T’Boli Gold Mine Exploration Update

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rizal Resources Corporation (TSXV:RZL) (“Rizal” or the “Company”) announces that it has filed a technical report in the form prescribed by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 titled NI 43-101 Technical Report, T’Boli Gold-Silver Project, South Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines.  The report was prepared by Steven Olsen B.Sc.(Hons), M.Sc., MAIG, of Victoria, Australia.  This news release provides summary information from the technical report as well as updates on the Company’s exploration activities at the T’Boli Gold-Silver Project (“T’Boli” or “the Project”).

The Company is currently conducting exploration activities at T’Boli for the purpose of defining the geological controls and the continuity of the gold mineralization that exists at the Project.  This work has focused on the exploration of two defined vein systems known as the north veins and south veins, via a series of exploration development tunnels.  Work completed to date has now been interpreted and collated to identify a number of high grade mineralized zones from the exploration development. Based on this review, over 457m of high grade gold mineralization has now been defined (see Table 1), including the following highlights:

• South Vein FW2 – 22m long with average thickness (true width) of 0.51m and gold grade of 57.7g/t
• South Vein FW1 – 18m long with average thickness (true width) of 0.47m and gold grade of 29.7g/t
• South Vein V3 – 32m long with average thickness (true width) of 0.68m and gold grade of 23.8g/t
• South Vein V4 – 50m long with average thickness (true width) of 1.2m and gold grade of 21g/t
• North Vein V1 – 53m long with average thickness (true width) of 1.3m and gold grade of 18.8g/t

To date the exploration development has centered on the north veins, which is the first structure that can be accessed from the underground development.  The north veins have limited drilling information with most of the technical information at this location derived from the exploration development.

The Company has also commenced trial mining activities in parts of the north veins.  The results from the trial mining activities are still at a preliminary stage with results from the reconciliation of this work anticipated in the second half of 2018. 

In contrast to the north veins, the south veins have received very limited exploration development.  However, the bulk of the more significant prior drilling information exists on the south veins.  In addition, the south veins are interpreted to exist in a more favourable geological location for the formation of high-grade gold mineralization in comparison with the north veins.

The Company plans to access and commence exploration drives on the south veins in the second quarter of 2018.  The exploration development on the south veins is planned to come in close proximity to some of the more significant drill intercepts recorded in the T’Boli database including drill hole TG038 which returned a intersection of 8m (true width) @ 14.2g/t gold (uncut).

Note that the T’Boli Project does not have a current Mineral Resource estimate or Mineral Reserves and that in the absence of a feasibility study of Mineral Reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability is associated with an increased risk of failure of the mining operations due to increased uncertainty of results.  Mining and processing activity at the T’Boli Project is ongoing on a small-scale basis associated with the Company’s underground exploration activities and this should not be construed as Rizal having made a commercial production decision.

Background Information

The exploration development drives that exist at T’Boli, both historically and more recently under the current management, are within a small portion of a larger complex of mineralized structures that lie between two major North-West trending faults called the Kematau fault and the Desawo fault (Figure 1).

See Figure 1 here: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/857036fb-3751-44e6-a24b-25993ceda366

Figure 1: Plan representing the location of the T’Boli Mine Site and north and south vein structures relative to the broader regional potential that exists throughout the area between the Kematau fault and the Desawo fault. The location of grab samples from small scale miners workings and their results are also shown.  Note: Grab samples are selective and an indication of the presence of mineralization only and should not be taken to represent the average grade of potential Mineral Resources.

The focus of the exploration activities by Rizal over a number of stages has been to define gold mineralization situated within two broad vein systems known at the north veins and the south veins (Figure 2) located near the TMC Mine Site, highlighted in Figure 1.  There are also extensive small-scale mine workings throughout the broader region at T’Boil, as note in Figure 1, and those workings that may be suitable for future exploration work but have not received any significant attention in recent years.

Earlier drilling campaigns, which make up the current drill hole database, have identified multiple high-grade gold intersections underneath an extensive set of surface mine workings close to the TMC Mine Site.  The drilling results are very encouraging in terms of indicating the presence of a large gold system, however the complexity and large number of gold bearing structures make the interpretation and continuity of the gold mineralization difficult to confirm with confidence without first exploring them further with underground development.

It is for this reason, and also due to the ability to easily access the shallow gold bearing structures, that the exploration plan for the Project at numerous stages has been to define the gold mineralization via a series of underground tunnels (“exploration development”). 

To further validate the gold mineralization defined from the exploration development and to assist with the Company’s cash flow, processing of the material from the exploration development has been undertaken at its current small-scale processing facility which exists 6.4km from the TMC Mine site at T’Boli.

