(TheNewswire)
Vancouver, British Columbia – TheNewswire - November 16, 2023 –Rackla Metals Inc. (TSXV:RAK) (the “Company”) is pleased toannounce that the Company has received the final geochemical analysesfrom the 2023 exploration program on its properties in the AstroPlutonic Complex.
These results include analyses for drill core from the17-hole, 3,000 m drill program, rock, soil and stream sediment samplesfrom the three properties in the Astro Intrusive Complex andinterpretation of the results.
The Astro Plutonic Complex is located within theTombstone Gold Belt at the Yukon-NWT border and is accessible from theNorth Canol road. The Complex includes three granodiorite to graniteintrusions belonging to the Cretaceous-aged Tombstone & TungstenSuites. Cretaceous intrusions in the Tombstone Gold Belt hostsignificant Reduced Intrusion-Related Gold System (RIRGS) golddeposits such as the Fort Knox Mine in Alaska (12.1 Moz gold), theEagle Mine in Yukon (7.8 Moz gold) and the newly discovered Valleygold occurrence belonging to Snowline Gold Corp.
Figure 1: Astro Plutonic Complex.
Astro Property
The Astro property is centered around the BorderPluton, a granodiorite intrusion belonging to the Cretaceous-agedTombstone Suite. The pluton measures 6.7 by 7.0 km and has anintensely metasomatized contact aureole around its margins, typical ofgold-bearing Tombstone Gold Belt occurrences. Prior exploration hasidentified 5 gold-bearing skarn occurrences along the margins of theintrusion in the hornfels contact aureole (the Radio, Ultraviolet,Microwave, Gamma and Infrared occurrences). Stream sediment, soil,talus and rock sampling on the property has returned numerous samplescontaining anomalous gold with a strong correlation with bismuth,tellurium, arsenic and tungsten. This chemicalassociation has led Rackla to believe that the mineralizing system atAstro is related to a RIRGS.
The 2023 exploration season was Rackla’s first on theproperty. Rackla completed a comprehensive program including streamsediment, soil, talus and rock sampling, prospecting, geologicalmapping, airborne and ground geophysics and diamond drilling. Thisfirst pass exploration program by the Company has been successful inrefining the understanding of three of the previously identifiedoccurrences (Radio, Ultraviolet and Microwave) and identified 3 newtargets within the intrusion: the Lake Creek, X-ray and Photonoccurrences.
The drill program was primarily focused on theRadio-Ultraviolet target areas, where 10 of the 12 holes were drilled.The two remaining holes were drilled on the Lake Creek target.
The exploration program on the Radio and Ultraviolettargets defined a gold-arsenic talus-fine geochemical anomaly thatmeasures 750 x 450 m in the valley between the two occurrences. Thisanomaly is open to the south. Six drill holes tested this anomaly(AST-001, -003, -004, -006, -007, and -008). The best results from thedrilling were hole AST-004 (34.12 m @ 0.261 g/t Au) and hole AST-007(3.05 m @ 3.465 g/t Au with 4174 ppm As). Exploration in theRadio-Ultraviolet valley has returned a large area with significantlyanomalous gold in soil samples and rock samples. The Company is of theopinion that the 2023 drill results do not fully explain the source ofthese gold anomalies and believes that more work is required tounderstand the anomalies.
At the Radio skarn, the Company conducted prospecting,geological mapping, rock sampling, ground magnetic and electromagneticsurveys and drilled 3 holes (AST-002, -005 and 011): AST-002 was lostin a fault zone before hitting the target; AST-005 intersected 12.44 m@ 0.492 g/t Au with 551 ppm Bi and 534 ppm Cu; and hole AST-011intersected 1.50 m @ 0.530 g/t Au with 21 ppm Bi. The groundgeophysical survey identified a large coincident magnetic andconductive anomaly east and north of the Radio drill holes. Thenorthern part of this geophysical anomaly, on the west side of theRadio target ridge, is coincident with a soil geochemical goldanomaly. The Company plans to focus exploration on this target in 2024to define it further, followed by drilling.
At the Ultraviolet target, Rackla conducted prospecting, geologicalmapping, rock sampling, ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveysand drilled one hole (AST-009). The geophysical survey defined asmall magnetic body indicating that the target may be limited in size.Hole AST-009 returned a single intercept of 1.53 m containing 0.44 g/tgold with 62 ppm bismuth. No further work is planned on this target atthis time.
