Vancouver, British Columbia, May 26, 2016 – Equitas Resources Corp. (“Equitas” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EQT) (US: EQTRF) (Frankfurt: T6UN) is pleased to announce that drilling has commenced on the Baldo Zone (“Baldo”) of its 100%-owned Cajueiro Gold Project (“Cajueiro”) in Central Brazil.
The exploration program is the first phase of an extensive 2016 work schedule at Cajueiro and is focused on defining additional gold resource in the near-surface saprolite oxide domain along a highly prospective mineralized structural corridor. The program has been designed to increase resources at Cajuiero and provide further information to support open pit development.
Exploration Program Outline
The exploration program will consist of 20 HQ diamond drill holes totaling 1600m and 700m of trenching, targeted on a 650m strike length of mineralized corridor at the Baldo Zone. The trenching program initiated on May 11. Layne Do Brasil Sondagens Ltda. has been awarded the drilling contract. Two track-mounted rigs, a CS-1000\10 and CS-1500, commenced operations on May 20, and drilling and trenching is expected to be completed within a month.
Potential for Resource Upgrade
The Baldo zone currently hosts an Inferred Resource of 309,000 tonnes grading 3.029 g/t Au (Gustavson, 2016) in the oxidized saprolite. Previous exploration results reveal strong potential for resource upgrade in this target domain.
The 2016 exploration program has been designed to follow on previously reported sampling results which include grades of 5.77 g/t Au (RR1BDO, Figure 2) and 87.2 g/t Au (RCF1BDO, Figure 2) achieved from two 1-tonne composite surface samples of oxidized saprolite along the targeted corridor. The single drill hole completed to date on this structure targeted the extreme southwestern end, and intersected a core interval in the sulphide bedrock grading 1.48 g/t Au over 29.85m (DDH-055, Figure 2). In general the oxidized saprolite component of the mineralization contains significant enrichment in gold grades compared to the bedrock sulphide domain.
Surface sampling spread across the Baldo zone has returned significant gold values. Thirty four grab samples of saprolite returned values ranging between 0.01 g/t Au to 118.47 g/t Au, with 20 samples returning values > 0.5 g/t Au, and an average for the thirty four samples of 14.67 g/t Au. Additionally, a 100 kg sample of saprolite taken from the southern Baldo target area for metallurgical testing yielded a head grade of 8.9 g/t Au (Met Test, Figure 2).
Results to date at Baldo underscore the potential for delineation of significant high-value material amenable to open-pit mining methods. The oxidized saprolite can be extracted without the necessity for drilling and blasting, potentially resulting in very low-cost mining operations.
Results of previous work are summarised in Figure 2 below:
The drilling and trenching program plan, designed to evaluate a 650m strike length of the mineralized structural corridor, is outlined in Figure 3 below:
Cajueiro Project
Cajueiro Project is located in Central Brazil within Mato Grosso and Para states. The project encompasses 39,053 hectares and is located 95 kilometers north of the city of Alta Floresta.
The NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources (Gustavson, 2016) for Cajueiro documents an Indicated Mineral Resource of 8.636 million tonnes containing 214,100 ounces of gold at 0.771 g/t (sulphide bedrock domain); an Inferred Mineral Resource of 9.526 million tonnes containing 203,500 ounces of gold at 0.664 g/t (sulphide bedrock domain), and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.374 million tonnes containing 78,400 ounces of gold at 1.775 g/t (oxide saprolite domain).
NI 43-101 Disclosure
Everett Makela, P. Geo., VP Exploration for Equitas Resources Corp., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.
For more information on Equitas Resources Corp., please contact Sean Kingsley, Corporate Communications at 604-681-1568 or skingsley@equitasresources.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
EQUITAS RESOURCES CORP.
“Chris Harris”
Chris Harris
President & CEO
Tel: 604-681-1568
Neither the 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 press release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expects” and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future planned exploration expenditures and the costs for the programs and the expectation of adding additional resources in the Baldo target area are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
The reader is cautioned that references to mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability and assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities law.