Vancouver, BC / TheNewswire / October 6, 2016 - TriStar Gold Inc.: At the Castelo de Sonhos gold project of TriStar Gold Inc. (the "Company" or "TriStar"), a drilling program is underway that is designed to provide confirmation of the assumptions used to determine the exploration target range presented in the Company's 43-101 Technical Report filed on SEDAR in March 2016. Specifically, the step-out drilling will increase knowledge of geometry (the folding of the conglomerate band), continuity of mineralization and trends in grade and thickness. Since this information may affect investors' decisions, TriStar intends to provide monthly updates on the drilling program.
Two core rigs are on site and have been drilling since mid-September in the Esperanca South area. Initially, they will complete a series of six step-out holes (Figures 1 and 2) that test the exploration target model's assumption that mineralization extends significantly beyond the last drill holes on the southwest limb. By the end of September, the first of these holes, CSH-16-144, was completed and the second, CSH-16-145, had reached approximately half of its planned depth.
Mr. Nick Appleyard, President and CEO, commented: "We're off to a good start with the drilling. The first completed hole supports our view that the mineralization does continue along strike to the southwest. As we drill the 400m step-out holes to the southwest, we anticipate that we can extend Esperanca South by two kilometres or more. Then we'll test the northern extension of Esperanca Center, followed by in-fill holes to support the estimation of an updated resource."
As shown in Figure 3, CSH-16-144 was drilled with the intention of intersecting the down-dip extension of one of the many locations where there are three separate sources of evidence of strong mineralization at surface: the outcrop of the conglomeratic band, a strong geochemical gold anomaly in the soil, and hand-dug workings from historical small-scale mining activity. This hole was also designed to test the base of the overlying arenite because the two nearest holes (CSH-12-044 and CSH-12-085), approximately 200m to the northeast along the strike of the conglomerates, each encountered several meters of strong gold mineralization above 5 g/t in the arenite, immediately above the conglomerates. Since the exploration target range assessment assigned no potential to the overlying arenite, CSH-16-144 will assist in determining if there is additional resource potential in this unit. The deeper parts of CSH-16-144 are intended to test the along-strike continuity of conglomerate-hosted mineralization encountered in CSH-11-020.
Preliminary logging of the two new drill holes shows the expected sequence of lithologies, supporting that the exploration target's model of the 3D geometry of the conglomerate band is accurate at these locations. Observations of fine grains of visible gold in CSH-16-144 confirm that gold is present, but the gold grade will not be known until the assays are available.
In October, the core from the first holes will be halved, photographed and logged in detail; 1/2 -core samples from these holes will be sent for analysis, with assay results expected by the end of October. During the next month, sample material for a 125 kg sample will be composited from core for the metallurgical testwork that will be needed for the preliminary economic assessment report planned for the third quarter of 2017.
TriStar's Vice-President, R. Mohan Srivastava (P.Geo.), is the QP for this press release and has prepared or supervised the preparation of the scientific or technical information in this press release.
About TriStar:
TriStar Gold is an exploration and development company focused on precious metals properties in the Americas that have potential to become significant producing mines. The Company's current flagship property is Castelo de Sonhos in Para State, Brazil. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol TSG. Further information is available at www.tristargold.com.
Figure 1. Castelo de Sonhos project areas with the conglomerate outcrop, geochemical soil anomaly and footprint of 2014 resource estimate.
Figure 2. 2016 step-out holes (in dark blue) on the southwestern limb of Esperanca South.
Figure 3. Northeast-facing cross-section through CSH-16-144.
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