Compass Gold: Drilling Success at First Ouassada Bedrock Gold Targets

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Compass Gold Corp. (TSX-V: CVB) (Compass or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on the first-ever bedrock drilling on the Ouassada exploration permit on its Sikasso Property in Southern Mali.

Highlights

• All 8 reverse-circulation (RC) holes completed over the first 5 of 14 prospective targets on Ouassada permit intercepted gold mineralization, including 13 metres (m) @ 1.97 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) (from 51 m) and 16 m @ 1.47 g/t Au (from 96 m) in a single bedrock hole

• Longest mineralized intervals were 46 m @ 0.65 g/t Au (from 18 m) and 27 m @ 0.92 g/t Au (from 96 m) from OURC005 (Ouassada RC hole 5)

• Thirty-eight one-metre sample intervals contained more than 1 g/t Au, and fifteen contained more than 3 g/t Au, with the highest being 11.8 g/t Au

• Funded and preparing for the next round of exploration in Q1-2019 to include ground geophysics and diamond drilling

Compass CEO, Larry Phillips, commented, “We are pleased with the results from our initial bedrock drilling program on the Ouassada permit, not only because all RC drill holes intersected gold mineralization in bedrock but also because we have identified two, wide mineralized gold zones in holes OURC004 and OURC005. Without doubt, this provides us with confidence that we are on the right exploration track. We are already funded and preparing for the next phase of work at Ouassada in the coming weeks and months, including additional ground geophysics and bedrock drilling.”

Technical Director, Dr. Sandy Archibald, PGeo, added, “The drilling results are highly encouraging since they have given us extremely valuable information on the geology, structure and, most importantly, the style of gold mineralization at Ouassada. We will apply this knowledge to the remaining nine exploration targets on the permit, and additional targets identified on the adjacent Sankarani permit. Meanwhile, we are laying out a 500-m diamond drilling program at our Farabakoura and Kabangoué targets on Ouassada to generate additional geological information on the mineralization in aid of our continued examination of the numerous targets that we have identified thus far.”

Farabakoura and Kabangoué Drilling targets
A total of 2,742 m of air core (AC) drilling (72 holes) and 882 m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling from 8 holes have been completed over 5 prospective targets on two areas of the Company’s Ouassada exploration permit located within the Yanfolila Belt in southern Mali. The area is underlain by Birimian (Lower Proterozoic) meta-volcanic, -volcaniclastic and -sedimentary, and intrusive rocks, which have been deformed during tectonic movements along the Siekoroli shear zone. The Yanfolila Belt hosts several multi-million gold deposits, i.e., Yanfolila, Kalana, and Kodiéran. Numerous artisanal workings are present on the Ouassada permit, and some of the most extensive areas are illustrated on Figure 1 below. This first ever bedrock drilling on the 1,179 km² Sikasso Property occurred over these artisanal workings.

Air Core Drilling Results
The 73-AC hole program was designed on a nominal spacing of 50 m on five east-west trending lines to cover five of the previously identified geochemical anomalies (see Compass news release dated July 31, 2018) located just above the bedrock to a maximum depth of 50 metres. One hole, OUAC039, was not drilled due to surface conditions, so a total of 72 holes were completed. Two lines were drilled at Kabangoué (see Figure 1), two lines at Farabakoura, and one line on Farabakoura NW. All holes were drilled at an angle of 55° to the east and were planned to test shallow soil and auger drilling gold results, and also to provide some geological control on the bedrock. Nineteen of the AC holes intersected gold concentrations greater than 100 ppb (0.1 g/t) Au over the 2 m sampling interval assayed, with depths varying from the surface (0 to 2 m) to 48 m. Generally, gold mineralization was restricted to zones 2 to 4 m in thickness, but a wide zone (up to 18 metres) with low-grade gold (0.12 g/t Au) was also present at Kabangoué in drill hole OUAC061. An adjacent hole (OUAC060) contained a mineralized interval of 8 m @ 0.75 g/t Au (from 10 m), including a 2-m interval containing 4.0 g/t Au (from 14 m), which was the highest grade encountered in the AC portion of this second phase drilling program. Mineralization was associated with pyrite and quartz veining.

The AC program was modestly successful in confirming the presence of bedrock gold mineralization associated with the quartz veining being exploited by artisanal miners on the various drilling lines. Importantly, detailed interpretation of the drilling results suggested that the mineralized zones were not parallel to the north-south trending Siekoroli shear zone as initially expected, but were generally orientated NW or WNW, thus explaining the number of intercepts over the large Farabakoura artisanal gold workings.

Significant drill intersections from the AC program are summarized in Table 1. A full listing of hole locations and assay results is presented in Table 4 at the end of this document.

