Golden Valley Mines Corporate and Exploration Update

VAL-D’OR, Quebec, May 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Golden Valley Mines Ltd. (“Golden Valley” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: GZZ) is pleased to announce an update of the Company’s activities, at its joint ventures and related entities including Abitibi Royalties Inc., International Prospect Ventures Ltd. and Val-d’Or Mining Corporation.

1. Related Entities

• Abitibi Royalties (RZZ-TSXV): Golden Valley holds an approximate 44.9% interest (5,605,246 shares) in Abitibi Royalties Inc. (“Abitibi Royalties”).

Q1-2019 Cash Flow

During Q1-2019, the Abitibi Royalties generated total cash flow of approximately CDN$1.0 million, with approximately CDN$388,000 coming from the Company’s 3% NSR (Fig. 1) at the Canadian Malartic Mine. Royalties from the Canadian Malartic Mine commenced at the end of Q4-2018. Canadian Malartic is the largest gold mine in Canada and is operated by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited and Yamana Gold Inc. The remainder of Abitibi Royalties’ cash flow during the quarter came from options premiums (CDN$505,000), dividends (CDN$92,000), realized capital gain from a non-core equity investment (CDN$13,000) (no shares in Agnico Eagle or Yamana were sold in Q1-2019) and interest (CDN$3,000). Please see Abitibi Royalties’ news release dated March 14, 2019 for the company’s 2019-2021 royalty production schedule and Abitibi Royalties’ news release dated April 16, 2019 for further information.

Canadian Malartic Exploration

Exploration programs are ongoing to evaluate several deposits to the east of the Canadian Malartic open pit where Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR. This includes portions of Odyssey, East Malartic, Sladen and Sheehan. During Q1-2019, exploration at the Odyssey deposit focused on defining several internal zones and expanding the deposit towards the Rand Malartic property boundary to the east.

Odyssey & East Malartic Potential Production (2021-2023)

Odyssey and East Malartic are being studied for potential underground mining from surface to a depth of 600 metres, starting between 2021-2023 and then potentially deeper beyond 2023. Preliminary studies show the potential for production increases of approximately 150,000 gold-equivalent ounces per year at the Canadian Malartic Mine with ore fed to the existing Malartic mill, displacing a portion of the lower grade open pit ores. Further evaluation through additional drilling from underground access points, resource delineation and engineering would be required to advance Odyssey and East Malartic towards a development decision. The study is expected to be completed in late 2019 or early 2020 and if approved, development starting thereafter. The permit allowing for the development of an underground ramp at the Odyssey Project was received by Canadian Malartic in December 2018.

For further information, including technical information, regarding Abitibi Royalties’ interests at the Canadian Malartic Mine, please see its press release dated May 6, 2019.

• International Prospect Ventures Inc. (IZZ-TSXV): Golden Valley holds an approximate 16.5% interest (4,470,910 shares) in International Prospect Ventures Inc. (“International Prospect”).

International Prospect now holds 100% ownership of eight properties in the eastern Pilbara of Western Australia, southeast of Karratha, covering a total area of approximately 1026.10 square kilometres. Granting of the exploration licences for the eight properties was completed as of January 9, 2019. The strategic locations of the claims were determined on the basis of a review of known geology and historical exploration results, and a focus on coarse-grained conglomerate host rocks at, or in proximity to, a prominent and well-documented geological unconformity.

Porcupine Miracle Prospect: The property is located approximately 30 km southeast of South Porcupine (Timmins, Ontario) and is comprised of 9 mining claim cells (64 ha) within Langmuir Township. International Prospect has completed a Phase I property-scale ground magnetic, induced polarization (IP) and Horizontal Loop Electromagnetic (HLEM) geophysical surveying. A follow-up Phase II program of prospecting, mapping, bedrock stripping, sampling and diamond drill is recommended. The property is available for option and International Prospect is actively seeking joint venture partners.

• Val-d’Or Mining Corporation (VZZ-TSXV): Golden Valley holds an approximate 31.0% interest (13,187,443 shares) in Val-d’Or Mining Corporation (“Val-d’Or Mining”). 

In 2017, Val-d’Or Mining signed a Mining Option Agreement ("Option") with Golden Valley, to acquire a 100% interest in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt Prospect consisting of 61 grassroots properties. Pursuant to the terms of the Option, Val-d’Or Mining must incur $4,000,000 of expenditures with respect to exploration and other mining operations on the properties before December 31, 2021 (with $500,000 to be incurred on or before December 31, 2018, $750,000 to be incurred on or before the December 31, 2019, $1,000,000 to be incurred on or before December 31, 2020, and $1,750,000 to be incurred on or before December 31, 2021).

