African Queen Mines Commences Diamond Drilling At Gold Run Prospect At Its YellowJacket Gold Project

(TheNewswire)

Vancouver, British Columbia / TheNewswire / AFRICAN QUEEN MINES LTD. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has commenced diamond drilling at the Gold Run prospect at its Yellowjacket Gold Project (“the Project”) located 9 km east of Atlin, BC.  This initial drilling comprises up to 2000 m of core drilling as part of the Company’s 2017 exploration program at the Project.  Gold Run is located approximately 1.3 kilometres east of the Company’s Yellowjacket mine site along Pine Creek.  This area was central to the historic gold rush in Atlin which began in 1897 and resulted in the creation of the mining boom town of Discovery during its heyday in the early 1900’s.  

Earlier this season, one of the leading placer mining operators in the Atlin District identified a portion of an apparently virgin paleo channel of the original creek at Gold Run which had been overlooked by previous miners.  The placer gravels, sometimes extending to a depth of up to 15 m, have now become the site of a sizeable, mechanized placer mining operation on ground which overlays the Company’s hard rock mineral claims at Gold Run.  Our geological model for the Atlin District suggests a strong likelihood that structural faults in the bedrock below and in the vicinity of the ancient creek channel may be conduits for gold-bearing solutions.  Accordingly, we are planning to test these faults for the presence of gold mineralization in our current drill program with a number of fences consisting of 3 to 4 drill holes, with depths of 100 to 150 m along an E-W strike of up to 1000 m.

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Historic drilling by previous operators at the Yellowjacket Gold Mine site, including Homestake Mineral Development Corp., Muskox Minerals Ltd. and Prize Mining Corp., has traced the known Yellowjacket gold mineralized zone for approximately 300 to 350 m strike length along a fault-bounded E-W structure associated with Pine Creek (the Pine Creek Fault).  Within this zone, previous operators have reported numerous drill holes with elevated gold intersections from bedrock surface to a depth of approximately 140 m.

The primary objective of the current drill program is to test the E-W trending fault structures, associated with the mineralized Pine Creek Fault, at the Gold Run prospect in order to determine whether there is a continuation of the historic high-grade gold mineralization into this area.

According to Irwin Olian, CEO of the Company, “We are very excited to be drilling at Gold Run now and hope to make a new hard rock discovery that may have been associated with the sizeable placer deposits which have been mined along Pine Creek for nearly 120 years.”

Drill core samples will be shipped to Bureau Veritas Minerals (Acme Labs) in Whitehorse for sample preparation and then forwarded to Vancouver for analyses.  Initial results of the program are expected to be available within approximately 60 days.  Drilling is being undertaken by a highly experienced, Atlin-based drilling professional utilizing a 2016-built Zinex Mining diamond drill rig mounted in a custom drill shack with rod handling capabilities.  It is anticipated that NQ and HQ core will be utilized as deemed advisable.  Further targets will be developed and additional drilling will be undertaken on a result contingent basis.

 The Company now controls 51 mineral claims, 3 placer claims and one placer lease covering an aggregate of 291.54 km 2 of strategic ground in the historically significant placer mining areas associated with many of the major creeks in the Atlin District. The permitted Yellowjacket Gold Mine is included within these tenures.  The preponderance of its tenures is comprised of mineral claims covering structural trends within lithologies favourable for hosting hard rock gold deposits.

Linda Dandy, P.Geo., a Qualified Person within the meaning of N.I. 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical portions of this news release.  Ms. Dandy is providing on site supervision and guidance at the Project. She previously oversaw exploration activities on the Project for the Company in 2016 as well as for a predecessor operator.  Overall project leadership at Yellowjacket is being provided by Dr. Reinhard Ramdohr, who also was on site in 2016 and is present on site at this time.

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 291.54 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

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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 .

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