American Creek's JV Partner Tudor Gold Announces Significant Upgrade to Mineral Resource Estimate for the Goldstorm Porphyry Deposit at the Treaty Creek Project
With Increased Gold, Copper and Silver Grades and Doubling of the TotalCardston, March 15, 2023 - American Creek Resources Ltd. (TSXV: AMK) (OTCQB: ACKRF) ("the Corporation" or "American Creek") is pleased to report that project operator and JV partner Tudor Gold ("Tudor") has announced the results of its updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) prepared by Garth Kirkham P. Geo., of Kirkham Geosystems Ltd., and JDS Energy and Mining Inc. ("JDS") for its flagship Treaty Creek project ("the "Project") located in the Golden Triangle Region of British Columbia. Tudor's initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Project was included in a technical report entitled "Technical Report and Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of the Treaty Creek Gold Property, Skeena Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada", dated April 23, 2021, with an effective date of March 1, 2021. (the "2021 MRE").
Highlights of the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate on the Goldstorm Deposit at the Project ("MRE"):
- Indicated Mineral Resource of 23.37 million ounces (Moz) of gold equivalent (AuEQ) within 641.93 million tonnes (Mt) at a grade of 1.13 g/t AuEQ; comprised of:
- 18.75 Moz of gold (Au) at 0.91 g/t, 112.44 Moz of silver (Ag) at 5.45 g/t, and 2.18 billion pounds (Blbs) of copper (Cu) at 0.15 %.
- Inferred Mineral Resource of 7.35 Moz AuEQ within 233.90 Mt at a grade of 0.98 g/t AuEQ; comprised of:
- 5.54 Moz Au at 0.74 g/t, 45.08 Moz Ag at 5.99 g/t, and 848.00 million pounds (Mlbs) of Cu at 0.16 %.
- CS-600 Domain is comprised of an intrusive hosted gold-copper porphyry system and hosts an Indicated Mineral Resource of 9.86 Moz of AuEQ within 278.02 Mt at a grade of 1.10 g/t AuEQ; comprised of:
- 6.22 Moz Au at 0.70 g/t; and 1.98 Blbs of Cu at 0.32 %.
- A 1.0 g/t sensitivity cut-off for all the Indicated Mineral Resource (open-pit and underground) measures 15.18 Moz of AuEQ at a grade of 1.48 g/t AuEQ; comprised of:
- 12.29 Moz of Au at 1.20 g/t, 72.07 Moz of Ag at 7.02 g/t and 1.35 Blbs of Cu at 0.19 %.
- Improved the definition and spatial continuity of the Goldstorm porphyry system which is comprised of six separate mineral domains over an area that measures approximately 2,500 m in length, 1,000 m in width and 1,400 m in depth.
- The Goldstorm Deposit remains open to the south, north, northeast and at depth.
Commenting on the results, Ken Konkin, President & CEO of Tudor Gold stated: "We are very pleased by the results of our updated MRE for the Goldstorm Deposit, which resulted in an impressive 53 % increase in the gold equivalent grade and a 20 % increase in total gold equivalent ounces within the Indicated Mineral Resource category. The updated MRE utilizes higher cut-off grades (Pit: 0.50 g/t AuEQ, Underground: 0.70 g/t AuEQ) than the 2021 MRE (Pit: 0.30 g/t AuEQ, Underground: 0.46 g/t AuEQ). These higher cut-off grades exemplify the robust nature of this deposit, including the mineral consistency and thickness of the higher-grade gold and copper mineralized domains that were intercepted during the Company's 2021 and 2022 drill programs. Even at these higher cut-off grades, the overall project-wide contained copper in both the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource categories increased to more than double that of the previous MRE, to over 3 billion pounds of copper. These accomplishments are a culmination of two additional years of drilling and refining of our geologic understanding to vector towards higher-grade gold, copper, and silver. These improvements to the Goldstorm Deposit are expected to provide an excellent foundation as the Company advances the Treaty Creek Project towards an initial economic assessment. Continued definition and expansion drilling will continue in 2023 to target higher gold, silver and copper grades throughout the northern expansion area of the Goldstorm Deposit."
