ATAC Resources reports RAB drill gold discovery and extends Osiris Zone with 8.63 metres of 11.72 g/t gold
November 19, 2018 - Vancouver, BC - ATAC Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ATC)("ATAC") is pleased to announce a rotary air blast ("RAB") drilling gold discoveryand the final seven diamond drill hole results from the Osiris, Conrad and Sunrisedeposit expansion program within its 100%-owned Osiris Project, located at itsRackla Gold Property, Yukon.
Highlights
RAB drillingidentified an at-surface, high-gradegold discovery located approximately 1,000 m southwest of the Conrad Zoneand 800 m east of Ibis Zone;Step-out drilling at Osiris returned 8.63 m of 11.72 g/t gold in hole OS-18-275, representing one of the highestgrade mineralized intersection encountered to date at the Osiris Zone; and,Step-out drilling 60 m along the 650-850fault corridor at Conrad returned 7.29 mof 8.90 g/t gold at the faulted contact of limestone and siliciclasticunits in hole OS-18-278.“This drill season demonstrated the resource expansion potentialthat highlights the Osiris Project as one of Canada’s modern district-scalegold discoveries,” commented President and CEO Graham Downs. “We havesystematically stepped out on our high-grade maiden resource estimate anddiscovered additional mineralization near surface and down dip at the Conrad,Sunrise, and Osiris deposits. All of these zones remain open in multipledirections and offer exciting opportunities for drill targeting next year. Inaddition, our scout drilling has once again identified new gold mineralizationregionally, which reaffirms our belief that additional discoveries will be madeacross the Rackla Gold Property.”
Osiris Zone
A total of four step-out holes (1,638 m) were drilled at the Osiris Zonein 2018 targeting mineralization at depth. Results are presented in the tablebelow.
| Drill Hole | From | To | Interval* | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OS-18-275 | 244.10 | 252.73 | 8.63 | 11.72 |
| incl. | 244.10 | 245.97 | 1.87 | 31.90 |
| and | 366.30 | 368.43 | 2.13 | 7.27 |
| OS-18-279 | 185.92 | 202.08 | 16.16 | 6.46 |
| incl. | 188.93 | 192.94 | 4.01 | 20.04 |
| OS-18-280 | 334.43 | 350.52 | 16.09 | 2.64 |
| incl. | 334.43 | 337.38 | 2.95 | 7.30 |
* Thereported intersections are drilled thicknesses and are believed to representapproximately 80%-100% true width.
Please refer to thefollowing link for an Osiris/Sunrise Drill Plan Map: http://www.atacresources.com/assets/img/Osiris-SunriseGeology_2018.pdf
Mineralization at the Osiris Deposit is primarily hosted: (i) in steeplydipping reactive beds within the Osiris limestone unit; and (ii) atstratigraphic contacts between units where mineralizing fluid-flow were focused. Drilling at Osiris involved stepping outalong known reactive mineralized corridors within the host Osiris stratigraphy andtesting the targets at depth.
Hole OS-18-275 returned 8.63 m of11.72 g/t gold at the stratigraphic contact between limestone and dolostoneunits. Additionally, OS-18-275intersected 2.13 m of 7.27 g/t gold at the stratigraphic contact between acarbonate debrite unit and an overlying crystalline limestone.While mineralization has been encountered inthe carbonate debrite unit before, this is the first time mineralization has been encountered at the contact with thecrystalline limestone.
Please refer to thefollowing link for a hole OS-18-275 cross section: http://www.atacresources.com/assets/img/OS-18-275CrossSection.pdf
The significance of lithological contacts in the development of goldmineralization was also demonstrated where an undercut of OS-17-244 intersected 16.16 m of 6.46 g/t gold, including 4.01m of 20.04 g/t gold, in hole OS-18-279.
Stratigraphic horizons within the Osiris limestone unit also controlfluid flow and the development of gold mineralization. This was demonstrated inhole OS-18-280, which intersected 16.09 m of 2.64 g/t gold, including 2.95 m of 7.30 g/t gold. This intervalwas at the same stratigraphic position as 16.46 m of 5.29 g/t gold, encountered130 m above, in hole OS-17-258.
Hole OS-18-277 intersected five zones of anomalous gold mineralizationand associated pathfinder elements. These intercepts demonstrate that the goldbearing fluids are still present and can be used to trace the flow of mineralizingfluids throughout the system.
2018 RAB Discovery
Two RAB holes were completed late in the exploration season to target anuntested gold anomaly located approximately 1 km southwest of Conrad whereprospecting grab samples in 2010 contained 2.51 g/t gold and 2.34 g/t gold.
The two holes were fanned off a single drill pad and targeted the Osirislimestone unit. OSR-18-01 intersected1.53 m of 3.05 g/t gold and OSR-18-002 returned 6.10 m of 3.38 g/t gold. Mineralization was intersected frombedrock surface and highlights the potential for additional discoveries ofCarlin-style gold mineralization on the Osiris Project. Further exploration ofthis target will be undertaken as part of the 2019 field program.
Please refer to the following link for a geology map of the RAB golddiscovery at the Osiris Cluster: http://www.atacresources.com/assets/img/OsirisCluster_RAB.PDF
Conrad Zone
A total of elevendiamond drill holes (4,388 m) were completed in 2018 at the Conrad Zone withthe objective being the expansion of near-surface gold mineralization developedwithin and adjacent to the 650-850 fault corridor.
