Ascot Discovers High-Grade Gold at the “Day Zone” on its Premier Gold Project

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ascot Resources Ltd (TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF) (“Ascot” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the discovery of new high-grade gold mineralization at the “Day Zone” at the Company’s Premier Gold Project (“PGP”). The high-grade intercepts are located 300m west from the planned underground development at Big Missouri (see Figure 2). Mineralization is open along strike to the north and the south. The Day Zone is located on the Big Missouri Ridge, approximately 5 kilometres north of the Premier Mill. Additionally, an update is provided on Premier West.

Highlights from the Day Zone include:

20.62g/t Au over 4.10m in hole P20-2212

54.60g/t Au over 2.05m in hole P20-2213

As weather conditions improved in August, exploration was shifted to higher elevation targets at the Big Missouri Ridge after initial drilling was completed at Premier West. This news release summarizes the results from three drill holes (for a total of 715m) at the Day Zone at Big Missouri and seven drill holes (2,183m) from Premier West.

Derek White, President and CEO of Ascot commented, “We are excited about the discovery of another strategically located high-grade zone that could be transformative for Ascot. The new drilling referred to as the Day Zone is west of our known resources at the Big Missouri deposit and is within striking distance of our planned underground development. The Day Zone consists of quartz breccia hosted high-grade mineralization similar to Big Missouri. Additional drilling will have to be conducted to show continuity between the Day Zone and Big Missouri. We also completed additional drill holes at Premier West which improved our understanding of the orientation and boundary of the high-grade mineralization there. We are awaiting results from higher elevation drilling at Silver Hill and are commencing additional drilling at lower elevation targets such as Woodbine.”

Day Zone

Exploration drilling at the Day Zone was prompted by anomalous soil geochemistry on the west side of the Big Missouri Ridge (see Figure 1) and sporadic drilling from the 1980s that indicated the presence of quartz breccia with associated gold mineralization. Drill pad Day-1 was established below the top of the ridge in order to test as much vertical extent as possible. A total of six drill holes were completed from this pad and results from the first three holes are listed in Table 1 (assays are pending for the three other holes).

All three drill holes intercepted gold mineralization at two different elevations with the best intercepts exceeding historical results in this area. These intercepts occur at a depth that appears to be equivalent to the well-established Big Missouri zone on the east side of the ridge (see Figure 2). The first two holes (2212 and 2213) intercepted impressive grades with visible gold in hole 2213 (see Figure 3). The drill core indicates that the area may be affected by structures that offset mineralization and possibly rotated structural blocks which may account for the different orientation compared to what is known from the eastern side of the ridge where mineralization dips gently to the west. Figure 2 shows a 300m gap between the Day Zone and the planned underground development at Big Missouri. Additional drilling will be necessary and is currently being planned to explore this area as well as the northern and southern strike extent of the high-grade zone. The potential for additional resources in this area appears to be very high.

Table 1 Summary of exploration drill results from the Day Zone

Figure 1 accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f2b3e022-2e4f-4dfe-9eff-b41a2c0a9ab7

Figure 2 accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9fe64676-e220-4e96-a64f-d99682eded97

Figure 3 accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2850ca64-3635-4285-b792-e3321278077c

Premier West

The Company reported drill results from drill pad PW-1 at Premier West pictured in news releases on July 29 and August 19. The results reported in those releases indicated the presence of high-grade mineralization to the west of Premier. The fences of drill holes from the one available drill pad followed the mineralization to the west by rotating the orientation of the drill holes. The westernmost drill holes suggest that the mineralized zone has a flatter dip than anticipated. The results summarized in Table 2 are believed to be from peripheral material to the established high-grade zone. Follow-up drilling will have to be conducted from a different drill pad that allows for drill holes perpendicular to the zone. The location of the planned drill pad PW-2 (see news release August 19) will have to be moved. Ascot is working to establish an alternative location and is hoping to conduct drilling before the end of the year.

Table 2 Summary of exploration drill results from Premier West

Table 3 Drill pad location

Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek 2020