Mr. Dustin Perry reports
KINGFISHER INTERSECTS 6.88 G/T AU, 13.60 G/T AG, AND 0.28% CU OVER 9 M IN FIRST-EVER DRILL PROGRAM, CLOUD DRIFTER TREND, GOLDRANGE PROJECT
Kingfisher Metals Corp. has released results from the first four holes assayed from its 14-hole 4,925.3-metre 2021 program. Assay results for 10 remaining drill holes are pending. Goldrange is located approximately 25 kilometres south of the town of Tatla Lake in the Chilcotin region of southwestern British Columbia.
Highlights:
Discovery of a high-grade sulphide-cement hydrothermal breccia with 6.88 grams per tonne gold, 13.6 g/t silver and 0.28 per cent copper over nine metres in GR21-007;Vein-style mineralization yielding 14.80 g/t Au over one m within 2.16 g/t Au over eight m also in GR21-007 and 5.30 g/t Au over one m in GR21-002;Drilling to date has also revealed broad zones of near-surface mineralization over significant widths, such as 0.90 g/t Au over 12 m, 0.41 g/t Au over 16 m, 0.38 g/t Au over nine m and 0.38 g/t Au over 10 m in GR21-003; and 0.32 g/t Au over seven m and 0.32 g/t over eight m in GR21-007;The initial results of drilling confirm the presence of a gold system with significant intersects in all holes other than GR21-001, which failed to reach target depth due to difficult drilling conditions in this shallow, slope-parallel hole; poor recoveries may have plagued the shallower parts of all drill holes in this release.
The 2021 drill program targeted a small part (350 m) of the western end of the gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly that defines the about three-by-two-kilometre Cloud Drifter trend in an area of extensive forest cover and limited outcrop. Significant intercepts from the drill holes are highlighted in the associated table and an image on the company's website; the results presented in this news release are discussed by Kingfisher chief executive officer Dustin Perry and exploration vice-president Gayle Febbo in a video as well as during a webinar at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
HIGHLIGHT DRILL INTERCEPTS FROM ORIENTED CORE DIAMOND DRILLING AT THE GOLDRANGE PROJECTHole FromToIntervalAuAgCu(m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) (%)GR21-001- - - no significant valuesGR21-002 2627 15.30 - -GR21-003 3544 90.38 - -and5668120.90 - -and7894160.41 - -and 179 189100.38 - -GR21-007 3543 82.16 - -incl.4142 1 14.80 - -and 136 143 70.32 - -and 418 427 96.8813.60.28and 451 459 80.32 - -* True widths are not known at this time. All widths reported are drilled widths. Values less than 10 g/t Ag and less than 0.1 per cent Cu are not reported within the highlight table.
Dustin Perry, chief executive officer of Kingfisher, stated: "I am thrilled that we were able to intersect high-grade mineralization on the initial drill holes of the first-ever diamond drill program at the Goldrange project. This initial drill program at Goldrange covered less than 10 per cent of the Cloud Drifter trend; yet it is yielding some impressive intersections so far. We believe we are in the early stages of the discovery of a significant high-grade gold camp and we look forward to receiving our remaining results from both the Cloud Drifter drilling and from our property-wide exploration (soil and rock geochemical sampling, geological mapping, and IP geophysics). Planning for an expanded 2022 drill and field program throughout the trend has already begun."
Charlie Greig, technical adviser to Kingfisher, stated: "The results from the first Cloud Drifter holes are exciting. To get broad ore-grade intercepts in the initial holes bodes very well for the exploration potential of the trend. The polyphase nature of the mineralization and its association with elevated bismuth, tellurium and antimony, elements which may be valuable in their own right and which are very commonly associated with high-grade gold deposits worldwide is significant. It is very early days for the Goldrange project and its numerous mineral occurrences, which are just now beginning to be tested with modern exploration methods."
Geology and mineralization of the Cloud Drifter trend
The Cloud Drifter trendis an about three by two km zone of highly anomalous Au-Ag-Sb-Cu-As-Bi-Te (gold-silver-antimony-copper-arsenic-busimuth-tellurium) geochemistry that is coincident with quartz-sulphide and sulphosalt veins, sulphide-cement breccias, and quartz-sulphide replacement zones. In 2020, Kingfisher's work along the trend included prospecting that yielded 312 rock geochemical samples yielding an average grade of 6.26 g/t Au and soil sampling, which produced an extensive soil geochemical anomaly with 50 samples over one g/t Au.
Mineralization within the trend and throughout the 367-square-kilometre Goldrange project is closely associated with and largely hosted by a complex of late Cretaceous quartz-diorite and diorite intrusions emplaced into Triassic to Cretaceous sedimentary and volcanic rocks.
Drill hole descriptions
Drill hole GR21-007
GR21-007 was drilled uphill of a soil geochemical anomaly near the projected trend of the plutonic contact. Assay results for this hole were prioritized in the interests of drill hole targeting once it was recognized that the lower quartz diorite was mineralized. However, given the delays common to all analytical laboratories this season, the original drill plan remained unchanged.
