Group Ten Metals Announces Commencement of Exploration at Spy, Ultra and Catalyst Ni-Cu-PGE Projects in Yukon Territory
VANCOUVER, B.C., June 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX.V:PGE) (OTC:DCGCF) (FSE:5D32) (the “Company” or “Group Ten”) is pleased to announce the completion of planning activities and the deployment of personnel and equipment to the Ultra, Spy and Catalyst projects where the team will commence mapping, prospecting and surface sampling programs immediately and continue through most of July. The projects are in the southwest of Canada’s Yukon Territory, proximate to and on trend with the Wellgreen Ni-PGE-Cu project being advanced toward prefeasibility by Wellgreen Platinum Ltd., which has stated results and updated mineral resource estimate are expected to be announced by the end of Q2 2017.
The work on the Spy project will largely be focused on defining the orientation of the Spy Ultramafic Sill and sighting optimal locations for a potential 2017 drilling program, while the broader program aims to further define known showings and test additional prospective ground and geophysical/geochemical anomalies across each project.
President and CEO Michael Rowley stated, “We are glad to be returning to the Yukon projects and further expanding our understanding of the geology and mineralization as we look to define priority targets for a drilling campaign, particularly along the Spy sill, which is planned for later this year to follow-up on results announced May 30, 2017. Additionally, our geological team has identified potential for significant mineralization at the CKR portion of the Catalyst project to the south of our holdings around Wellgreen which warrants further investigation.”
In addition, the Company is currently engaged in advanced due diligence with respect to a number of potential property acquisitions in keeping with its focus on quality, undervalued assets in established, world-class districts of politically-stable jurisdictions with excellent access and infrastructure.
Mr. Rowley further notes, “Group Ten’s business model includes consistent evaluation of project acquisition candidates which, if acquired, may either be advanced or incubated based on specific criteria. To that end, we anticipate announcing further additions to our portfolio over the coming weeks. Furthermore, the Company plans to strengthen its technical and leadership team and expects to provide updates in that regard in Q3 2017.”
About the Yukon Projects
Group Ten controls the largest land position in the Wellgreen area with three Ni-Cu-PGE projects - Catalyst, Spy and Ultra - that, taken together, total over 240 square kilometers (km) in the Kluane Ultramafic Belt, a 600km-long sequence of igneous and sedimentary rocks extending from northern British Columbia through the Yukon and into Alaska. The discovery of the Wellgreen deposit has brought world-wide attention to the potential of the Kluane belt.
About the Spy Project
The Spy Project claims, located 40 kilometers southeast of Wellgreen, follow the strike of the Kluane Ultramafic Belt, parallel to the Alaska Highway that is seven kilometers to the northeast. Clastic sedimentary rocks and limestone of the Hasen Creek Formation are exposed along the northeastern portion of the property, and are intruded by late Triassic and possibly older mafic to ultramafic sills including the Spy Sill.
The 75-100m thick Spy Sill intrudes Hasen Creek siltstone for a minimum of 6 km along a northwest strike, and dips to the southwest. The central portion of the sill consists of peridotite, with gabbro at the top and at the base. Mineralization varies from disseminations to massive sulphide lenses (up to 2.0 x 0.25m) with associated PGM in the basal marginal gabbro phase and its contact with the Hasen Creek siltstone.
PGE-Ni-Cu mineralization occurs within and along the base of the 75-100m thick ultramafic Spy Sill where it intrudes the Hasen Creek siltstone. Mineralization along the contact varies from disseminated to massive sulphide lenses, with historic grab samples from the massive sulphide lenses assayed as high as 3.1 g/t Pt, 1.4 g/t Pd, 1.0 g/t Au, 3.1% Ni and 2.8% Cu from the gabbro, and 75.8 g/t Pt, 7.9 g/t Pd, 7.0 g/t Au, 2.6% Ni and 10.45% Cu, from the footwall siltstone1. Samples are not necessarily representative of all the mineralization hosted in the area.
1Bell, C. 1996. Report on 1995 geological and geochemical surveys on the Klu property. Yukon Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources, Assessment Report #093371, 244p.
About the Ultra Project
Ultra covers 8,650 hectares and is located south of the Spy project and 42 kilometers (km) northwest of Haines Junction. At Ultra, a portion of the Frohberg PGM-Ni-Cu showing was trenched in 2002 and returned 5.54 g/t Pt, 13.46 g/t Pd, 4.07% Cu and 1.73% Ni over 0.5 meters. Numerous ultramafic occurrences elsewhere on the property are yet to be assessed for PGM-Ni-Cu potential.
About the Catalyst Project
The Catalyst Project is located 35 km northwest of Burwash Landing and only 15 km south of the Alaska Highway along a maintained gravel road. The project covers 16,310 hectares, and is positioned directly northwest of and adjacent to the Wellgreen deposit, with portions of the project southeast and also adjacent to Wellgreen.
Several historic PGM-Ni-Cu showings are present at Catalyst. Within the Arch Zone, the Teck showing is located on the western edge of the Wellgreen property and consists of ultramafic rocks in fault contact with sedimentary rocks with historic assays of 0.36 g/t PGM+Au, 581 ppm Ni and 709 ppm Cu from chip samples over two meters. More recent results from the altered peridotite returned 0.535 ppm PGM+Au, 2,130 ppm Ni and 1,660 ppm Cu over 0.8 meters. Just over one kilometer to the north, the Conwest showing is a 90 meter-long exposure of oxidized, medium-grained gabbro with historic assays of 2,015 ppm Ni, 5,448 ppm Cu and 154 ppb Au. Numerous historic magnetic, EM and VLF anomalies on the property have also been identified that require follow-up prospecting and sampling (from Yukon Geological Survey Minfile Nos. 115G-026, -033, and -088, Assessment Report Nos. 094396, 093662, 017513, 092578, 092575, 092744, 094253, 094250, 094466, 094217, 017459).
Quality Control and Quality Assurance
Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and he has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.
All rock samples are grab samples with no length.
Historic samples were analyzed at Chemex Laboratories (now ALS Chemex) or Cominco Resource Laboratory, both in Vancouver. Gold, platinum and palladium were analysed by fire assay and the other elements by aqua regia digestion with ICP finish. No QAQC information is available.
About Group Ten Metals Inc.
Group Ten Metals Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on exploration for deposits of platinum group metals (PGM), gold, nickel and copper. The Company controls a large land position in the Kluane Ultramafic Belt in the southwest Yukon Territory, the Black Lake / Drayton gold project in the Rainy River district in northwest Ontario, and the Duke Island Cu-Ni-PGM project in Alaska.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
GROUP TEN METALS INC.
“Michael Rowley”
Michael Rowley
President, CEO & Director
info@grouptenmetals.com
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