The aim of the current work program is to confirm the distribution and continuity of the gold mineralization over the two major vein sets that have been defined at T’Boli leading to a new Mineral Resource estimate in the second half of 2018.

Local Geology and Mineralized Structures

The gold mineralization at T’Boli is contained within a number of complex vein and breccia zones or structures which vary considerably in their gold content and are often closely associated with low grade gold in the surrounding host rock.

There are broad structural “Domains” which are known as the north veins, hosted in a Dacitic rock, and the south veins, which straddle a Dacite/Volcaniclastic boundary, but are predominantly hosted within a Volcaniclastic rock (Figure 2).

See Figure 2 here: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/01e2f6c4-cb3f-4398-a8a8-710791b104c3

Figure 2: Plan projection of the mapped veins and structures from the exploration development at the 550mRL level.  The two separate vein systems are highlighted with the referenced location of the vertical long sections for both the north veins (A-A’) and south veins (B-B’) as shown in figures 3 and 4 respectively.

Each domain has a set of structures/narrow veins which are predominantly striking in an east-west orientation and are dipping steeply to south, at between 60 degrees and 90 degrees. In some locations a complex series of veins have developed over an area covering a total of 30m in width.  Not all of the vein structures contain high grade gold mineralization, and progress continues to be made with regard to understanding the controls on the higher-grade sections of the veins and structures that exist at T’Boli.

When the mineralized structures come close together, there is often low-grade mineralization lying in the altered host rock between the structures.  When this has been observed in the exploration development the size of the development has often increased in an attempt to capture all of the gold mineralization where possible.

The current level of geological information gathered to date is greater in the north veins, as this location is easier to access and has been developed and explored over a much greater strike length than the south veins. 

In contrast to the location of the exploration development, the drilling information has focused on testing the south veins, which exist in an interpreted more favourable host rock for the formation of gold mineralization.  There are very few drill intersections that exist over the broader potential area on the north veins outside of the existing exploration development.

Exploration Development Results

At the north veins, the mineralization occurs as multiple zones over a 300m strike length.  Development has also occurred in the hangingwall and footwall to the main structure, particularly where the sampling has indicated that high grade gold exists in these other structures.  In total, there has been over 700m of development around the 550mRL level over multiple stages to define 210m of high grade mineralization, which exists within a 300m strike length corridor (Figure 3).  In addition, development has commenced at the 525mRL level and also the 515mRL level with the development focused vertically beneath the higher-grade mineralization defined on the 550mRL level. 

See Figure 3 here: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4e46e1da-925a-4ee5-94d4-ef5c2739fff6

Figure 3: Vertical Long Section (view looking to the North) representation of the main structure developed in the north veins.  The information obtained from the exploration development has been collated into geological domains that represent the higher-grade portions of the uncovered mineralized structures.  The results from each domain are represented on this long section in their respective position highlighting the total strike length, average thickness (in meters) and weighted average (uncut) gold grade (g/t).

At the 515mRL level, the exploration development has accessed a position where two structures exist close together.  Based on an interpretation that this larger mineralized position extends up to the 550mRL level, the decision was made to commence trial bulk mining methods.  This trial mining is still at an early stage of assessment with mining and reconciliation work ongoing.

It is still considered that many of the narrow, mineralized structures will be mined using narrow vein mining techniques. However, a more modern assessment of this approach remains to be tested.  To this end, the Company has identified 3 locations on the north vein that will soon be available for trial narrow vein mining.  Some further exploration development is required on the 525mRL level on the north vein to complete the access for 2 of these trial mining locations. 

For the south veins the mineralization appears to exist in sections over a strike length of at least 350m, with the high-grade zones interpreted at this stage to cumulatively total a strike length of approximately 200m.  The development on the south veins is not as extensive as the exploration development on the north veins, however, there has been some smaller sections accessed over multiple stages, with multiple access points.  At this stage, the drilling information indicates that high grade gold mineralization still exists to the east beyond the current extent of the level development.

Exploration development is planned to access the south veins close to the defined position of the prior drill hole, TG038 which has a reported drill intersection of 8m (true width) at an average grade of 14.2g/t.

See Figure 4 here: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4f76b908-df2d-4518-bc98-3ac93143a118

Figure 4: Vertical Long Section (View looking to the North) representation of the main structure developed in the south veins.  All prior drill hole intersections that exist within 150m depth of the of the previous development have been projected onto this longsection, with the interval length adjusted for their estimated true width. The information obtained from the exploration development has been collated into geological domains that represent the higher-grade portions of the uncovered mineralized structures.   The results from each domain are represented on this long section in their respective position highlighting the total strike length, average thickness (in meters) and weighted average (uncut) gold grade (in grams per ton).

