Company increases interest in priority project to 78%
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Pilot Gold Inc. ("Pilot Gold" or the "Company") (TSX: PLG) announced today it has obtained a key permit for Kinsley Mountain, Nevada, allowing the Company to ramp up drilling to test high-priority targets across the core group of claims.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's ("BLM") Record of Decision confirmed approval for a Plan of Operations for Kinsley Mountain on August 30, 2013. The approved Plan of Operations allows Pilot Gold up to 70 acres for exploration and development drilling on the core group of claims, including the Western Flank, Candland Canyon and extensions trending NNE and SW of the historic pits.
Pilot Gold has completed 2858 metres in 12 RC holes to date in 2013 at Kinsley using a single drill operating under an existing permit. The Company will add two more drills in coming weeks to the program and expects to complete 20,000 metres of drilling in the current program.
Drill highlights from 2011 to 2012 include:
- Western Flank (550 metres northwest of nearest historic pit):
- 9.5 g/t gold over 4.57 metres in PK-67
- 6.03 g/t gold over 13.7 metres in PK-61
- Main Pit extension:
- 5.48 g/t gold over 20.4 metres in PK-14C
- 6.23 g/t gold over 8.7 metres in PK-02C
- Candland Canyon (250 metres northeast of nearest historic pit):
- 1.08 g/t gold over 10.7 meters in PK-39
For a table of Kinsley drill results (2011-2012), including non-reportable intercepts, please click here: http://www.pilotgold.com/sites/default/files/KinsleyDrillTable1314_0.pdf
For a property map outlining the area covered by the Plan of Operations, please click here: http://www.pilotgold.com/sites/default/files/PilotGold_Kinsley_maps.pdf
The Company plans to submit an amendment to the Plan of Operations to include additional target areas, including the entire northern portion of the Kinsley Range. Exploration work completed by Pilot Gold in 2012 delineated strong targets based on soil and rock anomalies combined with structural and stratigraphic mapping in both soil and rock sampling seven kilometres to the north of the historic pits.
Pilot Gold Increases Interest in Kinsley
Intor Resources Corporation ("Intor"), a subsidiary of Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., is the Company's joint venture partner at Kinsley. On August 14, 2013, Intor informed Pilot Gold that it had elected not to fund its portion of the approved 2013 budget for Kinsley Mountain. As a result, and further to the Company having sole-funded the requisite reclamation bond, Pilot Gold's interest in Kinsley has increased from 65% to approximately 78%.
Pilot Gold is now funding a modified $3.4-million program in 2013 in its entirety.
ABOUT KINSLEY
Kinsley Mountain hosts near-surface mineralization similar to other Carlin-style, sediment-hosted gold systems along a 2.2 kilometre, SE-NW strike extent. The property consists of 380 claims and 7,650 acres (3,095 hectares) on BLM land and hosts a past-producing mine with an extensive exploration database and numerous, untested gold targets. Gold mineralization is oxidized, and occurs in stratabound zones and fault collapse breccias within a sequence of Cambrian-Ordovician shelf carbonates. At depth, Pilot Gold has also drilled high-grade transitional and sulfide mineralization.
Vance Spalding, B.Sc., CPG, Pilot Gold Vice President, Exploration, is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and validated that the information contained in the release is accurate. Drill composites were calculated using a cut-off of 0.30 g/t. Drill intersections are reported as drilled thicknesses. True widths of the mineralized intervals are interpreted to be between 30-100% of the reported lengths. Drill samples were assayed by ALS Chemex (ISO9001:2000) in Reno, Nevada for gold by Fire Assay of a 30 gram (1 assay ton) charge with an AA finish, or if over 5.0 g/t were re-assayed and completed with a gravimetric finish. For these samples, the gravimetric data were utilized in calculating gold intersections. QA/QC included the insertion and continual monitoring of numerous standards and blanks into the sample stream, and the collection of duplicate samples at random intervals within each batch. Selected holes are also analyzed for a 51 multi-element geochemical suite by ICP-MS. Data citing ounces mined from historical production is attributed to www.metalseconomics.com.
Kinsley Mountain is an early-stage exploration project and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by NI 43-101. The potential quantities and grades disclosed herein are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource for the targets disclosed herein. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource.
Further information is available in the technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Kinsley Project, Elko County, Nevada, U.S.A.", effective February 15, 2012 and dated March 26, 2012, prepared by Michael M. Gustin, CPG of Mine Development Associates and Moira Smith, Ph.D., P.Geo. and Kent Samuelson of Pilot Gold Inc., under Pilot Gold's Issuer Profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
ABOUT PILOT GOLD
Pilot Gold is a well-funded gold exploration company led by a proven technical team that continues to discover and define high-quality assets featuring strong grades, meaningful size and mining-friendly addresses. Our three key assets include interests in the TV Tower and Halilaga projects in Turkey, and the Kinsley Mountain project in Nevada, each of which has the ability to become a foundational asset. We also have a pipeline of projects characterized by large land positions and district-wide potential that can meet our growth needs for years to come.
For more information, visit www.pilotgold.com or contact:
Investors:
Patrick Reid, VP, Corporate Affairs
Phone: 604-632-4677 or Toll Free 1-877-632-4677
Media:
Ian Noble, Director, Corporate Communications
Phone: 604-809-8750
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Pilot Gold within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements that address timing of exploration and development plans at the Company's mineral projects. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "planned", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumptions about future prices of gold, copper, silver and other metal prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates, favourable operating conditions, political stability, obtaining governmental approvals and financing on time, obtaining renewals for existing licences and permits and obtaining required licences and permits, labour stability, stability in market conditions, availability of equipment, accuracy of any mineral resources and mineral reserves, successful resolution of disputes and anticipated costs and expenditures. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Pilot Gold and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.
Such forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, statements that address reserve or resource potential, potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential size of a mineralized zone, potential expansion of mineralization, the timing and results of future resource estimates, proposed timing of exploration and development plans at the Company's mineral projects, and the estimation of mineral reserves and resources involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of Pilot Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.
Such factors include, among others, risks related to the interpretation of results at certain of our exploration properties, reliance on technical information provided by our joint venture partners or other third parties as related to any of our exploration properties; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; successfully completing the earn-in on the TV Tower project, including the ability to incur the minimum annual Expenditure Requirements and future issuance of common shares as consideration to complete the earn-in agreement; current economic conditions; future prices of commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; current and proposed exploration and development; the costs and timing of the development of new deposits; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; uses of funds in general including future capital expenditures, exploration expenditures and other expenses for specific operations; the timing and success of exploration activities generally; achievement of identified tangible project milestones at TV Tower; delays in permitting; satisfaction of Turkish requirements relating to the periodic submissions of Environmental Impact Assessments; possible claims against the Company or its joint venture partners; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of exploration as well as those factors discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2012, dated March 27, 2013 (the "AIF") in the section entitled "Risk Factors", under Pilot Gold's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Although Pilot Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Pilot Gold disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Further details relating to Pilot Gold are also available in the AIF, available under Pilot Gold's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.