Orezone Announces Recent Drilling That Shows Potential for Several New High-Grade Zones at Bombore Project

OTTAWA, June 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orezone Gold Corp. (“Orezone” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:ORE) is very pleased to report that recent core drilling at the P17S zone, which lies outside of the main Bomboré deposit, has led to a new interpretation of the significance of historic high-grade hits within the main zone.

Over the past number of weeks, the Company's technical team have been reviewing all historical drill data in light of the recent consistent higher-grade intercepts at the P17S target. Drilling has shown that the P17S high-grade zones have a shallow plunge and are hosted in granodiorite.

Previous historical drilling in the main zone did return several high-grade intercepts and it is now recognized that these intercepts are generally within or in the vicinity of the granodiorite units. It was not recognized however, until this most recent review, how significant these shallow plunging structures may be.

Several of the historical intercepts are of significant width and grade and they also appear to follow a similar plunge to that of P17S zones. Furthermore, the high-grade intercepts occur along the entire strike of the main Bomboré orebody and are within the oxide zone.

Patrick Downey, CEO, stated that, "this is exciting news for the Company, and I look forward to testing these four targets. Should we successfully prove that we have several continuous high-grade zones it could have a material positive impact on the ongoing development of the project."

It should be noted that capping and variography would have severely limited the impact of these intercepts within the previous resource model, without understanding the orientation and plunge of the zones.

The Company now believes that there is potential for several high-grade zones and shoots that have not previously been incorporated in the resource model and which could have a positive impact on both grade and tonnes of the Bomboré resource model. Follow-up drilling is now planned to test four of the main targets.

For better clarity, highlights for the Siga South, Siga East/West, P11 and CFU (see below) show the main shallow high-grade intercepts of the 4 target areas that have been prioritized within the Bomboré deposit for the next phase of drilling. Sections along each zone showing several of the historic intercepts are shown in the Corporate Presentation on the Company’s website (www.orezone.com). There are other identified targets and follow-up drilling that will be completed on these areas at a later date.

Once further modelling has been completed, the Company plans to systematically drill each of the 4 prioritized targets immediately thereafter. This program will consist of up to 10,000m of Reverse Circulation drilling, which is expected to commence in July and take approximately 3 months. This program will be within the current 2017 exploration budget.

Highlights – Siga South (true width has yet to be determined)

• BBC1388: from 18 to 23 m: 5 m @ 8.9 gpt, incl. 2 m @ 19.6 gpt;
• BBC1393: from 24 to 39 m: 14 m @ 130.2 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 1,784 gpt;
• BBC1396: from 44 to 48 m: 4 m @ 3.8 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 11.6 gpt;
• BBD0161: from 36 to 40 m: 4 m @ 5.8 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 17.9 gpt;
• BBC1333: from 16 to 20 m: 4 m @ 20.4 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 79.7 gpt;
• BBC3261: from 9 to 17 m: 8 m @ 1.9 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 10.3 gpt;
• BBC3262: from 30 to 38 m: 8 m @ 5.1 gpt, incl. 3 m @ 11.1 gpt;
• BBD0744: from 14.5 to 17 m: 2.5 m @ 26.1 gpt, incl. 1.5 m @ 42.6 gpt; and
• BBC1378: from 47 to 50 m: 3 m @ 10.4 m, incl. 1 m @ 27.0 gpt.

Highlights – Siga East and West (true width has yet to be determined)