As consideration for the Option, Val-d’Or Mining will issue 16,666,668 common shares to Golden Valley at a deemed price of $0.12 per share for an aggregate deemed value of $2,000,000 (issuable as to 4,166,667 common shares on or before each of December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021). In addition, Val-d’Or Mining has granted Golden Valley a royalty equal to 1.25% of the net smelter returns ("NSRs") from the 61 properties on the terms set out in the option agreement of which 1% may be bought back by Val-d’Or Mining by paying Golden Valley $5,000,000, at Val-d’Or Mining option, in cash or shares at a deemed price per share equal to the market price of Val-d’Or Mining's shares at the time of such election. If Val-d’Or Mining has issued the common shares and incurred the expenditures provided for in the option agreement, it may exercise the option on or before December 31, 2021.

Val-d’Or Mining has exceeded its obligation to incur $500,000 of expenditures on or before December 31, 2018 as required under the Option. Val-d’Or Mining intends to continue the earn-in process and it has therefore issued, subsequent to year end, a total of 4,166,667 of its common shares, valued at $416,667, to Golden Valley.

Val-d’Or Mining’s primary focus for the 2019 exploration program is on two prospective gold targets, the Oregon Prospect and Magoma Prospect. Both are located in the Abibiti Greenstone Belt in northwestern Québec within close proximity to the mining and exploration center of Val-d’Or Québec.

The Oregon Prospect covers an elongated granodiorite intrusion that dips to the northeast and lies along a northwest southeast axis. The granodiorite part of the property hosts the historic Oregon Showing (Corps Minéralisé 32/C05-0011. MRNF SIGEOM). This mineral occurrence occurs within a fracture zone that hosts a series of parallel quartz stringers mineralized with pyrite. It has been traced out by previous exploration programs over a strike length of one hundred and twenty metres. The primary metallogenic target is an intrusive-hosted, bulk tonnage gold deposit.

The Magoma Prospect overlies the felsic volcanic rocks of the Hunter Mine Group and is situated midway between the Rouyn-Noranda and Normetal mining camps. The Magoma gold showing occurs within an extensive network of quartz veins controlled by intense shearing that cuts through tuffacaeous and porphyritic units of rhyolite. This geological setting is proximal to a fault splay from the regional gold bearing Macamic Deformation Corridor that passes through the northeast part of the property. The primary metallogenic target is an orogenic gold deposit spatially related to a deformation zone hosted in altered and mineralized metavolcanic rocks.

Diamond drilling activities are expected to commence on the two properties following completion of a follow-up program of geological mapping, prospecting and sampling. The objective of this work is two-fold: 1) ground-truthing of defined geophysical anomalies from the 2018 surveys completed by Val-d’Or Mining, and 2) complete detailed mapping and characterization of the historical mineralization, to assist with drill target selection.

Property-scale remote sensing studies were completed on three prospects (Dionne, Mona Lisa and Riviere Lois prospects) and a property compilation was initiated on the Calamity Prospect. The objective of the work was to define targets for a follow-up ground prospecting and sampling and/or, geophysical programs, during the summer 2019 field season. These four (4) properties are both located in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northwestern Québec.

For additional details with respect to the exploration and field work completed to date by Val-d’Or Mining, please refer to Val-d’Or Mining’s continuous disclosure documents available at the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) by accessing Val-d’Or Mining’s issuer profile.

2. NSR Updates and Longer-Term Catalysts

• Sirios Resources Inc. (“Sirios”) - Cheechoo Gold Prospect – James Bay, Québec

The Company currently owns approximately 3% of Sirios and holds an NSR on the Cheechoo Project, which ranges from 2.5% to 4.0% depending on commodity prices.

Sirios reported the completion of its 2019 winter diamond drilling campaign. Forty-seven (47) drillholes were completed for a total of 11,322 metres drilled, targeting five (5) separate areas. As of May 27, 2019, assay results remain outstanding for the remaining ten (10) holes of the 2019 drill program. Initial drill results announced by Sirios, included 315 g/t Au over 1.1 metres, 187.0 g/t Au over 0.8 metres and 106 g/t Au over 1.3 metres. A maiden gold resource estimate for the Cheechoo Gold Project is expected in 2019 as reported previously by Sirios.

For additional details with respect to the exploration and field work completed to date on the Cheechoo gold project, as well as for the details on the expenditures made to date by Sirios on the project, please refer to Sirios’ continuous disclosure documents available at the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) by accessing Sirios’ issuer profile.

• Other NSR’s and Free-Carried Interests

The Company holds 61 (sixty-one) 1.25% NSR’s, via its option/joint venture with Val-d’Or Mining as well as several NSR’s and free-carried interests (“FCI”) via its active joint ventures with Sirios Resources, Bonterra Resources Ltd. and other joint venture partners. All of these NSR’s and FCI’s are in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.

