Updates and Exploration Plans at Tri Origin's Key Projects
GOLD ZONE MODELLING AND ASSAYING AT SKY LAKE PROJECT
At the Company's Sky Lake project 25 kilometres southwest of the Pickle Lake Gold District in northwest Ontario revisions to modelling of gold deposits partially delineated by shallow drilling conducted during the 1950's has been completed. This work has clarified the continuity and extent of the deposits and has led to the identification of important target areas along the 1.5 kilometre long trend of known gold mineralization. In addition, previously unreported assays for 33 grab samples of volcanic, sedimentary and sulphide-bearing altered rock collected in the vicinity of this gold trend were received by the Company. Of these, 7 returned values of greater than 1.0 gram of gold per tonne ("g/t") and an additional 9 samples returned values between 0.1 and 1.0 g/t. The majority of these samples were collected along a 500 metre long corridor which is interpreted to correlate with the surface projection of the gold deposits. Outcrop exposure at the property is limited and it is significant that this amount of gold was detected in random sampling only where permitted by outcrop exposure. Furthermore, a previously unknown zone of gold mineralization located 750 metres to the southwest returned values of up to 1.2 g/t of gold.
Management is encouraged by these results. The partially delineated gold deposits at Sky Lake are open along strike and at depth. The next phase of work is to conduct "deep-looking" induced polarization ("IP") surveying along this gold-enriched trend to detect and prioritize depth extensions of the known deposits. These extensions will be targeted for upcoming drilling.
GOLD ZONES TARGETED FOR CONTINUED DRILLING AT NORTH ABITIBI PROJECT
Analytical work and geophysical modelling have been ongoing over the winter season at the Company's North Abitibi gold project located 150 kilometres north and northeast of the Kirkland Lake and Timmins Mining Districts, respectively. A preliminary diamond drilling program completed at the North Abitibi project (Tri Origin News Release December 5, 2018) targeted "deep" IP responses and results were positive with all of the holes drilled intersecting gold mineralization. Consistent, strongly anomalous gold-bearing rock has been traced in two zones with a collective strike length of over 2.5 kilometres. Drill holes along this mineralized trend are tightly-spaced although only shallow drilling has been conducted with intersections rarely exceeding 150 metres in depth. A drill program is planned to test the zones at deeper levels.
A key result from the recent modelling is that it has enabled the interpretation of technical results from a previously completed deep IP survey to be tied directly and accurately to gold zones in drill holes. With the exception of an area at the Road Gold Zone excavated by Tri Origin, all of the North Abitibi property is covered by a mantle of glacial overburden. Because of this, matching of geophysical responses to their actual geological source and confirming which geophysical responses are due to gold-bearing rock is of considerable importance. The knowledge recently gained will enhance targeting of future drill holes at the many yet to be drilled IP anomalies in the vicinity of known gold zones.
The next phase of work at North Abitibi is to test for orebody-scale gold lodes extending to depth within the district-scale, near-surface zone of gold mineralization outlined to date.
GOLD ASSAYS AT TRI ORIGIN'S SOUTH ABITIBI GOLD - COBALT PROPERTY
Significant areas of gold enrichment have been delineated at the Company's South Abitibi project in the Cobalt-Temagami region of Ontario. South Abitibi covers a 15 kilometre by 5 kilometre area located 20 kilometres southwest of the town of Cobalt along the south margin of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. Sampling programs were conducted on behalf of an Alliance entered into between Tri Origin and Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. to explore for gold and base metals in the southern Abitibi. During Alliance activities, assay results from surface sampling were not released publically by Tri Origin due to the structure of the Alliance agreement. During late 2018, Sumitomo informed Tri Origin of its withdrawal from the Alliance. This has now left Tri Origin with a 100% interest in the South Abitibi project.
Over 100 grab samples were taken while prospecting around exposed Abitibi belt rocks within a northwest-trending corridor 10 kilometres in length by 2 kilometres wide. Gold content in 10 of these samples was above 1.0 gram of gold per tonne ("g/t"). An additional 50 of these samples reported assay values between 0.1 and 1.0 g/t. As reported in a Tri Origin news release of August 8, 2018, a newly discovered zone of pyritic, gold mineralization was intersected in two drill holes located 450 metres apart which returned assays of up to 1.49 g/t of gold across 0.5 metres and an adjacent 1 metre interval grading 0.54 g/t. These were the only two holes located within the larger-scale trend of surface gold occurrences and no previous exploration has been conducted at this newly recognized occurrence. The geophysical anomaly representing this gold occurrence was not the primary target of either drill hole and similar geophysical anomalies remain undrilled. The relationship between gold occurrences identified during regional prospecting and those intersected by preliminary drilling remains to be understood. Further field work is required to determine the continuity and extent of these newly discovered gold-bearing rocks.
In addition, during Alliance activities a number of cobalt occurrences were identified within Proterozoic-age sedimentary rock and Nipissing diabase which cover the Abitibi belt rocks across most of the property. Cobalt was not a focus of Alliance activities and these occurrences were not investigated. The cobalt occurrences also require detailed field evaluation.
Management believes that the South Abitibi property warrants additional exploration for gold in the predominately covered Abitibi Greenstone Belt rocks and also for cobalt in the younger, sedimentary cover rocks and Nipissing diabase sills. The Company is designing programs to advance the South Abitibi project based on these recent results. It will consider whether to conduct this work in-house or to seek joint venture partners to advance the project.
The Company looks forward to continuing its exploration activities to evaluate high-priority targets at its key projects during 2019. Shareholders will be informed of the details of each program as they are commenced.
For further information, please refer to the Company's website www.triorigin.com or SEDAR www.sedar.com or contact:
Dr. Robert Valliant, President
Tel: (905) 727-1779
E-mail: invest@triorigin.com
Tri Origin Exploration Ltd. is publicly listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol TOE. Tri Origin is a leading Canadian exploration company with gold and base metal projects in Canada.
Gold analyses of samples from the Sky Lake, North Abitibi and South Abitibi projects were conducted by SGS Canada Inc. of Lakefield, Ontario using SGS fire assay-atomic absorption method GE_FAI313 with a detection limit of 1 ppb of gold.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from targeted results. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in Tri Origin's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by Tri Origin from time to time with securities regulatory authorities.
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