Mr. Darin Wagner reports
BALMORAL RESUMES EXPANSION DRILLING OF THE GRASSET NICKEL-COPPER-COBALT-PGE DEPOSIT
Balmoral Resources Ltd.'s drilling on the Grasset and adjacent Fenelon properties, focused on the continued evaluation of the nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum-group-element potential of the Grasset ultramafic complex (GUC), commenced during the last week of September. A second drill has now been added and has commenced drilling. The company has expanded the Grasset portion of the summer-fall drilling program which will increase the planned program to over 11,000 metres in total.
"Three years ago we suspended expansion drilling on the Grasset deposit and exploration drilling within the broader GUC following the dramatic crash of the nickel price. Today with the strengthening of the nickel market and the outlook for increasing demand for nickel sulphide deposits to help meet the burgeoning electric vehicle battery market, we are excited to return to the evaluation of the Grasset deposit and nearby discoveries," said Darin Wagner, president and chief executive officer of Balmoral. "This new nickel sulphide belt is in its infancy from an exploration perspective and Balmoral controls it in its entirety."
The Grasset nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposit
The Grasset nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposit and host Grasset ultramafic complex were discovered by Balmoral in 2014. The deposit occurs at the southern end of the 10-kilometre-long GUC, proximal to the regional Sunday Lake deformation zone. Drilling during 2014 and 2015 outlined an initial indicated resource estimate of 3.45 million tonnes grading 1.56 per cent nickel, 0.17 per cent copper, 0.03 per cent cobalt, 0.34 gram per tonne platinum and 0.84 g/t palladium (see news release dated March 7, 2016, and the company's website for full disclosure) from the high-grade core of the deposit. This high-grade core lies within a much larger nickel sulphide body totalling over 15 million tonnes.
Grasset is the largest nickel sulphide deposit in the Abitibi region and one of the largest nickel sulphide deposits in North America not currently owned or controlled by a producing mining company or private equity interests. The Grasset deposit comprises two zones of nickel sulphide mineralization -- the H1 and H3 zones -- which extend for 1,100 metres along strike, both of which remain open along strike to the northwest. The H3 zone is the larger, higher-grade portion of the deposit, has been intersected to a vertical depth of approximately 550 metres and remains open for expansion.
Nickel sulphide mineralization at Grasset is characterized by very high nickel tenors and, as demonstrated by initial testing, very favourable metallurgical characteristics via a standard and simple floatation process which leads to high metal recovery rates and a smelter-friendly concentrate.
The balance of the host GUC remains significantly underexplored with very widely spaced drill testing in 2015 defining a series of additional nickel sulphide discoveries, and in several cases proximal gold discoveries, before drilling was suspended. A number of these discoveries are now slated for follow-up testing, and a series of exploration holes into new targets in the GUC is planned. It is anticipated that drilling will continue through the end of October and into November.
Martiniere and Detour East drilling
Drilling has now been completed on the Martiniere and Detour East properties. In total the company has completed eight holes totalling 2,027 metres at Martiniere and six holes totalling 1,885 metres on the Detour East property.
At Martiniere, drilling in the vicinity of the LAM gold discovery successfully intersected anomalous gold mineralization, including a high-grade intercept of 0.89 metre grading 8.11 grams per tonne gold and separate broader intercepts of 4.57 metres grading 0.51 g/t gold and 12.15 metres grading 0.25 g/t gold, in the first two holes of the program. Gold mineralization at LAM, like in the Bug gold deposit 4.0 kilometres to the southeast, occurs proximal to a north-northwest-trending felsic porphyry intrusions.
Two holes at Martiniere tested the Niquet geophysical anomaly and confirmed the presence of a zoned mafic/ultramafic intrusion associated with the anomaly. Disseminated sulphide mineralization occurs within the ultramafic unit, causing the anomalous chargeability response, but no anomalous nickel or PGE mineralization was reported.
Assay results for the drilling completed at Detour East remains pending. Drilling has led to the successful identification of two new ultramafic intrusions on the property and has continued to intersect broad-scale shearing and deformation across distances in excess of 100 metres in the northeastern quadrant of the property, along the projection of Detour Lake gold-mine-related Sunday Lake deformation zone.
Quality control
Mr. Wagner (PGeo, British Columbia, and restricted permit, Quebec) is the non-independent qualified person for the technical disclosure contained in this news release. Mr. Wagner has supervised the work programs on the company's properties since inception, visited the properties on multiple occasions, examined the drill core or high definition photos thereof from the holes summarized in this release, discussed and reviewed the results with senior on-site geological staff, and reviewed the available analytical and quality control results.
Balmoral has implemented a quality control program for all of its drill programs, to ensure best practice in the sampling and analysis of the drill core, which includes the insertion of blind blanks, duplicates and certified standards into sample stream. NQ-sized drill core is saw cut with half of the drill core sampled at intervals based on geological criteria including lithology, visual mineralization and alteration. The remaining half of the core is stored on-site at the company's Martiniere field camp in central Quebec. Drill core samples are transported in sealed bags to ALS Minerals' Val d'Or, Que., analytical facilities. Gold analyses are obtained via industry standard fire assay with atomic absorption finish using 30-gram aliquots. For samples returning greater than 5.00 g/t gold, follow-up fire assay analysis with a gravimetric finish is completed. The company has also requested that any samples returning greater than 10.00 g/t gold undergo screen metallic fire assay. Following receipt of assays, visual analysis of mineralized intercepts is conducted and additional analysis may be requested. ALS Minerals is ISO 9001:2008 certified and the Val d'Or facilities are ISO 17025 certified for gold analysis.
About Balmoral Resources Ltd.
Balmoral is a well-financed, multiaward-winning Canadian-focused exploration company actively exploring a portfolio of gold and base metal properties located within the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt. The company's flagship, 1,000-square-kilometre Detour Gold trend project hosts the resource stage Bug and Martiniere West gold deposits and the Grasset nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposit.
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