Endurance Gold Corporation (EDG -- TSX.V, "Endurance") is pleased to announce the final result from its summer 2015 exploration program on its 4,960 acre Elephant Mountain Gold Property (the "Property") in Alaska. To date, exploration has confirmed an intrusive-hosted target area of at least 1,800 meters ("m") by 600 m in size encompassing two soil and rock sample gold anomalies (the North and South Zone Targets) and an untested IP chargeability anomaly (the Central Zone Target) located between the two soil anomalies. The 2015 program, focused on the South Zone Target, has expanded this soil anomaly to in excess 1,000 m by about 250 m in size, with values of greater than 100 parts per billion ("ppb") gold. The soil anomaly remains open for expansion. This soil anomaly is associated with grab samples of quartz vein material that assay up to 411.4 grams per tonne gold.
The Property is well located near Eureka in the Rampart-Manley Hot Springs area of Alaska about 76 miles (123 kilometres) west of Fairbanks. The Property can be accessed by road and all-terrane vehicle trails from Eureka. The 2015 program consisted of a two phased program of establishing road and trail access and then drilling of power-assisted auger samples on the South Zone and a portion of the Central Zone.
The Property area was previously explored for gold by Placer Dome, Inc. ("PDI") culminating in the drilling of ten holes in 1992. The best of the PDI drill holes returned an average grade of 0.015 ounce per ton gold (0.514 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold) over an interval of 326 feet (99.4 m) and bottomed in mineralization on the North Zone Target. Mineralization on the property is associated with three generations of quartz veinlets crosscutting altered granite and syenite.
The Company has focused on the South Zone Target since this area has yielded the highest gold values in rock samples from the Property. Surface grab rock samples from the South Zone Target include 12.98 g/t, 5.21 g/t, 4.44 g/t, 3.02 g/t, and 2.59 g/t gold associated with iron oxide stained and altered granitic rocks. The highest value grab samples in float are associated with coxcomb and chalcedonic vein quartz, hosted in silica flooded trachyoidal syenite. In 1991, PDI also collected a grab sample from the South Zone Target that assayed 12 ounces per ton gold (411.4 g/t gold). These grab samples are restricted to about 600 m of strike within the central part of the South Zone soil anomaly. The anomaly remains largely untested by drilling.
The South Zone Target has no significant outcrop and thus ideal for deep penetrating auger soil sampling. In 2015, two hundred and seven (207) power-assisted auger soil samples were completed to an average depth of 1.22 m. The deepest sample collected was 2.54 m. Together with similar auger samples collected in 2014 the Company has now completed a grid of two hundred and forty seven (247) power-assisted auger soil on the South Zone Target. These auger soil samples, with peak values up to 320 ppb gold, together with shallower soil samples collected in 2013, have confirmed a continuous 1,000 m long soil anomaly exceeding 100 ppb gold, which remains open for expansion. Associated with the gold-in-soil anomaly are coincident pathfinder elements arsenic (with a peak value of 1,660 parts per million ("ppm")) and antimony (with a peak value of 267 ppm). The north end of the South Zone soil anomaly is located 850 m south of the best PDI drill hole summarized above.
Summary figures for the Property and complete soil and rock sample geochemical results for the Company's South Zone sampling activity are summarized on presentation maps at www.endurancegold.com.
The North Zone Target is a gold-arsenic soil geochemical anomaly defined by PDI, within an area of some outcrop mapped as altered granite. The North Zone soil anomaly is approximately 1,200 m by 500 m wide, with peak values of up to 1,540 ppb gold. PDI completed eight (8) drill holes on this North Zone Target. The best of the PDI drill holes returned an average grade of 0.015 ounce per ton gold (0.514 g/t gold) over an interval of 326 feet (99.4 m) and bottomed in mineralization. Below the oxidized zone, gold mineralization in the drill core is associated with arsenopyrite and native gold related to quartz veinlet stock-work, in silicified, fractured granite. The intrusive host is a large multi-phase Cretaceous-aged diorite to granite pluton that intrudes quartzite, siltstone and shale. The Company has collected seven grab samples within North Zone Target which returned gold values of between 1.01 g/t and 1.92 g/t gold.
The Central Zone Target, an area of no outcrop, is located between the North and the South Zones and is interpreted to be an area of altered intrusive. PDI completed a gradient induced polarization (IP) resistivity and dipole-dipole IP geophysical survey on the Property. A chargeable anomaly with dimensions of about 1,500 m by 500 m was identified between the North and South Zones. This geophysical target was never been tested with diamond drilling, and remains unexplained.
The Elephant Mountain Gold Property, located within an active placer gold mining camp, is interpreted to be a reduced intrusion-related gold system (RIRG) similar to the Fort Knox Mine, Ryan Lode, and True North deposits located in the nearby Fairbanks Gold Mining district in Alaska, as well as the Brewery Creek and Dublin Gulch deposits in the Yukon. All of these RIRG deposits are related to late Cretaceous-aged intrusive events within the Tintina Gold Province of Alaska and the Yukon, and are associated with historic placer gold mining.
Under the terms of the option agreement with the private vendor, Endurance can earn 100% interest in the Property by completing a total of US$200,000 in exploration expenditures, US$200,000 in cash payments and delivering 400,000 Endurance common shares by December 31, 2017. The option is subject to a 2% net smelter royalty ("NSR"), and Endurance can purchase half of the NSR at any time. All terms of the option are in good standing.
About Endurance
Endurance Gold Corporation is a company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of highly prospective North American mineral properties with the potential to develop world-class deposits. The Company's exploration focus, for projects operated by Endurance, is intrusive-related mineral systems with potential for discovery of major new precious or rare metals deposits, and its business plan offers shareholders exposure to several majority-owned exploration projects with significant discovery potential such as the Elephant Mountain Gold Property in Alaska and the Bandito Rare Earth-Niobium Property in the Yukon. The company also owns a 35.5% interest in the Pardo joint venture, a Precambrian-aged paleoplacer gold system. Please visit www.endurancegold.com.
ENDURANCE GOLD CORPORATION
Robert T. Boyd
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Endurance Gold Corporation
(604) 682-2707, info@endurancegold.com
www.endurancegold.com
Robert T. Boyd, P.Geo. is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 and supervised the compilation of the information forming the basis for this release. The 1992 Placer Dome activity preceded the implementation of NI 43-101 and furthermore, the original data and reports, including the geophysical reports, have not been completely reviewed by the Company. Therefore the historic data summarized in this release should not be relied upon. Bedrock grab samples are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades within the bedrock when drilled. All 2012 through 2015 rock and soil samples were analyzed at ALS Minerals using Au-ST43, Au-OG43, and ME-MS41.
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 news release. This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.