Vancouver, British Columbia, June 8, 2022 – Westward Gold Inc. (CSE: WG, OTCQB: WGLIF, FSE: IM50) (“Westward” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that contractor Midnight Sun Drilling Inc. has mobilized its rig and personnel to site for the Company’s 4,000-meter drill program at its flagship Toiyabe Project in Lander County, Nevada (“Toiyabe”). Earthwork crews from Legarza Exploration LLC have been on site since last week preparing access roads, and drilling is slated to begin in the coming days.
The Company’s fully-funded inaugural drill campaign is designed to test high-priority step-out targets across 15 holes to the west, south, southeast and east of the 2009 historical resource estimate at Toiyabe (~173 koz at 1.2 g Au/t)(1) (the “Historical Estimate”). Drilling will begin at the California Target area to the west of the Historical Estimate (see Figure 2 below), and Westward will be highlighting individual target areas and keeping investors informed as key milestones are reached throughout the campaign, expected to last 5-6 weeks.
Figure 1: Westward’s Nevada Land Package
Figure 2: 2022 Toiyabe Drilling – California Target Area
California Target Area
The California Target to the west of the Historical Estimate corresponds with northwest/southeast trending gold-in-soil anomalies, and lies a short distance away from the past-producing Toiyabe-Saddle Mine. This northwest trend of mineralization is repeated across Westward’s land package, including eastwards onto Turquoise Canyon. This area has also shown elevated arsenic and mercury-in-soils, corresponding with the anomalous gold values; these are important pathfinder elements for many Carlin-type gold deposits.
Drilling will test deeper zones of gold mineralization indicated by previous drilling(2) but not adequately tested. Of the 16 legacy holes found in the Company’s review of past operator logs (within the ~500 m2 blue box in Figure 2 above), the average depth was approximately 85 meters, with no modern drilling. Westward plans to reach a minimum target depth of 250m per hole. Shallow, anomalous gold intercepts above the current oxide cut-off grade of 0.14 g Au/t have been identified in legacy holes; these include 10.7m of 1.64 g Au/t from a depth of 18m (DH89-086), 6.1m of 1.29 g Au/t from a depth of 35m (DH89-112), 36.6m of 1.12 g Au/t from a depth of 20m, including 9.1m of 2.94 g Au/t from a depth of 44m (DTY020), and 24.4m of 0.54 g Au/t from a depth of 43m (DTY046). There is also evidence for anomalous mineralization at depth, which has been historically underexplored, as shown in DTY020 with 6.1m of 1.16 g Au/t from a depth of 162m.
Figure 3: Preparing Access Roads at Toiyabe
Dave Browning, Westward’s VP Exploration, commented: “We’re thrilled to officially be kicking off the 2022 field season, headlined by our much-anticipated drill campaign at Toiyabe. This is the culmination of months of work by our technical team, and we’re very excited to continue to develop our geological understanding of this district-scale land package.”
Quality Assurance & Quality Control
Company personnel, including Dave Browning (VP Exploration) and Steven Koehler (Technical Committee Member), have been on site in recent weeks to coordinate pre-drilling activities at Toiyabe. This included meeting with contractors, flagging roads and pads in anticipation of equipment mobilization, and acquiring supplies - including standards, duplicates, and blanks for quality assurance and quality control (“QAQC”). Westward is implementing a best-practices QAQC program; sampling will occur on 5-foot intervals, with standards, duplicates, or blanks inserted every 50 feet / 10 samples. Assays will be conducted by ALS Ltd. and will consist of fire assay / ICP (Au – ICP21) for gold and four acid / ICP-MS (ME-MS61) for geochemistry. In addition, all drillholes will be surveyed for deviation via north-seeking gyro surveys. The deviation surveys will provide accurate data about the true inclination and azimuth of the drill hole. Obtaining an accurate survey of the drill holes will result in a better contextual understanding of the drill samples, and a more robust 3D geological model.
Other Ongoing Field Work
In addition to activities related to the drill campaign, the Company has also begun its 2022 field mapping season. This will consist of Anaconda-style geological mapping of high-priority areas, led by Steven Koehler, recipient of the 2005 Thayer Lindsley International Discovery Award for his contributions to the 10+ million-ounce gold discovery at nearby Cortez Hills. Mapping will begin in areas that are better-known based on prior work, and systematically move towards under-explored areas, including at Turquoise Canyon and East Saddle. This mapping will provide a critical link tying together legacy and new data, and will be an important tool used to develop and refine future exploration targets. Westward will be publishing key findings from the field as they become available.
