Group Ten Metals Announces Surface Sampling Results From the Spy Ni-Cu-PGE Project in Yukon Territory

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX.V:PGE) (OTC:DCGCF) (FSE:5D32) (the “Company” or “Group Ten”) is pleased to announce results from a 2016 prospecting and rock geochemical sampling program conducted at its Spy Ni-Cu-PGE project located 50km south of, and on trend with, the Wellgreen project, in the southwest of Canada’s Yukon Territory. 

The exploration program, which was partially funded by the Yukon Government’s Mining Exploration Program (YMEP), focused on the Spy Sill, a 75 to 100 metre Kluane intrusion that intrudes country rock for 8 km, and yielded the discovery of two new showings, the Solo and the 99. The 99 showing has lengthened the main mineralized trend along the Spy Sill from 950m to 1500m, while the Solo showing indicates the potential continuity of similar mineralization from the 99 showing to the Spy South showing, a distance of two kilometres. Highlights of 2016 surface sampling, along with selected historic samples for context, are presented in Table 1, below, with sample sites shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Mineralization Along the Spy Sill

Michael Rowley, Group Ten Metals’ President & CEO, stated, “We are very encouraged by the results of this recent exploration program as it confirms our expectations as to the extent of the mineralized trend along the Spy Sill which continues to show geological parallels with the high-grade portion of the Wellgreen deposit 50km to the northwest along the Kluane belt. These results provide a number of new target areas for drilling which we anticipate commencing later this year. We expect to provide additional updates on our planned 2017 Yukon exploration program over the coming weeks.”

The 99 Showing occurs in sulphide-bearing mafic to ultramafic rocks close to the base of the Spy Sill. The Solo Showing is in a fault zone perpendicular to the contact between the Spy Sill and Hasen Creek sediments (country rock). Mineralization is found in the sill and in the contact zone. Grab sample 224271, collected in 1994 approximately 140m northwest and above the 99 Showing, returned significant results (see Table 1) from an underexplored horizon above the main body of the Spy Sill, opening up potential for mineralized horizons above the known mineralized layers close to the base of the sill. These samples are not necessarily representative of all the mineralization hosted in the area.

Table 1 – 2016 Surface Sampling Highlights and Historical Context

*Historic sample from Report on Geological and Geochemical Surveys on the Klu Property, Yukon Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources, Assessment Report #094164, Tulk 2001.

About the Spy Project

Group Ten Metals’ Spy Project is situated in the Kluane Ultramafic Belt, a 600km-long sequence of igneous and sedimentary rocks extending from northern British Columbia, through the Yukon and into southern Alaska. Spy consists of 146 claims covering 3,135 hectares, located 70 kilometers (km) northwest of Haines Junction and 270 km northwest of Whitehorse. Clastic sedimentary rocks and limestone of the Hasen Creek Formation are intruded by late Triassic and possibly older mafic to ultramafic sills including the Spy Sill.

Mineralization on the Spy project is classified as Gabbroid Ni-Cu-PGE +Au, the same as all ultramafic associated mineralization within the Kluane belt, including the Wellgreen project. These deposits are hosted in linear mafic to ultramafic intrusions in belts of metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. In the Kluane belt, Ni-Cu-PGE + Au mineralization is associated with the Kluane intrusions, mafic to ultramafic sills or lenses that zone outwards from an ultramafic (peridotite) core to a mafic (gabbro) margin. Massive sulphide lenses occur around the margins of the Kluane intrusions and disseminated to net-textured sulphides can be found in both the intrusion and the adjacent host rocks. The intrusions have preferentially intruded close to the contact between the volcanic (Station Creek) and sedimentary (Hasen Creek) country rocks.

PGE-Ni-Cu mineralization occurs within and along the base of the 75-100m thick ultramafic Spy Sill where it intrudes the Hasen Creek siltstone. Mineralization along the contact varies from disseminated to massive sulfide lenses, with historic grab samples from the massive sulphide lenses assaying as high as 3.1 g/t Pt, 1.4 g/t Pd, 1.0 g/t Au, 3.1% Ni and 2.8% Cu from the gabbro, and 75.8 g/t Pt, 7.9 g/t Pd, 7.0 g/t Au, 2.6% Ni and 10.45% Cu, from the footwall siltstone (Tulk, 2001).

The highest-grade Ni-Cu-PGE+Au mineralization is associated with the basal contact of the Spy Sill and the footwall siltstone, but disseminated lower grade mineralization is also found throughout the entire sill and into the country rocks on either side. Several showings of massive and disseminated mineralization occur intermittently over a strike length of 1.5km between the 99 and Sweet 16 showings. To the south, the Solo and South Spy showings indicate that mineralization continues to the south, and further work is planned to test this area.  

Next Steps

Group Ten is currently finalizing the 2017 Yukon field exploration program which is anticipated to include continued prospecting, trenching and sampling work south of the 99 Showing as well as drilling along the 1.5km mineralized trend identified within the Spy Sill. Additional work is also expected to be undertaken over the rest of the property, concentrating on mapping and chip sampling. 

The Company is further conducting advanced assessment of potential additional platinum group element properties and will provide updates in that regard in Q2, 2017.

Quality Control and Quality Assurance

Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and he has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

All rock samples are grab samples with no length.

Analytical work on 2016 samples was done by Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd. with sample preparation in Whitehorse, Yukon and geochemical analysis in Vancouver, British Columbia. Each rock sample was analyzed for gold, platinum and palladium using a 30g fire assay fusion (FA 130) with inductively  coupled Plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) finish. In addition, 34 other elements were analyzed using an Aqua Regia digestion with inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and (ICP-MS), method code AQ-270. All results have passed the QAQC screening by the lab. Bureau Veritas facilities are internally and externally audited to maintain ISO registrations and accreditations.

Historic samples were analyzed at Chemex Laboratories (now ALS Chemex) or Cominco Resource Laboratory, both in Vancouver. Gold, platinum and palladium were analysed by fire assay and the other elements by aqua regia digestion with ICP finish. No QAQC information is available.

About Group Ten Metals Inc.

Group Ten Metals Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on exploration for deposits of platinum group metals (PGM), gold, nickel and copper.  The Company controls a large land position in the Kluane Ultramafic Belt in the southwest Yukon Territory, the Black Lake / Drayton gold project in the Rainy River district in northwest Ontario, and the Duke Island Cu-Ni-PGM project in Alaska.