Initial Diamond Drilling by African Queen at Yellowjacket Gold Project Confirms Down-Dip Continuation of Gold Mineralized Zone; Results Include 37.1 G/T AU over 1.08 M

(via Thenewswire.ca)

Vancouver, British Columbia / TheNewswire / September 28 2016 - AFRICAN QUEEN MINES LTD. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has now received the assay results from the Phase I diamond drilling program on its Yellowjacket Gold Project located 9 km east of Atlin, BC (the “Project”).

In order to investigate continuity of the gold mineralized zone and expand the historic resource of the Yellowjacket Gold Mine, four diamond drill holes were designed to target the known Yellowjacket gold mineralized zone down dip from the area historically modelled as part of the mine plan.  Significant drill results are tabulated below.

• -Note: reported widths represent core intervals.  Additional structural work is required to determine true width.

Holes YJ16-01 and 02 were collared from the same pad, with YJ16-01 drilled at a -55o dip and YJ16-02 at a steeper dip of -75o.  Hole YJ16-01 intersected a listwanite altered 3.9 metre wide faulted zone with elevated gold values up to 3.2 g/t over 1.5 metres.  YJ16-02 intersected the mineralized Yellowjacket Zone with analyses returning high grade gold intercepts (8.9 g/t over 1.09 metres and 37.1 g/t over 1.08 metres) within broad zones of diverse gold values (0.8 g/t over 14.83 metres, and 4.1 g/t over 11 metres, respectively).  Widths reported are core widths and do not necessarily represent true widths.  Several grains of visible gold within the brecciated fault zone were observed at 74 and 104 metres depth.  Hole YJ16-02 is a 15 metre vertical (down dip) step-out from historic 1988 Homestake drill hole 88-57 which was reported to return 8.06 g/t gold over 12.0 metres plus 5.58 g/t gold over 6.0 metres (including 2 metres of 15.66 g/t gold) and YJ16-01 was a 15 metre up-dip extension, thereby confirming the continuity of the Yellowjacket mineralization (BC Ministry of Mines Assessment Report #18608).

Drill holes YJ16-03 and YJ16-04 were both designed to drill deep below the historically modelled Yellowjacket gold zone, which was previously tested to a depth of 140 metres.  Holes YJ16-03 and YJ16-04 were designed to intercept this zone at depths of 250 and 350 metres.  Unfortunately, both drill holes were abandoned short of their target depths due to intersecting the clay rich, highly fractured north fault structure (with hole YJ16-03 ending at 138.68 metres and YJ16-04 ending at 230.12 metres depth).  The nature of the underlying fault structure made drilling extremely challenging and excessively costly.  Our technical team concluded that it would be more effective to target this deeper zone with future drill holes positioned from the south rather than the north in order to bypass this structure.  Notwithstanding failure to reach the targeted pay zone, drill hole YJ16-03 intersected 2.7 g/t over 0.92 metres near the bottom of the hole at a depth of approximately 136 metres, indicating mineralized fluid flow along the fault structure presumably originating in the Yellowjacket Zone mineralization below.  This hole bottomed in the fault structure at 138.68 metres depth.

Historic drilling by previous operators, including Homestake Mineral Development Corp., Muskox Minerals Ltd. and Prize Mining Corp., has traced the known Yellowjacket gold mineralized zone for approximately 300-350 metres strike length along a fault-bounded structure.  Within this zone, previous operators have reported numerous drill holes with elevated gold intersections from bedrock surface to a depth of approximately 140 metres. The Yellowjacket Zone remains open to depth and along strike.  With the Yellowjacket mineralization being categorized as a classic mesothermal deposit model, deep drilling remains a highly prospective target for expansion of the gold resource as well as further down-dip drilling.   The next phase of diamond drilling will continue to pursue deeper gold intersections by drilling from the South, utilizing different orientations to by-pass the complex north fault zone.  

According to Irwin Olian, CEO of the Company, “The results of our initial 4-hole diamond drilling program at the Yellowjacket Gold Project confirm continuation of the gold mineralized zone down-dip with several high intersections and other good showings.  Although the deep drilling was terminated by a highly fractured clay-rich fault zone which made further drilling not feasible from the northern approach, intersecting deep gold mineralization remains a key target for the next drill phase using different orientations, together with further down-dip drilling.  In addition, we have now identified nearly a dozen other prospective zones in our extensive regional land package and look forward to exploration drilling to discover new gold-bearing mineralized zones in our Atlin tenures.”  

Drill core samples were analyzed by Bureau Veritas Minerals (Acme Labs) in Vancouver.  All drill core samples were analysed for 36 elements by ICP-MS.  All samples which returned > 1000 ppb gold from the ICP analyses were then re-assayed doing 1 kg metallic screens with 50 gram fire assays of coarse and duplicate fine fractions.  Along with the internal laboratory QA/QC procedures, African Queen did a rigorous QA/QC protocol consisting of high and low grade standards, blanks and duplicates.  

Linda Dandy, P.Geo., a Qualified Person within the meaning of N.I. 43-101, is providing on site supervision and guidance and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release.

About African Queen

The Company is an exploratory resource company engaged in exploration and development of mineral properties in Canada and Africa.  It is presently focusing on development of its Yellowjacket Gold Project in Atlin, British Columbia, which covers an aggregate of approximately 271 km2. The Company has its executive offices in Vancouver, Canada. The Company was incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia, Canada on April 30, 2008, and received certain southern African assets in a spin off transaction related to the acquisition of Pan African Mining Corp. by Asia Thai Mining Co., Ltd.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
AFRICAN QUEEN MINES, LTD.

“Irwin Olian”                       
Irwin Olian
Chairman & CEO

For more information, contact:

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of the information contained herein.  The statements made in this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Actual events or results may differ from the Company’s expectations.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.