acres on the gold-rich, underexplored Carolina Slate Belt in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, and is where a former mine produced 178,000 ounces of oxide gold between 1987-1995. Phase 1 drilling commenced on November 3, 2020 (see November 5, 2020 news release).
Highlights:
- 2,692 meters were drilled in seven holes, two of which included both sonic and diamond drilling.
- Holes 4 and 5 intersected lithologies typical of highly mineralized zones in the historic mine and core (see corporate presentation slide 20).
- Gold assay and multielement geochemistry results for copper and other elements are pending.
Layton Croft, Pancon President and CEO stated: "While we await assay and multielement geochemistry results, we are super excited by what we see from Phase 1 drilling. Our team possesses an unmatched level of combined experience drilling at and near Brewer, and during Phase 1 the team identified an abundance of highly altered silicification and brecciation in all seven holes. We see a lot of pyrite as well as some enargite and other copper minerals. We see textures that suggest skarn-like minerology, something corroborated by more than 1,000 x-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses on both historic Brewer core as well as on RAB drill samples from August-September 2020."
Croft continued: "In Pancon core holes 4 and 5, we see lithologies typical of mineralized zones in historic drill core from beneath the former mine. Some of these historic zones ran more than 7 grams per tonne gold. In all, we believe Phase 1 drill results will achieve two objectives: i) prove the concept that the former Brewer Gold Mine property has a lot more gold, plus copper, to be discovered; and ii) provide an unprecedented quantity and quality of new information that will increase probabilities for success in upcoming Phase 2 drilling, and beyond."
The Pancon team is very encouraged by twinning and extending the historic mineralized lithology in both depth and length (see Photo 1 and Photo 2 below for more details). The Company cautions that the mineralization at the former Brewer Gold Mine is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization that may be identified by the Company's ongoing and upcoming exploration work.
In Phase 1, Pancon drilled a total 2,691.95 meters from seven diamond drill holes and two sonic drill holes. The two sonic drill holes were vertical holes through reclaimed waste rock and high-sulphide refractory ore from the former mine. These two holes continued vertically beneath the former mine in diamond drill holes. The first six holes tested either geophysical anomalies and/or targets associated with historic diamond drill holes or recent rotary air blast (RAB) drill holes (see July 28, 2020 news release on geophysical results and November 16, 2020 news release on RAB drill results). The seventh hole stepped out to the northwest of the former mine in an area known to be rich in topaz, which has historical correlation to gold found and mined at Brewer (see Figure 1 below for a map showing both Pancon's Phase 1 drill holes and the 90 RAB holes and their associated gold results).
Pancon is waiting to receive Phase 1 assay and multielement geochemistry results for gold, copper and other elements, including rare earths elements, of which elevated levels were found in samples of sludge concentrated and sequestered from metal-rich acid mine waters routinely covered as part of the government's environmental mitigation plan (see November 16, 2020 news release). It is believed that the unusually lengthy wait times for assay and multielement geochemistry results are due to both an overall increase in exploration drilling all over North America and thus exceptionally high demand on labs, as well as labor and logistical challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Once Phase 1 results are received, Pancon will update its database and conceptual model to design the Phase 2 drill program. Sonic drilling, in addition to diamond drilling, may be used again during Phase 2 in order to effectively drill through the 55-65 meters of loose, unconsolidated material reclaimed in the former mined pit. This backfilled material contains waste rock and high-sulphide refractory ore from the previous mining operation, which used cyanide to heap leach the oxide ore. Pancon's 2020 RAB drill program demonstrated that the top layer of this backfill, down to 10-15 meters, contains attractive gold values, with two of the seven RAB holes in the backfill containing samples running more than 1 g/t Au.
As per Figure 1 below, the seven holes in Phase 1 were plotted coincident with the two parallel north-south traverses from Pancon's first and fourth lines of resistivity/IP geophysical surveys conducted in June-July 2020, and similar to how the majority of Pancon's 90 shallow RAB holes were plotted.