Darren Blaney, President & CEO of American Creek commented: "This updated estimate reaffirms our belief in the immense size and value of our deposit and serves as a testament to the expertise and dedication of all hands that have continued to advance the project. To have over 30 million ounces that average over a gram of gold equivalent across all categories, with the cut-offs proposed in the resource update, is remarkable. Prior to this updated estimate, the deposit ranked as one of the ten largest gold deposits in the world. With the substantial improvement in grade, the Treaty project becomes immediately comparable to Canada's two largest producing mines.
We would like to take the time to acknowledge the team at Tudor for their dedication, perseverance and expertise in taking over operation of the project and in achieving this incredible milestone.
We very much look forward to the continued exploration and development of the project, especially the upcoming 2023 drill program, as last season ended with the highest-grade intervals seen on the project to date."
Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Goldstorm Deposit
The MRE was prepared by Garth Kirkham, P.Geo, based on 201 diamond drill holes (148,474 meters) completed between 2007 and 2022. The MRE included 62,916 meters of diamond drill holes that were completed since the 2021 MRE. A National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report is expected to be prepared by Garth Kirkham Geosystems and JDS and posted on www.tudor-gold.com and under Tudor's profile on www.SEDAR.com within 45 days of the date of this news release.
Table 1: Summary of Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource as of March 15, 20231-6
| Mine Area | Tonnage (Mt) | AuEQ (g/t) | Au (g/t) | Cu (%) | Ag (g/t) | AuEQ (koz) | Au (koz) | Cu (Mlb) | Ag (koz) |
| Indicated Mineral Resource | |||||||||
| Pit | 389.11 | 1.05 | 0.90 | 0.08 | 5.44 | 13,138 | 11,320 | 687 | 68,168 |
| Underground | 252.82 | 1.26 | 0.91 | 0.27 | 5.44 | 10,237 | 7,429 | 1,493 | 44,275 |
| Combined | 641.93 | 1.13 | 0.91 | 0.15 | 5.45 | 23,375 | 18,750 | 2,180 | 112,443 |
| Inferred Mineral Resource | |||||||||
| Pit | 160.94 | 0.85 | 0.71 | 0.07 | 6.50 | 4,404 | 3,648 | 248 | 33,628 |
| Underground | 72.96 | 1.25 | 0.80 | 0.37 | 4.87 | 2,946 | 1,888 | 600 | 11,452 |
| Combined | 233.90 | 0.98 | 0.74 | 0.16 | 5.99 | 7,349 | 5,536 | 848 | 45,080 |
(1) Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.
(2) The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.
(3) The Mineral Resources in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) and Best Practices (2019) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council.
(4) The Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared for a potential open pit scenario using a constrained pit shell (with 50-degree slopes) at a 0.5 g/t gold equivalent cut-off grade and an underground mining scenario using a 0.7 g/t gold equivalent cut-off grade. Cut-off grades were derived from US$ 1,800/oz gold, US$ 20/oz silver, US$ 3.50/lb copper, CAD:USD of 0.77, C$ 2.50/tonne open pit and C$7.50 underground mining cost, C$ 38.50/tonne milled processing costs, C$ 1.50/tonne G&A cost, and process recoveries of 90 % for gold, 80 % for copper, and 80 % for silver.
(5) AuEQ g/t = Au g/t + (Ag g/t*0.0098765) + (Cu ppm*0.0001185)
(6) A mineral estimate of the material within the defined pit that exists outside of the outlined mineral domains was completed and is included within the Inferred Mineral Resource, and listed "In Pit, External" in Table 4.
The Goldstorm sensitivity tables (Tables 2 and 3) report the variation of resource grade and tonnage with respect to the change in cut-off grades for the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources.