Table 1 is a summary of the high-grade mineralized zones that have been defined to date from the exploration development activity at the T’Boli Project. 

Table 1: Summary of defined higher-grade mineralized zones that are considered potential locations for future mining and to aid the focus of the level development at the levels underneath the 550mRL.  All reported average widths are true widths and all average grades are un-cut.  The dominant interpreted structure at both the north veins and south veins is reported as North Vein and South Vein respectively.  Veins/Mineralized Structures that exists immediately South of the more dominant Vein at each location are defined as a Hangingwall (“HW”) vein.  Veins/Mineralized Structures that exist immediately to the North of the more dominant vein at each location are defined as a Footwall (“FW”) vein.

Future Work Program

The Company has made substantial progress over the past 12 months since it first commenced exploration development into the mineralized structures at T’Boli.  The goals for this ongoing work program are to develop, explore and define the controls on the gold mineralization across the north veins and south veins.  The results from this work will be analyzed with the objective of preparing a new Mineral Resource estimate by the end of 2018.

The Company will provide regular updates on the results of its exploration activities, with particular attention paid to the results identified from the south veins, which is considered be located in a more favourable location for the development of high grade gold mineralization.

All of the information gathered as part of the Company’s exploration activities at the TMC Mine Site and associated processing of the material derived from these activities will enable the Company to gather valuable information for any future proposed production activities.

Quality Control

Channel sampling undertaken within the exploration development drives are consistently taken on a horizontal line as rock chip samples between 1m to 1.5m above the floor of the development which is approximately perpendicular to the dominant dip of the mineralized structures.  The dominant geological domains and mineralized structures dip to the South at between 60 and 90 degrees.  Sample intervals vary from between 0.2m and 1.0m in width with the sample boundaries obeying the observed geological contacts.

Drill cores from the prior drilling programs were HQ, NQ and BQ in size.   For drill core that was HQ or NQ size, selected sampling intervals were sub-sampled using different techniques depending on the nature of the drill core.  Competent drill core was cut longitudinally in half with a core saw; Clay dominant or soft core was divided into two halves using a spatula; Broken core or rubble was physically separated into 2 separate and equal halves.  For drill core that was BQ in size, the whole sample interval was taken for analysis.  Sample intervals taken were predominantly at 1m or less, with sample interval boundaries selected to ensure that the sampling interval did not cross over a defined geological contact.  

Of particular note with regard to the quality control of the prior drill core samples is that for many of the sampling locations the core recovery was reported to be poor.  Based on the observations of the mineralized structures from the underground development this is interpreted to be a result of some clay rich sections that occur in close proximity to the mineralized structures.  The underground channel sampling has also identified that the clay rich locations often contain significant gold mineralization.  The above observations indicate that the core loss recorded in the prior drilling is due to the poor capture of the mineralized clay rich material surrounding parts of the larger structures at T’Boli.  The loss of mineralized material may result in an underestimation of the gold content within some of the reported drilling intercepts.

Prior drilling samples were analysed by Interteck, which is an independent external laboratory, with the processing laboratory situated in Manila, Philippines.  

Sampling preparation and analysis for the channel samples are undertaken at the Company’s internal laboratory situated at T’Boli.

For both the prior drilling and the current channel samples from the exploration development, the Company has maintained quality control systems which includes the insertion of blanks, standards and pulp duplicates.  The control samples from the prior drilling information have been reviewed for any possible lab bias.  The review has concluded that there are no material biases or inaccuracies in the assay database, with additional check data required to confirm an observation that there may be a slight bias of results on the low side resulting in a slight understatement in the reported gold assay information.

Qualified Persons

Steven Olsen, member of AIG, has reviewed the exploration data and prepared the scientific and technical information regarding exploration results contained within this news release.  Steven Olsen, an Independent Consultant, is a “Qualified Person” as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and he has verified and approved the contents of this news release.

About Rizal

Rizal is an exploration Company with a focus on its flagship T’Boli Gold Project situated in the Philippines.  The Company is using underground development to explore and define the extensive gold mineralization that exists at T’Boli.  The Company’s current objectives are to complete exploration work with a view to establishing a current mineral resource estimate, while generating short term cash flow from small scale production at its existing processing plant. 

Peter Main
President and CEO
pmain@rizalresources.com

For further information please visit  our website at www.rizalresources.com,               
Email us at info@rizalresources.com,
Phone: 778-370-1372 Fax: 604-608-5442

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