VANCOUVER, B.C., Feb. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Balmoral Resources Ltd. (“Balmoral” or the “Company”) (TSX:BAR) (OTCQX:BALMF) today announced that the winter 2018 drill program on its Martiniere Gold Property in Quebec is underway, and that visible gold mineralization has been intersected in the first hole of the program. This first hole targeted the down-plunge extension of the recently discovered, near-surface Horsefly Gold Zone, which is located approximately 450 metres east of the main Bug Gold Trend on the Property.
The Company announced the discovery of the Horsefly Zone in 2017 with an intercept of 10.51 g/t gold over 5.80 metres (see NR 17-01, Jan. 11, 2017) and expanded on the discovery with subsequent drilling, including an intercept of 4.69 g/t gold over 8.38 metres (see NR 17-09, June 7, 2017). The Zone remains open down plunge and additional winter drill testing will be in order following receipt of assay results.
“You can’t ask for a much better start to a drill program than seeing visible gold in the first hole, in particular when you are looking to expand a recent near-surface high grade gold discovery,” said Darin Wagner, President and CEO of Balmoral Resources. “With the continued growth of the Bug gold deposits, the potential for expansion of a number of new gold discoveries within the broader system - including the Horsefly Zone - and the initial resource estimate from the Martiniere gold system all on tap over the next few months, there is a great deal to look forward to from our Detour Gold Trend Project. Add to that the continued recovery of the nickel price which should bring our Grasset Ni-Cu-Co-PGE deposit back into focus, and a strong treasury, and we believe Balmoral is well positioned for a strong 2018.”
At Martiniere, approximately 5,000 metres of drilling is planned and underway as part of the winter 2018 exploration campaign. The winter program will be the first phase of what is expected to be a minimum $6.5 million dollar exploration expenditure on the Detour Gold Trend Project in 2018. Initial drill testing will focus on several near-surface high-grade gold discoveries proximal to the Bug Gold Trend, and two new target areas, before returning to expansion drilling on the Bug South deposit. The early focus on exploration targets will allow for additional winter drilling on these targets should results warrant.
In addition to drilling, Balmoral will undertake a large IP (induced polarization) survey in the area between its recent Lac du Doigt gold discovery, where the Company reported its strongest intercept to date in October of 2017 (7.05 g/t gold over 2.21 metres within a broadly anomalous zone of 26.33 metres grading 0.73 g/t gold - see NR 17-19, Oct. 26, 2017) and the LAM (Norbug) gold discovery located approximately 1,500 metres to the north (See Figure 1). Surface sampling in the fall of 2017 returned gold values ranging from 0.16 g/t to a high of 7.98 g/t gold in quartz-veined gabbro outcrop and boulders in the LAM area. Both the Lac du Doigt and LAM gold discoveries are interpreted to be proximal to east-west trending structural zones which parallel the regional Sunday Lake deformation zone. The multi-million ounce Detour Lake Gold mine occurs proximal to the Sunday Lake deformation zone 45 kilometres to the west.
Martiniere - Initial Resource Estimate
Work continues on the preparation of an initial resource estimate for the Martiniere gold system. This report will provide an estimate of the gold content in the near-surface portions of the four largest deposits within the system: Bug North, Bug South, Bug Lower Steep and Martiniere West. Results up to the end of the summer/fall 2017 drill season will be incorporated into the resource estimate. All of the deposits within the system remain open for expansion to depth, as do numerous proximal and secondary zones of gold mineralization.
Grasset Ni-Cu-Co-PGE Deposit
With the recent strengthening of the nickel price, and the growing interest in Class I nickel supplies to feed the anticipated demand from the electric vehicle battery market, the Company has fielded a number of enquiries regarding its near term plans for the Grasset Ni-Cu-Co-PGE deposit. Grasset is the largest undeveloped nickel sulphide deposit in the Abitibi region and remains open for expansion, as do a number of other nickel sulphide discoveries made by the Company within the Grasset Ultramafic Complex. Balmoral published an initial resource estimate for the Grasset deposit in 2016 (see NR16-04, March 7, 2016) which demonstrated very strong leverage to higher nickel prices.
The nickel price has increased substantially since work ceased on the Grasset project in 2015, having significantly outperformed the precious metals complex over the last several months. It is now approaching the nickel metal price assumption of $6.56/lb used in the Company’s 2016 resource estimate. The current open market prices for all other payable metals contained within the Grasset deposit, save platinum, exceed, to greatly exceed in the case of cobalt, the price assumptions from the 2016 resource estimate, as does the current USD/CAD exchange rate.
The Company will continue to closely monitor the nickel market, including the evolving electric vehicle battery demand stream, and the larger global outlook for nickel production, and could return to active exploration and delineation at Grasset as early as the summer of 2018 if market conditions continue to stabilize and improve. The report containing the initial resource estimate for the Grasset deposit is available on the Company’s website at Click Here
Quality Control
Mr. Darin Wagner (P.Geo.), President and CEO of the Company, 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 from the holes summarized in this release, discussed, reviewed the results with senior on-site geological staff and reviewed the available analytical and quality control results.
