TORONTO, Nov. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Idaho Champion Gold Mines Canada Inc. (CSE: ITKO) (“Idaho Champion” or the “Company”), is pleased to report that it has completed its 2018 exploration program at the Baner Project in Idaho.
2018 Exploration program at Baner Project
Highlights:
- 5,200 metres of core drilled in 19 holes at the projects first drilling campaign
- New gold discovery made on the property through drilling
- Results included Assay ICG2018-13 which intersected 5.76 grams per tonne (“g/t”) over 12.65 metres (Table 1: full list of results below)
- The company completed 176 surface samples across the property. See press release dated October 17, 2018 for first set of results. More results are expected soon.
President and CEO, Jonathan Buick stated: “I believe that we have only scratched the surface on our first exploration program at Baner. We have made a new gold discovery through the drill bit and encountered great initial grades in the highly oxidized zones near surface. There was good continuity in the holes and our newly acquired Sally claims will provide us the opportunity to expand the strike length an additional 2 km to the north. Our geologic team is currently reviewing the information learned from this season and is planning the 2019 drill program”
Table 1: ICG2018 Drill Program Holes 1 to 19 – Significant Intercepts (but not limited to)
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Width (m)1 | Gold (Au) g/t | |
| ICG2018-1 | 83 | 101 | 18.00 | 1.39 | |
| ICG2018-8 | 115 | 116.3 | 1.30 | 2.75 | |
| 116.3 | 116.6 | 0.30 | 146.75 | ||
| 116.6 | 121.3 | 4.70 | 1.48 | ||
| ICG2018-9 | 47 | 59.8 | 12.80 | 1.32 | |
| ICGG2018-13 | 8.65 | 21.30 | 12.65 | 5.76 | |
| 32.2 | 34.2 | 2.00 | 9.02 | ||
| ICG2018-14 | 14.50 | 26 | 11.50 | 0.68 | |
| 58 | 69 | 11.00 | 2.27 | ||
| ICG2018-16 | 127.9 | 133.8 | 5.90 | 4.80 | |
| ICG2018-19 | 89 | 91 | 2.00 | 5.85 | |
| 1The intervals reported in these tables represent drill intercepts and insufficient data are available at this time to state the true thickness of the mineralized intervals. All gold values are uncut. | |||||
Figure 1: Map of current drilling location within the Baner property is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/06b5653c-6263-48b7-a4fe-be030e657bce
Corporate Update
The Company also announces that Donald Sheldon has resigned as a director of the Company. The Company and the Board of Directors would like to thank Mr. Sheldon for his contributions to the Company.
Drilling strategy
Drill hole selection at Baner was two-fold; utilizing the Baner database (historical reports, soil, rock, geophysical and mapping) along with current drill observations & results to plan out successive drill hole locations. Drill holes 11 to 19 were important drill holes in understanding the location and nature of the Orogrande shear zone (“OSZ”) as it occurs on the Baner property. As the Baner drill program has progressed, the Idaho Champion geologic team has improved their understanding of the OSZ.
Regional Description
The Baner Project is located within the Orogrande shear zone (OSZ), a 30-kilometre-long and up to 3-kilometre-wide regional shear zone located in Central Idaho. The Baner Claim block covers a series of parallel shear zones on the eastern margin of the OSZ. Significant oxidation and mineralization associated with the OSZ consists of quartz, sericite, & fine-grained pyrite. Mineralization includes disseminated low-grade precious metal mineralization in associated stockwork veins, hydraulic breccias; Plus, high-grade gold associated with discreet structurally controlled quartz veins.
The Baner Project is in the central Idaho Gold Belt, 8 km south of the of Elk City, Idaho. Elk City is an historic gold mining region dating back to the 1860’s and once supported more than 20 underground mines and extensive placer operations. During the 1930’s there were three cyanide mills along the Crooked River processing open pit and underground sulfide ore. Exploration in the district during the 1980’s and 1990’s included Cypress-Amax, Kinross Gold, Bema Gold and focused primarily on near-surface bulk-tonnage gold potential targeting a Fort Knox type occurrence. Premium Exploration conducted extensive drilling, soil sampling, and airborne and surface geophysics around 2010. Currently a Finnish gold producer, Endomines AB, is developing the Friday Gold Project at Orogrande into an underground gold operation.
QA/QC Program
Quality Assurance/Quality Control consists of the regular insertion of duplicates, blanks and certified reference standards into the sample stream. Check samples will be submitted to an umpire laboratory at the end of the drilling program. Samples are kept in a secure facility and transferred to American Analytical Services, Inc. in Osburn, Idaho in sealed containers on a weekly basis from the drill site by Company contractors. Personnel handling core are using Company-approved protocols for all phases of core logging, sample delineation, sample layout, core cutting and storage. American Analytical Services, Inc. is ISO 17025 certified. American Analytical Services, Inc. has a standard operating procedure (SOP) for all aspects of sample drop off, drying and preparation, digestion, instrument analysis, quality control assurance and computerized data reporting. Gold assays are determined by Fire Assay with a gravimetric finish using a 30-gram aliquot (1 Assay Ton). The detection limit for gold by FA/Grav is 0.10 g/t (100 ppb).
Idaho Champion, as a part of the QA/QC protocol, inserts a pre-pulverised 50g certified standard ranging into the sample stream at a rate of 1 standard every 20 samples. In addition, a certified blank is inserted into the sample stream at a rate of 1 blank per 40 samples.
Assays are directly imported electronically from the American Analytical Services, Inc. certificate into Geosoft MX Deposit where QA/QC data are monitored for pass/fail.
Qualified Person
The technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Peter Karelse P.Geo., a consultant to the Company, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Karelse has more than 30 years of experience in exploration and development. Field work at the Baner project site was supervised by Jim Baughman P.Geo.
ABOUT IDAHO CHAMPION
Idaho Champion is a discovery-focused gold exploration company that is committed to advancing its 100% owned highly prospective mineral properties located in Idaho, United States. The Company’s shares trade on the CSE under the trading symbol “ITKO”. Idaho Champion is vested in Idaho with the Baner Project in Idaho County, the Champagne Project located in Butte County near Arco, and four cobalt properties in Lemhi County in the Idaho Cobalt Belt. Idaho Champion strives to be a responsible environmental steward, stakeholder and a contributing citizen to the local communities where we operate. Idaho Champion takes our social license seriously and employ local community members and services in our operations.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Jonathan Buick”
Jonathan Buick, President and CEO
For further information, please visit the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com or the Company’s corporate website at www.idahochamp.com.
For further information please contact:
Nicholas Konkin, Marketing and Communications
Phone: (416) 477-7771 ext. 205
email: nkonkin@idahochamp.com
THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION OF SECURITIES IN ANY STATE IN THE UNITED STATES IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
Cautionary Statements
This News Release includes certain “forward-looking statements” which are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company’s future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “estimates”, “may”, “could”, “would”, “will”, or “plan”. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management’s expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company’s objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to failure to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital, operating and reclamation costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in the Company’s public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.