Hole OS-18-278, thefinal Conrad intercept to be reported, targeted the intersection of the 650-850fault corridor with the Nadaleen Fault. This hole returned several mineralizedintervals approximately 60 m along trend of OS-18-266, which encountered 52.91m of 2.83 g/t gold. Results from OS-18-278 are presented in the table below.
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Interval* (m) | Gold (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OS-18-278 | 156.97 | 160.02 | 3.05 | 6.79 |
| and | 172.21 | 184.40 | 12.19 | 2.40 |
| and | 210.79 | 219.56 | 8.77 | 3.37 |
| and | 312.12 | 339.55 | 27.43 | 3.21 |
| incl. | 312.12 | 319.41 | 7.29 | 8.90 |
* Thereported intersections are drilled thicknesses and are believed to representapproximately 70%-100% true width.
Pleaserefer to the following link for a Conrad Drill Plan Map: http://www.atacresources.com/assets/img/ConradGeology2018.pdf
The 2018 Conrad programsuccessfully identified new high-grade gold mineralization within, and adjacentto the pit constrained mineralization outlined in ATAC's 2018 initial OsirisResource Estimate. Drilling has extended near-surfacemineralization along the 650-850 fault corridor 150 m to the east and 80 m tothe north.
Step-out hole OS-18-262also extended the Conrad Middle Zone mineralization 90 m to the east with anintersection of 23.59 m of 9.50 g/t gold. This demonstrates the high-grade expansion potential at the siliciclastic-limestonecontact. Additional follow-up work is required to trace the mineralization atdepth, as the Conrad Middle Zone has received limited drilling to date.Mineralization is open in multiple directionsand remains a priority target for 2019.
For previouslyannounced Conrad drill results see ATAC news releases dated July17, 2018, and September13, 2018.
Sunrise Zone
Five diamond drill holes (1,753 m) were completed to expand on mineralizationdefined at the Sunrise Zone. Gold mineralization at Sunrise occurs as astructurally-controlled fracture network paralleling the Sunrise Fault. Thefinal two Sunrise holes, OS-18-274 and OS-18-276, were westerly step outs fromhole OS-18-273, which returned 26.70 mof 12.95 g/t gold.
Hole OS-18-274 intersected a narrow zone of mineralization associatedwith the fracture network returning 1.88 m* of 5.67 g/t gold. Hole OS-18-276, a140 m undercut of the mineralization in hole OS-18-274 returned a zone ofanomalous gold associated with strong pathfinder geochemical response.
*The reported intersection is drilled thicknessesand is believed to represent approximately 70%-100% true width.
See ATAC's website (www.atacresources.com) for updated Osiris,Sunrise and Conrad figures.
Orion Project Update
The Orion Project comprises the central third of the Rackla Gold Propertyand is currently under option to Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick").The 2018 exploration program at the Orion Projectincluded 16 diamond drill holes (7,410 m) over a 15 km2 area.An announcement of the 2018 Orion Projectresults will be issued following the conclusion of a joint technical committeemeeting scheduled for December.
The technicalinformation in this news release has been approved by Julia Lane, P.Geo., VicePresident of Exploration for ATAC and a Qualified Person for the purposes ofNational Instrument 43-101.
QA/QC
Diamond drill sampleswere forwarded to ALS Minerals in Whitehorse, Y.T., where they were finecrushed before a 250 gram split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75microns. Pulps were then analyzed at ALS Minerals in North Vancouver, B.C.where gold determinations were carried out. Splits of the pulverized fractionwere dissolved using a four acid digestion and analyzed for 49 elements usinginductively coupled plasma (ICP) together with mass spectrometry (MS) andatomic emission spectroscopy (AES). Gold analyses were by the Au-AA25 procedurethat involves fire assay preparation using a 30 gram charge with an atomicabsorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish. Mercury analyses were digested with aquaregia and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Rigorous procedures arein place regarding sample collection, chain of custody and data entry.Certified assay standards, duplicate samples and blanks are routinely insertedinto the sample stream of diamond drill samples to ensure integrity of theassay process. All diamond drill samples included in this news release havepassed the QA/QC procedures as described above.
RAB drilling is a very effective exploration tool, but does not providethe detailed level of geological and structural information as does diamonddrilling. Accordingly, RAB drilling is primarily used as an early tointermediate stage exploration tool and the results cannot be used for thepurposes of NI 43-101 mineral resource estimates.
AboutATAC
ATAC is a Yukon-basedexploration company focused on developing Canada's only Carlin-type golddistrict at the Rackla Gold Property. Work on the ~1,700 km2property has resulted in an Osiris Project Inferred Mineral Resource of1,685,000 oz of gold at an average grade of 4.23 g/t (in 12.4 Mt) and apositive Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Tiger Gold Deposit. ATAC andBarrick have partnered to explore the Rackla Gold Property's Orion Project,with Barrick having the option to earn up to 70% of Orion by spending $55million in exploration. ATAC is well-financed with approximately $10 million intreasury.
On behalf of Management and the Board of Directors
of ATAC Resources Ltd.
Graham Downs, President and CEO
For further information, please contact:
Matthew Keevil, VP, Corporate Affairs
ATAC Resources Ltd.
T: 604-687-2522 ext. 260
mkeevil@atacresources.com
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