Extension to Option Agreement Term at Tri Origin's Sky Lake Gold Project, Ontario
The Koval option was entered into between Tri Origin and Lac Properties Inc a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corporation on October 7, 2016 and had a term of four years. An amending agreement entered into between the two parties has extended the term of the option agreement by one year. Tri Origin will earn all of Barrick's 96% interest in the "Koval" patent claims by incurring an exploration expenditure of $500,000 over the term of the option. To date, approximately $375,000 of this expenditure has been completed.
The Koval property consists of 28 patent claims and 1 licence of occupation covering an area of approximately 2 square kilometres. The Koval patent claims are within the west-central part of Tri Origin's 100%-owned Sky Lake property which is 27 kilometres in length and covers an area of approximately 127 square kilometres located 30 kilometres southwest of the Pickle Lake Gold Mining District in northwest Ontario.
The Koval patent claims host a gold deposit discovered and partially delineated during the 1950's. Gold zones or "shoots" comprising the deposit were traced by drilling for a distance of 1.5 kilometres along strike however these gold zones were only drilled to an average of 100 metres below surface. During the 1980's, Tri Origin's management (then managing exploration for LAC Minerals Ltd) drilled confirmatory holes at the Koval property to depths of approximately 200 metres below surface. The deposit remains open at depth. In addition, Tri Origin recently completed a deep-looking induced polarization ("IP") survey which identified important targets below and adjacent to the deposit which highlight the potential to significantly expand the area of known gold mineralization through further drilling.
A small, non-compliant resource was calculated for the Koval deposit in the past. Tri Origin has completed three dimensional modelling of the deposit using a database comprised of 13,954 metres of drilling with 105 drill holes having extensive, recoverable assay records. Drilling planned by the Company has three objectives; to verify and convert the earlier resource into NI43-101 standards, to test for depth and along strike extensions to expand the resource and to drill nearby gold occurrences and targets which may represent new gold deposits.
Infrastructure is nearby and the eastern edge of the property adjoins highway 199 and power transmission lines. Tri Origin's Sky Lake gold project covers an extensive, well-mineralized segment of the Pickle Lake greenstone belt midway between the past-producing gold deposits of the Pickle Lake Gold District and the Dona Lake Mine to the northeast and the Golden Patricia gold mine to the west which collectively have produced or host over 4 million ounces of gold. The geological environment being investigated by the Company is interpreted by management to strongly resemble that of the important Bousquet-LaRonde Gold District in Quebec where over 25 million ounces of gold has been recovered by mining companies including Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd, IAMGOLD Corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation and LAC Minerals Ltd.
The Company is also encouraged by new work being conducted by competitor companies in the area which confirm the exploration potential of this portion of a productive but over-looked greenstone belt. The Kasagiminnis gold resource now being drilled by a competitor company is only 10 kilometres east of Koval and is surrounded by the eastern extension of Tri Origin's Sky Lake claims. A substantial gold resource has also recently been announced at the past-producing Pickle Crow Gold Mine 30 kilometres to the northeast.
Tri Origin has been in contact with drill contractors to confirm the availability of drill rigs and to inquire about logistics and access for a drill program being planned by the Company. Pending adherence to COVID 19 restrictions that might apply to its work programs and completion of a financing announced by the Company in a news release of September 9, 2020 it is the Company's intent to commence diamond drilling as soon as practical. Shareholders will be informed of the commencement of the program as soon as plans are finalized.
For more information about Tri Origin, please visit www.triorigin.com or SEDAR at www.sedar.com, or contact:
Dr Robert Valliant, President
Tel: (905) 727-1779
E-mail: explore@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.
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.
Assay results and other drill hole data were obtained from the mineral assessment files of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines ("MNDM") and have not yet been confirmed by Tri Origin drilling. No available core or detailed descriptions of assay or sampling procedures are available and consequently, the assays cannot be considered to be NI43-101 compliant. In addition, reports sourced from MNDM files quote a small resource of gold however these resource estimates are not 43-101 compliant and are not represented to be accurate by Tri Origin without confirmatory work being completed.
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.