Northquest Ltd. commences diamond drilling at the Pistol Bay Gold Project, Nunavut, Canada

TORONTO, July 21, 2014 /CNW/ - Northquest Ltd. (TSX.V-NQ) (FWB-N3Q) ("Northquest" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has commenced at the Pistol Bay Gold Project, Nunavut, Canada.  

The Pistol Bay Project consists of 860 square kilometres of staked claims covering a 90 kilometre strike length of the Pistol Bay Trend which is a west-trending series of surface gold occurrences and gold zones intersected in drill holes by Northquest in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The Pistol Bay Trend is a newly recognized trend parallel to, and 80 kilometres south of, the Meliadine Trend of gold deposits of Agnico Eagle Mines, which reportedly contains 3.0 million ounces of gold reserves, plus 2.2 million ounces indicated and 2.9 million ounces inferred (www.agnico-eagle.com).

Since the initial field operations commenced at Pistol Bay in April 2011, Northquest has completed two airborne geophysical surveys and 9,110 metres of diamond drilling in 48 drill holes and has obtained economically interesting drilling intersections at the Sako, Vickers, and Bazooka targets which occur over a 20 kilometre long segment of the Pistol Bay Trend.

In 2012, the best drilling intersection was from the Vickers Target in drill hole PB-12-22 which intersected 156.48 metres grading 8.23 grams gold per tonne (Press Release November 26, 2012).  In 2013, the best drilling intersection from the Vickers Target was in drill hole PB-13-06 which intersected 138.39 metres grading 3.79 grams gold per tonne  (Press Release October 1, 2013). Approximately 3,000 metres of drilling, in eleven drill holes, are planned for the Vickers Target. The planned drilling at the Vickers Target will consist of step out drilling starting on Section 8800 W, east for 200 metres to Section 8600 W.

Three drill holes (approximately 450 metres) are planned to test IP anomalies and a gold-bearing boulder field on an IP anomaly at the Sako Target where the best drill hole to date was PB-12-02 which intersected 15.53 metres grading 1.76 grams gold per tonne (Press Release September 6, 2012).  

Two drill holes (approximately 450 metres), are planned to test a synclinal fold axis in iron formation where drill hole PB-12-04, drilled in 2012, intersected 2.10 grams gold per tonne over 11.17 metres in the interpreted attenuated limb of the fold (Press Release September 6, 2012).

The remaining drilling metreage will be used to follow up on this year's assays, as they are received and interpreted.  Drilling results will be announced when the assays have been received and verified. It is anticipated that an initial batch of drilling results will be announced sometime in early August.

Northquest President and CEO Jon North stated, that "We are very excited about completing this year's drilling plan, and it is not lost on us that, because the Pistol Bay Project is of such high quality, that Northquest is one of they few companies in the Arctic that has a budget for exploration this year. We feel that we have the right combination of drilling on the three targets. Extending the Vickers Zone is obviously our top priority. I look forward to begin publishing drilling results later this summer".

Potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature.  There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource at the Pistol Bay Project to date, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.  Northquest is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of properties for the mining of gold and other minerals.  Northquest has 53,853,707 shares outstanding (77,578,318 shares on a fully diluted basis).  For further information please visit www.northquest.biz.

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the Company's expectations regarding the future growth, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities.  In some cases forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology.  These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, risks associated with the uncertainty of exploration results and estimates, metallurgical test results and that the resource potential will be achieved on exploration projects, currency fluctuations, dependence upon regulatory approvals, political and country risk, and the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing and exploration risk. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.  The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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SOURCE Northquest Ltd.