The Lake Creek occurrence is defined by a talus sample bismuth anomalythat measures 2.0 x 0.4 km in the valley bottom where prospecting hasreturned up to 2.38 g/t Au in rock samples. The prospecting programalso identified a significant density of sheeted quartz-sulphide veinsin the granodiorite that were variably mineralized. Drill hole AST-010did not return any significant intercepts, but hole AST-012, drilledfurther up the valley, returned six narrow intervals (1.5 m each) overa 140 m total width with gold values between 0.11 and 0.37 g/t. Thesegold-bearing intercepts had associated anomalous bismuth and arsenicup to 22 ppm and 973 ppm, respectively. Further work is required inthis area to determine if there is a higher-grade source to thetalus-fine anomaly.
The X-ray anomaly is defined by a series of anomalous gold-in-streamsediment anomalies, a gold-in-talus anomaly, rock samples thatreturned up to 2.5 g/t gold and the observation of sheetedquartz-sulphide veins. Only a limited amount of work was conducted inthe area and more work is planned for 2024 on this target to define itfurther.
The Photon anomaly is in the valley south of the X-ray anomaly andnorthwest of the Gamma skarn. Photon has only had a minor amount ofwork, consisting of stream sediment sampling and prospecting. Thestream sediment sampling returned moderately anomalous gold valueswith coincident bismuth and arsenic. A large 3m boulder located in thecreek with sheeted quartz/sulfide veining returned results of 4.6g/t gold with 2690 ppm bismuth. This was late in the season butclearly more work is planned to follow-up on these results in 2024.
Rackla is encouraged by these results, particularly because thecoincidence of bismuth and arsenic with the gold corroborates thebelief that the mineralizing system at Astro is caused by a RIRGSsystem. The Company plans to do more work on the property in 2024 tofurther refine these targets and determine if there is a significantmineralizing centre at Astro.
Figure 2: Astro Property compilationmap with 2023 drill hole locations.
SER Property
The SER property covers the Kelvin Stock, abiotite-hornblende-clinopyroxene granite belonging to the TombstoneSuite. The granite intrudes and alters sedimentary rocks and like theother intrusions in the Complex, has a prominent metasomatized contactaureole.
Three mineral occurrences have been identified on theproperty: the Tour Zone, the Grid Zone and the Peak Zone. The TourZone contains abundant sheeted quartz-tourmaline-scheelite veins alongwith a Au-Bi-As soil anomaly, the Grid Zone is defined by a strongAu-As soil anomaly and numerous high gold-arsenic rock samples, andthe Peak Zone has an anomalous Au-Bi soil anomaly with a few anomalousgold-in-rock samples. Prospecting and rock sampling have returned aconsiderable number of samples that contain greater than 0.5 g/t gold,with 22% of the samples above 0.5 g/t gold and a peak value of 27.5g/t gold. The chemistry of the anomalous gold-in-rock samples shows astrong correlation to arsenic and bismuth.
Talus-fine sampling has also identified an area ofanomalous bismuth at the head of the valley. The SER property has notyet been drill tested.
Figure 3: SER Property compilationmap.
HIT Property
The HIT property is centered around the Canol TrailStock, a monzogranite intrusion belonging to the Cretaceous-agedTungsten Suite. Rackla completed a comprehensive program at HIT in2023, including stream sediment, soil, talus and rock sampling,prospecting, geological mapping, airborne geophysics and drilled 997 min 5 holes on the property. The results of the drill program included129.8 m grading 0.248 g/t gold in hole HIT-003 and 45.5 m grading0.516 g/t gold in HIT-004 (October 31, 2023 press release). Bothintercepts had a strong correlation with bismuth and arsenic.
Figure 4: HIT Property drill holes HIT-003 and -004 cross sectionwith gold intercepts and density of sheeted veins.
Figure 5: HIT Property drill holesHIT-003 and -004 cross section with gold, bismuth, tungsten, telluriumand arsenic.
The soil and talus fine sampling program at HIT defineda large gold-bismuth-arsenic anomaly to the west of drill holesHIT-003 and HIT-004. This anomaly is open to the south and north.Prospecting and rock sampling at HIT hasreturned 11% of the samples containing greater than 0.5 g/t gold (45samples > 0.5 g/t Au), with the highest value being 26.5 g/t gold.There is a strong correlation between gold, bismuth, tellurium andarsenic in rock and drill core samples.
Figure 6: HIT Property compilationmap.
Rackla is encouraged by the results of their firstsummer of exploration in the Astro Intrusive Complex. The geologicalcrew worked hard to become familiar with the geologicalcharacteristics of each of the three intrusions and to ground truththe significant historical geological and geochemical dataset. TheCompany continues to believe that each of the three intrusions has thepotential to host significant RIRGS mineralization and the crew isexcited to get back on site in 2024 to follow up on these promisingresults.
