Mar 18 2016
Sabina Gold & Silver Corp, ("Sabina" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that crews have been mobilized to the Goose camp in preparation for the spring 2016 field program on its 100%-owned Back River gold project ("Back River" or the "Project") in Nunavut, Canada.
The spring drilling program will be completed using two drill rigs and will test three targets at the Goose Property: Kogoyok, Hivogani and Convergence.
The objective of the spring drilling program is not solely to add ounces to the already significant resource and reserve base at Back River, but to focus on assessing new discoveries and targets at Goose for their potential to enhance the already positive economics at the proposed mine.
Bruce McLeod, President and CEO commented "Over the last several years we have re-focused on advancing our exploration modeling and vectoring for when the time is right to create the best value from exploration drilling. Using over 30 years of historic data, we have developed robust targeting concepts which we believe will start to pay dividends on district scale discovery. We have over 50 targets identified within our 100% controlled 80km of prospective iron formation stratigraphy."
"This work enabled us to vector in on two new discoveries last year, one of them, Hivogani, a new style of mineralization outside of the iron formation and Kogoyok, an outcropping iron formation zone approximately 1,500 meters from the proposed Goose mill, " he added "Kogoyok is particularly interesting. While the Back River feasibility study returned robust economics using $1,150 US/oz Au, finding another source of high grade open pit feed could defer underground development and thus enhance the economics of the Project. We are excited to test these targets and to continue to identify other targets that have the potential to sustain the Project for many decades."
Permitting
In November, 2015, the Company submitted its Final Environmental Impact Statement on Back River to the Nunavut Impact Review Board ("NIRB"). That document was deemed conformant with the NIRB Guidelines and the NIRB has set final hearings on the Project in Cambridge Bay for April 25th - 30th, 2016. Upon successful completion of the hearings, a project recommendation from NIRB to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada could be received early in the second half of 2016. This would be a significant milestone in the permitting/environmental assessment process which would enable transition into the licensing phase.
2016 Spring Drilling and Summer Programs
Drilling will commence at the Kogoyok target as follow up to newly discovered showings where outcrop grab samples (up to 33.86g/t Au grab sample, see Sabina news release dated October 13, 2015) occur near the convergence of an untested segment of iron formation stratigraphy with felsic intrusions. The Kogoyok target zone is up to 600m in length, and has partially coincident Horizontal Loop Electromagnetic ("HLEM") and Induced Polarization ("IP") anomalies and positive till sample results. Drilling will test the new zone with a series of shallow drill holes that will aim to characterize the extent of mineralization both along strike and to initial depths of approximately 150m.
The Convergence target is conceptually similar to Kogoyok, in that it is characterized by the projected, but unexposed intersection of folded and mineralized iron formation stratigraphy with a prospective mineralizing corridor marked by a felsic dyke. Prior to drill testing a short ground geophysics program utilizing HLEM techniques will be run to better define targeting. Approximately 600m in three drill holes are planned to test the target zone which has an approximate 600m strike length.
Drill testing at the Hivogani Zone will follow up on and begin to test the characteristics of a new and emerging target type that is hosted in the clastic sediment stratigraphy outside of the conventional iron formation. In 2015 a single 140m 2015 drill hole at Hivogani returned intervals of anomalous gold over its entire length, including 0.82g/t gold over 13.75m (see Sabina news release June 29, 2015). Up to three drill holes will test positive features in and around the 2 square km area of interest at Hivogani where targets are characterized by localized quartz veining and sulphide mineralization showings, anomalous gold values in both rock and till samples and partially coincident IP chargeability anomalies.
The Company is also planning two short summer programs comprising of field mapping and till sampling, similar to the work done in 2015 that identified the Kogoyok and Convergence targets.
Qualified Persons
The Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 as pertains to the Back River Project, is Angus Campbell, P.Geo, Vice-President, Exploration, for the Company.
All grab and drill core samples selected within the exploration programs were sent to TSL Laboratories facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for gold analysis by 50 gram fire assay with finish by a combination of atomic absorption and gravimetric methods. Quality control and quality assurance is monitored where assays have been verified using a series of company inserted certified reference standards. Rock grab samples are selective in nature they may not represent the overall grade and extent of mineralization for the area. TSL quality system conforms to requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17025 guidelines and meets assay requirements outlined for NI 43-101.