Table 2: Indicated Mineral Resource Cut-off Sensitivity - Combined Pit and Underground1
| Cut-off | Tonnage (Mt) | AuEQ (g/t) | Au (g/t) | Cu (%) | Ag (g/t) | AuEQ (koz) | Au (koz) | Cu (Mlb) | Ag (koz) |
| 0.3 | 730.20 | 1.06 | 0.85 | 0.14 | 5.06 | 24,823 | 19,907 | 2,324 | 118,689 |
| 0.4 | 714.16 | 1.07 | 0.86 | 0.15 | 5.13 | 24,640 | 19,742 | 2,318 | 117,896 |
| 0.5 | 682.72 | 1.10 | 0.88 | 0.15 | 5.28 | 24,180 | 19,346 | 2,291 | 115,831 |
| 0.5 / 0.72 | 641.93 | 1.13 | 0.91 | 0.15 | 5.45 | 23,375 | 18,750 | 2,180 | 112,443 |
| 0.6 | 631.15 | 1.15 | 0.92 | 0.16 | 5.50 | 23,262 | 18,588 | 2,218 | 111,644 |
| 0.7 | 559.69 | 1.21 | 0.97 | 0.17 | 5.81 | 21,762 | 17,386 | 2,076 | 104,501 |
| 0.8 | 479.37 | 1.29 | 1.03 | 0.18 | 6.18 | 19,820 | 15,854 | 1,878 | 95,239 |
| 0.9 | 397.39 | 1.38 | 1.10 | 0.19 | 6.59 | 17,577 | 14,114 | 1,633 | 84,212 |
| 1.0 | 319.20 | 1.48 | 1.20 | 0.19 | 7.02 | 15,186 | 12,293 | 1,352 | 72,067 |
(1) Refer to footnotes to the Mineral Resource Estimate in Table 1 of this News Release.
(2) The MRE utilizes 0.5 g/t AuEQ for the pit-constrained Mineral Resource and 0.7 g/t AuEQ for the underground Mineral Resource.
Table 3: Inferred Mineral Resource Cut-off Sensitivity - Combined Pit and Underground1
| Cut-off | Tonnage (Mt) | AuEQ (g/t) | Au (g/t) | Cu (%) | Ag (g/t) | AuEQ (koz) | Au (koz) | Cu (Mlb) | Ag (koz) |
| 0.3 | 488.34 | 0.67 | 0.52 | 0.10 | 4.01 | 10,524 | 8,170 | 1,070 | 62,885 |
| 0.4 | 326.54 | 0.83 | 0.63 | 0.13 | 5.00 | 8,729 | 6,658 | 961 | 52,510 |
| 0.5 | 244.18 | 0.96 | 0.72 | 0.17 | 5.89 | 7,553 | 5,652 | 896 | 46,261 |
| 0.5 / 0.72 | 233.90 | 0.98 | 0.74 | 0.16 | 5.99 | 7,349 | 5,536 | 848 | 45,080 |
| 0.6 | 198.02 | 1.06 | 0.78 | 0.19 | 6.68 | 6,739 | 4,952 | 849 | 42,527 |
| 0.7 | 163.26 | 1.15 | 0.83 | 0.22 | 7.34 | 6,015 | 4,355 | 796 | 38,506 |
| 0.8 | 135.32 | 1.23 | 0.88 | 0.25 | 7.83 | 5,341 | 3,830 | 732 | 34,060 |
| 0.9 | 108.48 | 1.32 | 0.94 | 0.27 | 8.25 | 4,607 | 3,285 | 647 | 28,786 |
| 1.0 | 84.17 | 1.43 | 1.02 | 0.29 | 8.56 | 3,864 | 2,759 | 547 | 23,169 |
(1) Refer to footnotes to the Mineral Resource Estimate in Table 1 of this News Release.
(2) The MRE utilizes 0.5 g/t AuEQ for the pit-constrained Mineral Resource and 0.7 g/t AuEQ for the underground Mineral Resource.
The Goldstorm Deposit consists of six mineral domains with unique geological characteristics. Five of the domains are gold-dominant with lesser proportions of silver and copper. Domain CS-600 is dominantly gold and copper rich, with lesser silver. The CS-600 hosts the majority of the copper at the Goldstorm Deposit and consists of a well-defined intrusive porphyry system. Table 4 summarizes the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources for each mineral domain.
