Sokoman Minerals Corp. (the "Company" or "Sokoman") is pleased to announce that the Phase 1, C-Horizon till sampling program, at the Fleur de Lys Gold Project has been completed with preliminary results outlining multiple anomalous areas.
A total of 823 samples were collected in Phase 1 on lines 1.5 km to 2 km apart with sample spacing along the lines at 250 m. To date, gold grain counts have been received for 400 samples with multiple anomalies identified. The table below outlines the number of samples reporting anomalous results.
Based on discussions with Ottawa-based Overburden Drilling Management (ODM), the company overseeing the project, background gold grain counts have been determined to be 10 grains per sample with an anomalous sample having 2X background or 20 gold grains. Of the 400 results received to date, 109 contain at least 20 gold grains and are considered anomalous with the two highest gold grain counts, 111 and 116 grains, carrying 90 and 84 pristine grains respectively, suggesting a very local source (less than 200 metres) on the Fleur de Lys property. A follow-up program of infill tills, based on the results to date, will commence immediately.
The field crews have also collected 60-plus rock samples with all samples pending assays. Most samples submitted for assay have in excess of 1% pyrite (iron sulphide), chalcopyrite (copper sulphide), or galena (lead sulphide).
It is expected that follow-up till sampling and prospecting will continue until late fall.
Tim Froude, President and CEO of Sokoman, said: "We are extremely pleased with the results to date at the Fleur de Lys Gold Project where our exploration has defined multiple areas where gold in till is strongly suggesting a source area in Fleur de Lys units. The Fleur de Lys Supergroup that underlies the area are equivalent rocks to the Dalradian Supergroup in the UK, where three significant gold deposits are known to occur, including the Curraghinalt and Cavanacaw deposits in Northern Ireland, and Cononish in Scotland. These gold deposits occur in moderate- to high-grade metamorphic terrains, like the Fleur de Lys, and involve significant gold resources. For example, the Curraghinalt deposit has over 6 million ounces of NI 43-101 compliant gold resources, including 6.3 M tonnes at 15 g/t (M+I) and 7.2 M tonnes at 12.24 g/t (Inferred)."
About the Fleur de Lys Gold Project
The 100%-owned Fleur de Lys Gold Project is located on the Baie Verte Peninsula in north-central Newfoundland. The area is highly prospective for Dalradian-style (e.g., Curraghinalt) orogenic vein-hosted gold deposits and as such, represents a readily accessible yet underexplored, district-scale, gold target in the Newfoundland Appalachians. The property has seen little modern exploration, with some areas remaining completely unexplored. Historical grab sample grades of 3.3 g/t Au to 25.5 g/t Au are reported from several separate locations (Note: historical assays have not been verified by the Company and should not be relied upon).
Reconnaissance till sampling by Sokoman in 2019/2020 in the Fleur de Lys belt defined multiple gold targets, in 129 C-horizon till samples was sent to Overburden Drilling Management (ODM) in Ottawa for gold grain analysis. Results gave 38 samples with >20 grains, 14 >40 grains and a maximum of 122 grains with many with high gold grain counts having a high percentage (30-80%) of pristine grains, suggesting a local (<1 km) source for the gold. The 2021 exploration has continued this early work and has already defined targets for follow-up in 2021 and more advanced exploration in 2022.
QP
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Froude, P.Geo., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of Sokoman Minerals Corp.
COVID-19 Protocols
To ensure a working environment that protects the health and safety of the staff and contractors, Sokoman is operating under federally and provincially mandated and recommended guidelines during the current COVID-19 alert level.
Till Sampling QA/QC
The till samples were collected by Sokoman personnel using field collection techniques provided by ODM. All samples were hand dug to the desired depth (C- Horizon Till) with a 10 kg -12 kg sieved sample (8 mesh) placed in a clear-plastic sample bag and sealed. Samples were shipped in plastic pails by bonded courier to the ODM lab in Ottawa, Ontario. The till samples were processed using procedures designed to progressively concentrate the heavy minerals, expose the gold grains, and prepare a split of the heavy mineral concentrate ("HMC"), suitable for geochemical analysis if requested. The sample is wet screened at 2 mm with a preliminary concentrate extracted from the -2 mm fraction by tabling. Geological observations on the character of the sample are made during both the screening and tabling operations. The table concentrate is purposely large (typically 300 g - 400 g) and of low grade (10% - 25% heavy minerals) to achieve a high, 80% to 90% recovery rate for all desired heavy minerals irrespective of their grain size or relative specific gravity. The gold grains, more than 95% of which are normally silt-sized (Averill 2001), are observed at this stage with the aid of micro-panning and are counted, measured, and classified as to degree of wear (i.e. distance of glacial transport), then returned to the table concentrate. The pyrite content of the pan concentrate is estimated and the number of grains of heavier, visually distinctive indicator minerals such as arsenopyrite, galena, scheelite, cinnabar etc. is recorded.
Quality Control and Quality Assurance Measures
In addition to using field duplicates to monitor the quality of the indicator mineral data obtained from specific projects, ODM performs blind tests to ensure that the recovery rates for all targeted minerals are consistently in the 80 to 90% range. Furthermore, both the quality of the mineral separation and the overall mineralogy of the concentrate are visible at every stage of the concentration process, minimizing the potential for sample mix-ups, indicator mineral carryover between samples and other potential contamination issues. For example, gold grains, which are the most important indicator mineral on many surveys, are more susceptible to inter-sample carryover than any other indicator mineral due to their very small size, but these grains are physically observed during the first stage of mineral concentration, tabling, and, if anomalous concentrations are present, blank samples are tabled and carefully inspected for gold grains before the next project sample is processed.