(1) Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report, American Consolidated Minerals Corporation, Prepared by Paul D. Noland, P. Geo., May 27, 2009 (the “2009 Technical Report”). A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate at Toiyabe (the “Historical Estimate”) as current mineral resources and Westward is not treating the Historical Estimate on Toiyabe as a current mineral resource, as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). The Historical Estimate was calculated using mining industry standard practices for estimating Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves (2005) which was prior to the implementation of the current CIM standards for mineral resource estimation (as defined by the CIM Definition Standard on Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves dated May 10, 2014). The key assumptions, parameters and methods used to prepare the Historical Estimate on Toiyabe are described in the 2009 Technical Report. While Westward considers the Historical Estimate on Toiyabe disclosed in this news release to be relevant to investors, it cautions readers that it should not be unduly relied upon in drawing inferences on the mineralization on Toiyabe, as additional work is required to upgrade or verify the Historical Estimate as a current mineral resource. This additional work includes (but may not be limited to): re-sampling and re-assaying of available core and/or pulps, verification of assay certificates and digital assay data, verification of select drill hole collars, review and verification of drill hole geologic logs versus the preserved core and RC cuttings, incorporation of AuCN assays to provide a general understanding of metallurgical characteristics, review and verification of mineralization controls and modelling techniques.
(2) Sources: NI 43-101 Technical Report, IM Exploration Inc., Prepared by Donald E. Cameron, P.Geo., August 5, 2021; Toiyabe data room and drill log files inherited from previous operators. The Company and its qualified person have relied on third-party data during its review of the information presented herein, and while it believes the information to be relevant to investors, it cautions readers that it should not be unduly relied upon in drawing inferences on the mineralization at Toiyabe, as additional work is required to confirm drill intercepts and/or soil samples, including (but not limited to): re-sampling and re-assaying of available core and/or pulps, verification of assay certificates where available, review and verification of drillhole geologic logs versus the preserved core and RC cuttings.
Qualified Person
The technical information contained in this news release was reviewed and approved by Steven R. Koehler, Technical Advisor to the Company, who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Koehler is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) through the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG).
About Westward Gold
Westward Gold is a mineral exploration company focused on developing the Toiyabe, Turquoise Canyon, and East Saddle Projects located in the Cortez Hills area of Lander County, Nevada. From time to time, the Company may also evaluate the acquisition of other mineral exploration assets and opportunities.
For further information contact:
Colin Moore
President, CEO & Director
Westward Gold Inc.
colin@westwardgold.com
Tel: +1 (647) 403 0391
www.westwardgold.com
The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
This news release contains or incorporates by reference “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, which address events, results, outcomes, or developments that the Company expects to occur are, or may be deemed, to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate”, “potential”, “on track”, “forecast", "budget", “target”, “outlook”, “continue”, “plan” or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation of such terms.
Such statements include, but may not be limited to, information as to strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance, such as the Company’s expansion plans, project timelines, expected drilling targets, and other statements that express management’s expectations or estimates of future plans and performance.
Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, approval from BLM will be obtained for the Work Plan, the need for additional capital by the Company through financings, and the risk that such funds may not be raised; the speculative nature of exploration and the stages of the Company’s properties; the effect of changes in commodity prices; regulatory risks that development of the Company’s material properties will not be acceptable for social, environmental or other reasons, availability of equipment (including drills) and personnel to carry out work programs, that each stage of work will be completed within expected time frames, that current geological models and interpretations prove correct, the results of ongoing work programs may lead to a change of exploration priorities, and the efforts and abilities of the senior management team. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company’s forward-looking statements or information. These and other factors may cause the Company to change its exploration and work programs, not proceed with work programs, or change the timing or order of planned work programs. Additional risk factors and details with respect to risk factors that may affect the Company’s ability to achieve the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are set out in the Company’s latest management discussion and analysis under “Risks and Uncertainties”, which is available under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company’s forward-looking statements and information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations, and opinions of management as of the date of this press release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management’s assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information.