Figure 1: Phase 1 diamond drill holes with 2020 RAB drill holes and RAB gold results
To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5156/73038_c7c5e5586474d8e9_003full.jpg
Table 1: Phase 1 Drill Holes
| Drill Hole | Location | Orientation | Length (meters) |
| B20C-001 | southwest of the former mine | 65-degree angle, due south azimuth | 341.5 |
| B20C-002 | north of the former mine | 45-degree angle, due south azimuth | 314.7 |
| B20C-003 | west of the former mine | 65-degree angle, due south azimuth | 503.5 |
| Sonic Hole 1 | vertically in the central area of the former mine | vertical | 55.49 |
| B20C-004 | continued down from sonic hole 1 | vertical | 543.96 meters, for a total hole depth of 599.45 meters |
| Sonic Hole 2 | vertically 100 meters due north of sonic hole 1 and diamond hole 4 | vertical | 65.85 |
| B21C-005 | continued down from sonic hole 2 | vertical | 200.15 meters, for a total hole depth of 266 meters |
| B21C-006 | 250 meters from the southern wall of the main historic mined pit | 65-degree angle, due south azimuth | 286.8 |
| B21C-007 | 500 meters northwest of the northwest trend historic mined pit | 65-degree angle and south azimuth | 380 |
Photo 1 below shows wet, cut drill core from historic diamond drill hole B97-4, a hole drilled by Placer Dome in 1997. Hole B97-4 was collared north of the former mine, at a 45-degree angle, due south azimuth. Photo 1 is of core from approximately 193 meters (633 feet) down the hole, or about 150 meters vertical depth. Historic assay results for hole B97-4 show 1.2 g/t Au over 61 meters, between 190.2 and 251.2 meters down the hole, and including 3.1 meters of 7.6 g/t Au at between 242-245.1 meters down the hole.
Photo 1: Historic core photo (cut core) from diamond drill hole B97-4 (labeled in feet)
To view an enhanced version of Photo 1, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5156/73038_c7c5e5586474d8e9_004full.jpg
Photo 2 below shows wet, uncut drill core from Pancon's vertical diamond drill hole B21C-005. Photo 2 is of core from approximately 152 meters vertical depth down the hole, similar to the vertical depth location of the core in Photo 1 above. The lithological similarities are evident and encouraging.
Photo 2: New Pancon core photo (uncut core) from diamond drill hole B20C-005 (labeled in meters)
To view an enhanced version of Photo 2, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5156/73038_c7c5e5586474d8e9_005full.jpg
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard "Criss" Capps, PhD, RPG, SME REG GEO, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
About Pancon
Pancon is a Canadian junior mining company focused on exploring the prolific and underexplored Carolina Slate Belt in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA. In January 2020, Pancon won the exclusive right to explore the former Brewer Gold Mine property. Between 1987-1995, Brewer produced 178,000 ounces of oxide gold from open pits that extended to 50-meter depths, where copper and gold-rich sulfides were exposed but could not be processed by the oxide heap leach processing facility. Brewer hasn't been explored since 1997, and most of the tools used previously to explore the property have since been updated with more advanced technologies. Brewer is a high sulphidation system driven by a sub-volcanic intrusive and possibly connected to a large copper-gold porphyry system at depth, as indicated by: widely known prospective geology, including diatreme breccias; associated high sulphidation alteration; gold and copper mineralization; and geophysics (Schmidt, R.G., 1978, The Potential for Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Deposits in the Eastern United States, U.S. Geological Survey). Pancon's 100%-owned, 1,500-acre Jefferson Gold Project nearly completely surrounds the 1,000-acre former Brewer Gold Mine property, and both Jefferson and Brewer are located 12 kilometers northeast along trend from the producing Haile Gold Mine, which produced 146,100 ounces of gold in 2019 (https://oceanagold.com/operation/haile/).
For further information, please contact:
Layton Croft, President & CEO or Jeanny So, Manager, External Relations
E: info@panconresources.com
T: +1.647.202.0994
For additional information please visit our new website at www.panconresources.com and our Twitter feed: @PanconResources.
Neither 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 contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.
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