• BBC0597: from 36 to 40 m: 4 m @ 3.4 gpt;
• BBC1090: from 34 to 35 m: 1 m @ 32.0 gpt;
• BMC0080: from 38 to 54 m: 16 m @ 9.0 gpt, incl. 4 m @ 29.7 gpt;
• BMC0093: from 42 to 46 m: 4 m @ 16.2, incl. 2 m @ 29.5 gpt;
• BBC1626: from 23 to 28 m: 5 m @ 3.1 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 10.4 gpt;
• BBC1626: from 30 to 34 m: 4 m @ 13.6 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 49.1 gpt;
• BBC1670: from 16 to 21 m: 5 m @ 3.1 gpt, incl. incl. 1 m @ 12.3 gpt;
• BBD0246: from 32 to 38.5 m: 6.5 m @ 2.5 gpt;
• BBD0246: from 45.5 to 55.5 m: 10 m @ 3.1 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 13.5 gpt;
• BBD0246: from 57 to 63 m: 6 m @ 14.3 gpt, incl. 5 m @ 16.6 gpt;
• BBD0789: from 36.5 to 38 m: 1.5 m @ 49.6 gpt;
• BBC1955: from 16 to 18 m: 2 m @ 14.51 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 28.0 gpt;
• BBD0359: from 66.5 to 71 m: 4.5m @ 23.0 gpt, incl. 1.5 m @ 67.0 gpt;
• BBC0596: from 69 to 74: 3 m @ 3.9 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 12.1 gpt;
• BBD0449: from 4 m @ 2.7 gpt;
• BBC1167: from 2 to 4 m: 1 m @ 20.5 gpt in overburden over 1 m @ 5.3 gpt;
• BBC1166: from 4 to 10 m: 6 m @ 5.9 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 20.8 gpt;
• BBC1147: from 18 to 22: 4 m @ 4.6 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 12.9 gpt; and
• BBC0250: from 57 to 58 m: 1 m @ 44.5 gpt.

Highlights – P11 (true width has yet to be determined)

• BBD0339: from 19 to 20: 1 m @ 14.3 gpt;
• BBC0568: from 3 to 4 m: 1 m @ 36.7 gpt;
• BBC0568: from 72 to 75: 3 m @ 30.4 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 89.9 gpt;
• BBC1061: from 1 to 5 m: 4 m @ 8.8 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 32.2 gpt;
• BBD0423: from 7 to 9 m: 2 m @ 5.7 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 10.2 gpt;
• BBD0862: from 40 to 46m: 6 m @ 3.4 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 14.3 gpt;
• BBD0862: from 47 to 54 m: 7 m @ 5.1 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 27.0 gpt;
• BBC1063: from 18 to 22: 4 m @ 3.7 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 11.0 gpt;
• BBD0376: from 73 to 78 m: 5 m @ 2.0 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 16.2 gpt; and
• BBC1050: from 59 to 60 m: hole stopped in 1 m @ 38.2 gpt.

Highlights – CFU (true width has yet to be determined)

• BBC4365: from 39 to 44 m: 5 m @ 20.1 gpt, incl. 2 m @ 47.9 gpt;
• BBD0921: from 59 to 63 m: 4 m @ 25.9 gpt, incl. 1.5 m @ 67.9 gpt;
• BBD0921: from 75.5 to 78.5 m: 3 m @ 59.0 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 175 gpt;
• BBC4223: from 60 to 65 m: 5 m @ 21.7 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 103 gpt;
• BBC0768: from 89 to 92 m: 3 m @ 50.1 gpt, incl. 2 m @ 74.4 gpt;
• BBC3160: from 68 to 70 m: hole stopped in 2 m @ 98.4 gpt; and
• BBC0778: from 78 to 82 m: hole stopped in 4 m @ 22.7 gpt, incl. 1 m @ 81 gpt.

Qualified Person(s)

Tim Miller, SME and COO, Pascal Marquis, Geo and SVP and Patrick Downey, PEng and CEO of Orezone, are Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43-101 and have approved the information in this release. Readers should refer to the annual information form of Orezone for the year ended December 31, 2016 and other continuous disclosure documents filed by Orezone since January 1, 2017 available at www.sedar.com, for this detailed information, which is subject to the qualifications and notes set forth therein. There is a current technical report entitled “Technical Report on the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Bomboré Gold Project, Burkina Faso, West Africa” that was filed on SEDAR on February 27, 2017.

About Orezone Gold Corporation

Orezone is a Canadian company with a successful gold discovery track record and recent mine development experience in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Company owns a 90% interest in Bomboré, a fully permitted, undeveloped oxide gold deposit in West Africa, which is situated 85 km east of the capital city, adjacent to an international highway.

For further information please contact Orezone at +1 (613) 241-3699 or visit the Company’s website at www.orezone.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

This news release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “potential”, “possible” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may”, “will”, “could”, or “should” occur. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others; the drill results from the recently completed P17S drill program have the potential to both expand higher-grade shallow resources at Bomboré and open up previously untested zones recent drill results suggests potential for a 3 km prospective corridor along the P17S – 17 trend, that could have a material positive impact on the ongoing development of the project and could have a positive impact on grade and tonnes of the Bomboré project.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Patrick Downey,
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 1 613 241 3699 / Toll Free: 1 888 673 0663
info@orezone.com /www.orezone.com