Simon Ridgway, Rackla Metals CEO, commented: “ The team and I personally areexcited by the potential indicated by the drilling at the AstroIntrusive Complex. Holes HIT-003 and HIT-004 are certainly indicatingthe presence of a RIR Gold System at the Canol Trail Stock. A muchlarger drill program will be planned for next year to follow up thisdiscovery, and we will continue the boots on the ground exploration ofthe other properties that the Company now 100% owns.”
Analytical Procedure
Drilling was generally performed with NQ2-sizedequipment. Occasionally drill holes were collared with HQ2-sizedequipment if ground conditions were difficult. Drill core wassystematically logged for geological attributes, photographed andsample intervals identified by a geologist at Rackla’s field camp.Samples were generally sampled at 1.5 m intervals, but occasionallyshorter intervals were sampled to isolate features of interest.Samples were collected by cutting the core in half along the axis ofthe core. Field duplicates were collected at regular intervals bycutting the half core to be sent to the lab into two ¼ core samples,each with unique sample numbers leaving a consistent record of halfcore material in the core box. Standard reference materials wereinserted by Rackla personnel at regular intervals into the samplestream. Samples were delivered by expeditor to ALS Global preparatoryfacility in Whitehorse, Yukon. Sample preparation was completed inWhitehorse, with analyses completed in North Vancouver, BC. ALS Global is an accredited ISO/IEC 17025 andISO9001 laboratory for quality management.
At the lab, drill core samples were crushed by ALS to>75% passing below 2 mm and split using a riffle splitter. 250 gsplits were pulverized to >85% passing below 75 microns. 0.5 g ofthe sample pulps were digested with aqua regia and analyzed by aninductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy and inductively coupledplasma atomic absorption spectroscopy (ICP-MS+ICP-AES) finish for51-element analysis (ALS code: ME-MS41). All samples were analysed forgold content by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on 50 g samples(ALS code: Au-GRA22).
For the purposes of this release, mineralized intervalsare defined as runs of mineralization >0.1 g/t Au.
Qu alified Person
Scott Casselman, B.Sc., P.Geo., Vice-PresidentExploration of the Company, is a member of the Association ofProfessional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia and isthe Company’s Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument43-101. Mr. Casselman has reviewed and approved the technicalinformation contained in this news release.
About Rackla
Rackla Metals Inc. (TSX-V: RAK) is a Vancouver, Canadabased junior gold exploration company. The Company is targetingReduced Intrusion-Related Gold Systems (RIRGS) mineralization on thesoutheastern part of the Tombstone Gold Belt in eastern Yukon andwestern Northwest Territories. Management believes that this area,which is underexplored for RIRGS deposit types, has the potential tobe the next frontier for their discovery.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Simon Ridgway,
CEO and Director
Tel: (604) 801-5432; Fax: (604) 662-8829
Email: info@goldgroup.com
Website: www.racklametals.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its RegulationServices Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXVenture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracyof this press release.
Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this news releaseconstitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadiansecurities legislation. All statements included herein, other thanstatements of historical fact, are forward- looking statements andinclude, without limitation, statements about the Company’s proposedexploration activities. Often, but not always, these forward lookingstatements can be identified by the use of words such as“estimate”, “estimates”, “estimated”, “potential”,“open”, “future”, “assumed”, “projected”, “used”,“detailed”, “has been”, “gain”, “upgraded”,“offset”, “limited”, “contained”, “reflecting”,“containing”, “remaining”, “to be”, “periodically”, orstatements that events, “could” or “should” occur or beachieved and similar expressions, including negativevariations.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknownrisks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actualresults, performance or achievements of the Company to be materiallydifferent from any results, performance or achievements expressed orimplied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factorsinclude, among others, changes in general economic conditions andfinancial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not havingthe financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals;risks associated with the results of exploration and developmentactivities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits;unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed fromtime to time in the Company’s quarterly and annual filings withsecurities regulators and available under the Company’s profile onSEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identifyimportant factors that could cause actual actions, events or resultsto differ materially from those described in forward-lookingstatements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events orresults to differ from those anticipated, estimated orintended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are basedon the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management,including but not limited to: that the Company’s stated goals andplanned exploration activities at its properties will be achieved;that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company orits properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein.Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and theCompany disclaims any obligation to update any forward-lookingstatements, whether as a result of new information, future events orresults or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be noassurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate,as actual results and future events could differ materially from thoseanticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should notplace undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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