Table 4: Mineral Resource by Domain - Combined Pit and Underground1
| Indicated Mineral Resources | |||||||||
| Domain | Tonnage (Mt) | AuEQ (g/t) | Au (g/t) | Cu (%) | Ag (g/t) | AuEQ (koz) | Au (koz) | Cu (Mlb) | Ag (koz) |
| 300H | 234.13 | 1.02 | 0.95 | 0.03 | 3.90 | 7,700.29 | 7,173.49 | 131.05 | 29.36 |
| CS-600 | 278.02 | 1.10 | 0.70 | 0.32 | 5.71 | 9,860.70 | 6,217.37 | 1,983.30 | 51.06 |
| DS5 | 114.83 | 1.32 | 1.21 | 0.02 | 7.89 | 4,865.34 | 4,456.37 | 56.68 | 29.14 |
| R66 | 5.02 | 1.36 | 1.30 | 0.04 | 1.07 | 219.44 | 209.10 | 4.71 | 0.27 |
| NS STK | 6.37 | 2.28 | 2.20 | 0.01 | 6.16 | 467.60 | 451.30 | 1.57 | 1.26 |
| Copper Belle | 3.57 | 1.00 | 0.90 | 0.03 | 5.50 | 114.45 | 103.58 | 2.53 | 0.63 |
| Inferred Mineral Resources | |||||||||
| 300H | 6.41 | 1.03 | 0.95 | 0.03 | 4.92 | 213.19 | 195.00 | 4.52 | 1.02 |
| CS-600 | 96.77 | 1.19 | 0.75 | 0.36 | 6.01 | 3,711.82 | 2,321.60 | 761.68 | 18.71 |
| DS5 | 2.78 | 1.37 | 1.22 | 0.05 | 8.69 | 122.28 | 109.30 | 2.84 | 0.78 |
| R66 | 0.55 | 2.19 | 2.07 | 0.01 | 9.32 | 38.90 | 36.84 | 0.15 | 0.17 |
| NS STK | 1.30 | 2.26 | 2.09 | 0.01 | 14.26 | 94.06 | 86.95 | 0.37 | 0.59 |
| In Pit, External2 | 126.64 | 0.79 | 0.69 | 0.03 | 5.86 | 3,206.88 | 2,821.68 | 78.73 | 23.90 |
(1) Refer to footnotes to the Mineral Resource Estimate in Table 1 of this News Release.
(2) A mineral estimate of the material within the defined pit that exists outside of the outlined mineral domains was completed and is included within the Inferred Mineral Resource, and listed "In Pit, External".
Figure 1: Goldstorm Deposit MRE Domains
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/682/158514_b00d246944e27a10_001full.jpg
2023 Exploration Program
In 2023, Tudor expects to continue to target the Goldstorm Deposit, in particular the limits of the CS-600 and the DS-5 Domains. Definition and step-out drilling within the current resource will continue to target higher gold, silver and copper grades throughout the northern step-out expansion area at Goldstorm. The overarching goal of future exploration programs is to increase the size of the current Treaty Creek Property Mineral Resource, continue to make new significant discoveries, and advance the Goldstorm Deposit and the Project towards an initial economic assessment.
Quality Assurance
The Goldstorm MRE was prepared under the supervision of Garth Kirkham, P.Geo, FGC, of Kirkham Geosystems Ltd., and JDS who is an Independent Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Kirkham has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.
Ken Konkin, P.Geo, President and CEO, Tudor Gold, is the Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, responsible for the Project. Mr. Konkin has reviewed, verified, and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release.
Treaty Creek JV Partnership
American Creek is a proud partner in the Treaty Creek Project. The project is a Joint Venture with Tudor owning 3/5th and acting as operator. American Creek and Teuton Resources each have a 1/5th interest in the project creating a 3:1 ownership relationship between Tudor and American Creek. American Creek and Teuton are both fully carried until such time as a Production Notice is issued, at which time they are required to contribute their respective 20% share of development costs. Until such time, Tudor is required to fund all exploration and development costs.
About American Creek
American Creek is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company with gold and silver properties in British Columbia, Canada.
The Corporation has an interest in the Treaty Creek property, a joint venture project with Tudor Gold located in BC's prolific "Golden Triangle".
The Corporation also holds the Austruck-Bonanza gold property located near Kamloops.
For further information please contact Kelvin Burton at:
Phone: 403 752-4040 or Email: info@americancreek.com.
Information relating to the Corporation is available on its website at www.americancreek.com
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 release.
Cautionary Statements regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Corporation expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including the completion and anticipated results of planned exploration activities. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connation thereof.
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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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Corporation's plans or expectations include risks relating to the actual results of current exploration activities, fluctuating gold prices, possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays, exploration cost overruns, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Corporation with securities regulators.
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