The excellent intercept in this hole (6.88 g/t Au, 13.60 g/t Ag and 0.28 per cent Cu over nine m between 418 m and 427 m) represents a previously unrecognized style of mineralization in the region, a high-grade breccia body hosted by quartz diorite. Gold is associated with sooty dark-coloured sulphides within the matrix to the breccia. Given the Au grades and elevated Sb (0.10 per cent), Bi (181.89 parts per million), Cu (0.28 per cent), As (0.33 per cent) and Te (1.45 ppm), the sooty minerals likely include Au-bearing sulphosalts (tetrahedrite-tennantite) or tellurides. In addition, a shallow zone of high-grade vein-style mineralization returned 14.80 g/t Au over one m within eight m of 2.16 g/t Au close to surface (35 to 43 m)
Holes GR21-001 and -002
The initial drill set-up for the 2021 program targeted mineralization at surface that occurs within the hangingwall of a thrust fault that is part of the late Cretaceous Waddington thrust belt developed along the eastern margin of the Coast belt. High-density veins on surface measure two to 20 centimetres wide and are highly fractured and disproportionately oxidized relative to the host rocks. Recovery within the deformation zone was poor, with recoveries from the uppermost parts of GR21-001 and GR21-002 being 59 per cent from zero to 45 m and 55 per cent from zero to 44 m, respectively. Vein material similar to that sampled at surface was not recovered, although the drill holes locally returned anomalous grades (that is, 5.30 g/t Au over one m in GR21-002). Visual logging of drill core shows strong oxidation in recessive, low recovery zones in what are interpreted to be arsenopyrite-rich veins, and the company believes that a significant amount of oxidized sulphide-rich vein material was washed away. Drill hole GR21-001 failed to reach target depth due to difficult drilling conditions in the highly fractured near-surface, slope-parallel host rocks. GR21-002 intercepted anomalous gold near the contacts of both the upper and lower diorite intrusions. Based on the low recoveries, the company interprets that this part of the Cloud Drifter trend has not been adequately drill tested. Future drill testing of this zone may benefit from employment of a reverse circulation (RC) drilling rig, from which better recoveries from of oxidized material may be achieved.
Holes GR21-003 and -004
The set-up for these holes was collared upslope of a soil geochemical anomaly coincident with trenches yielding high-grade results from numerous quartz-sulphide veins that range in thickness between two and 30 cm. The veins are most abundant near the contacts of what is known as the upper diorite, but mineralized veins occur both within the diorite and in association with both upper and lower contacts. As a consequence, at surface the Cloud Drifter mineralized zone occurs over a relatively broad (about 100 m) interval and area. Vein styles in drill core include both open space textures in dilation veins and laminated textures in shear veins.
Further geological descriptions of drill core and drill collar locations can be found in news releases dated Sept. 2, 2021, and Oct. 6, 2021.
Future work
Results for the remaining 10 drill holes in the 2021 program are pending. As the results are released to the company, the company will be focusing on interpretation and 3-D modelling of the oriented drill core data, with the aims of improving its understanding of the controls on mineralization and on targeting for 2022 drilling. At the Cloud Drifter zone, much of the focus for the targeting work will be on the sulphide-cement breccia intersected in drill hole GR21-007, which bears similarities with high-grade breccias that outcrop on surface at the Langara, Standard, Day Trip and Lost Fiddle zones. In addition, the results of the company's extensive property-scale soil and rock geochemical sampling programs are also pending. Following the compilation, interpretation and release of those results, Kingfisher will develop a path toward drill targeting the most prospective anomalies.
Quality assurance/quality control and core sampling protocols
All drill holes at the Goldrange property were NQ sized (47.6 mm diameter). A continuous series of one-metre-long half-split core samples was taken down the entire length of each drill hole. Sample lengths were reduced to a minimum of half a metre to avoid crossing lithologic contacts or other features deemed important by Kingfisher geologists.
Unlabelled certified reference materials (CRM) were inserted systematically throughout the sample sequence along with blanks and duplicate samples. The total number of blanks, duplicates and CRM samples equals approximately 5 per cent of the total samples taken.
Core samples were shipped to Acme Labs, a division of Bureau Veritas, located in Vancouver, B.C., for preparation and analysis. Bureau Veritas is an International Organization for Standardization 9000-accredited analytical laboratory and is independent of Kingfisher Metals and its qualified person. Samples were prepped using the PRP7-250, PUL85 and SPTPL packages and analyzed for 45 major and trace elements using ICP-ES/MS (inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy/mass spectrometry) (method code MA200). A 30 g split from each sample was analyzed for Au using a lead collection fire assay fusion that was digested and analyzed using AAS (atomic absorption spectroscopy) (method code FA430). A 30 g split from samples that assayed greater than 10 parts per million Au and/or greater than 200 ppm Ag was analyzed using a lead collection fire assay fusion with a gravimetric finish (method code FA530).
Qualified person
Mr. Perry is the company's qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has prepared the technical information presented in this release.
About Kingfisher Metals Corp.
Kingfisher Metals is a Canada-based exploration company focused on underexplored district-scale projects in British Columbia. Kingfisher has three 100-per-cent-owned district-scale projects that offer potential exposure to high-grade gold, copper, silver and zinc.
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