Table 1. Significant drill intersections for the air core drilling program at Ouassada

Figure 1 is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e3dffe82-c05b-4bf2-8835-eb1f2a6b7f32

Reverse Circulation Drilling Results
Subsequent to the AC drilling program, the Company also undertook a limited 8-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at Ouassada. Hole locations for this RC program were based on a combination of the presence of bedrock gold identified from grab samples at Farabakoura (up to 40.4 g/t Au) and Kabangoué (89.3 g/t Au), together with geophysical and remote sensing targeting, and the preliminary AC results. A total of 882 m were drilled, with an average length of 100 m (corresponding to a depth of 82 m). The deepest hole was 130 m and the shallowest, 82 m. The purpose of these holes was to provide geological control of the bedrock lithology and identify bedrock hosted mineralization (since AC stops at the top of bedrock at an approximate depth of 50 m). Drilling at Farabakoura was concentrated on a large excavation (100 m by 150 m) made by artisanal miners, with five holes drilled within the pit and one hole drilled 50 m to the north of the pit, but still inside the area of extensive artisanal workings. Holes were drilled at various azimuths to determine the orientation of mineralization, with dips between 55 and 60°.

RC drilling results were considerably more encouraging than the shallow AC drilling at the same location. Gold mineralization was recorded in discrete intervals that ranged in thickness from 1 m up to 16 m and grades up to 11.80 g/t Au over 1 m. The most significant intervals are presented in Table 2, with all results presented in Table 5.

Table 2. Significant drill intersections for the RC drilling program at Farabakoura

Assay results show that several broad, well-mineralized zones are present. Particular significance is placed on the results from OURC004 and OURC005 since they represent intercepts that the Company believes are likely to approximate true thicknesses. When plotted in plan view, Figure 2, it appears that mineralization is trending NW and cross section interpretation suggests the structure is at a shallow angle (<30°). Diamond drilling is planned to determine the precise orientation of mineralization.

Figure 2 is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/30fa46e0-f234-4046-8750-3c1a0f559a15

Two additional RC holes were drilled on the Kabangoué prospect located 1.3 km to the southeast of the Farabakoura workings. OURC007 was a 112-m vertical hole, and OURC008 was a 90-m inclined hole drilled to the north. Both holes were drilled in an area of artisanal workings on a NW-trending granodiorite. OURC007 was located 35 m north of artisanal workings that contained WNW-trending quartz-pyrite veins assaying up to 89.3 g/t Au from grab samples, and OURC008 was located adjacent to a mineralized outcrop of granodiorite that contained thin pyrite-arsenopyrite veins and euhedral pyrite crystals, and assayed 11.55 g/t Au during historic grab sampling. Both holes collared and remained in the granodiorite for their entire length. OURC007 encountered several narrow-mineralized zones which, when combined, formed a wide (29 m) zone with low grade (0.33 g/t Au) gold concentrations (Table 3). OURC008 contained only one zone within bedrock.

Table 3. Significant drill intersections for the RC drilling program at Kabangoué

The results indicate that narrow zones of mineralization are present within the intrusion, but it appears that the best mineralization, as noted by the AC drilling, is located at the northern margin of the intrusion.

First Quarter 2019 Exploration Outlook

Based on these results, the Company aims to undertake additional drilling on the Ouassada permit. A short diamond drilling program (totaling about 500 m) will be performed following an induced polarization (IP) survey on all 14 of the exploration targets on Ouassada (see Compass news release dated September 27, 2018). The purposed of the diamond drilling is to help refine the geology, mineralogy, and petrophysics, which will be used in conjunction with the IP survey interpretation to ensure that subsequent AC and RC drilling targets the most promising structures.

Further, trenching and deep auger drilling is planned on the Sankarani permit, and follow-up geological mapping trenching is planned for select areas at Kalé and Kourou that showed enhanced soil anomalism coincident with crustal-scale faults.

About Compass Gold Corp.

Compass, a public company having been incorporated into Ontario, is a Tier 2 issuer on the TSX- V. Through the recent acquisition of MGE and Malian subsidiaries, Compass holds gold exploration permits located in Mali that comprise the Sikasso Property. The exploration permits are located in three sites in southern Mali with a combined land holding of 1,179 km². The Sikasso Property is located in the same region as several other multi-million ounce gold projects, including Morila, Syama, Kalana and Kodiéran. The Company’s Mali-based technical team, led in the field by Dr. Madani Diallo and under the supervision of Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, is initiating a new exploration program. They are examining the first of numerous anomalies noted for further investigation in Dr. Archibald’s August 2017 *“National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Sikasso Property, Southern Mali.”

QAQC
All AC and RC samples were collected following industry best practices, and an appropriate number and type of certified reference materials (standards), blanks and duplicates were inserted to ensure an effective QAQC program was carried out. The samples were prepared and analyzed at SGS SARL (Bamako, Mali) by fire assay technique FAE505. All standard and blank results were reviewed to ensure no failures were detected.

Qualified Person
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, Compass’s Technical Director, who is the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

Table 4. Ouassada AC drill hole locations and significant intersections

¹  Until the vein orientation is determined the stated interval does not imply true thickness of mineralization
* Denotes drill holes overlying artisanal workings
   Shaded drill holes OUAC069 to OUAC071 are located above the artisanal open pit where RC drill was performed

Table 5. Ouassada RC (bedrock) drill hole locations and significant intersections

Forward‐Looking Information
This news release contains “forward‐looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the Company’s planned exploration work and management appointments. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward‐looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by such information. The statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward‐looking information except as required by applicable law.

For further information please contact:

Website: www.compassgoldcorp.com

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