3. Near-Term Catalysts – Joint Ventures (Partner-Funded)

• Alexandria Minerals Corporation (“Alexandria”) – Centremaque Gold Prospect – Gold Project, Val-d’Or, Québec

Alexandria may earn an 80% interest in the Centremaque gold project by issuing treasury shares of Alexandria to Golden Valley over a four-year period from date of signing with a total value of $250,000, and by conducting exploration activities totaling $4 million over the same four-year period, of which $250,000 is to be spent in the first year of the option agreement. The price of the shares, and therefore the number of shares to be issued, is determined by reference to the market price at the time each tranche is due.

Alexandria agreed to a $750,000 work commitment on or before April 20, 2019 in accordance with the terms of the option agreement. To date, Alexandria incurred approximately $660,000 in exploration expenditures and has requested to extend the deadline to July 31, 2019 with a plan to incur the shortfall by that date. The Company has agreed to the extension in consideration for which Alexandria will issue 500,000 of its common shares, valued at $25,000, to the Company.

A total of seven (7) drillholes totaling 3,348 metres were completed on the Centremaque Prospect. Three (3) new gold-bearing zones have been intersected, located approximately 2 kilometres west of the Bulldog Zone (area west of the Orenada open pit).  Drillholes CAX-18-001 and CAX-18-003) intersected gold bearing hosted in brecciated, biotite and chlorite altered ultramafic volcanic rocks north of the Cadillac Break. Drillhole CAX-18-006 intersected a gold bearing zone associated with strongly altered shear zones hosted within the Pontiac sediments located south of the Cadillac Break. 

Presently Alexandria is planning a 6-hole, 1,000 metre drill program to commence in the second quarter of 2019. Contingent of these results, a Phase II program of 5,000 metres is planned for the fourth quarter of 2019.

For additional details with respect to the exploration and fieldwork programs completed to date on the Centremaque Prospect, as well as for the details on the expenditures made to date by Alexandria on the project, please refer to Alexandria’s continuous disclosure documents available at the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) by accessing Alexandria’s issuer profile.

• Bonterra Resources Inc. (“Bonterra”) – Lac Barry Prospect – Gold Project southwest of the Gladiator deposit (Bonterra) & south of Osisko Mining’s Windfall Lake Gold Project

Golden Valley granted an option to Bonterra to acquire an 85% interest in the Lac Barry Prospect. In accordance with the option agreement, Bonterra issued to Golden Valley 519,480 common shares in the capital of Bonterra having an aggregate value of $200,000, and Bonterra must incur expenditures in an aggregate amount of $2,000,000 over a three-year period.

Bonterra has met the option agreement expenditure requirements for the third anniversary date of $2,000,000. Golden Valley now retains a 15% free carried interest in the Lac Barry Prospect and a 3% net smelter royalty (“NSR”), with 1% of the NSR being subject to a buyback in favour of Bonterra for $1 million payable by Bonterra to Golden Valley.

Bonterra completed till sampling (101 samples in 2016 and 26 in 2017), prospecting, grid establishment (79 kilometres in 2016, 26 kilometres in 2017, 53 kilometres in 2018), permanent and drill trail construction (13.8 kilometres), geophysical surveying (74-line kilometres of IP and 310 kilometres of ground and airborne magnetic), LiDAR survey and two phases of diamond drilling programs totaling 19,936.7 metres in fifty-five (55) holes. The results of this exploration activity lead to a new discovery of a gold and silver bearing horizon termed the Temica Gold Zone, with grades up to 2.7 metres at 4.7 g/t Au as reported by Bonterra. No additional work was reported on the property during the first quarter of 2019.

For additional details with respect to the exploration and fieldwork programs completed to date on the Lac Barry Prospect, as well as for the details on the expenditures made to date by Bonterra on the project, please refer to Bonterra’s continuous disclosure documents available at the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) by accessing Bonterra’s issuer profile.

• Battery Mineral Resources Limited (“BMR”) – Island 27 Prospect – Cobalt-Silver-Nickel project between Kirkland Lake-Matachewan, Ontario.

Golden Valley entered into a mining option agreement with BMR pursuant to which the Company would grant to BMR an option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the Island 27 Property, in consideration for which the Company would receive $500,000 in cash payments and Battery Minerals would incur $5,000,000 in expenditures over a 4-year period. Once the option is exercised, Golden Valley would have a 20% free carried interest in the property and a 1% NSR.

A 12-hole, 2,119.5 metre diamond drilling program was completed on the property. The primary objective of the drill program was to test the geometry and grade distribution of the mineralization discovered by Golden Valley in 2008 (DDH GIS-08-04) grading 4.18% Co, 0.38% Ni and 12.1 g/t Ag over 4.0 from 110.0-114.0 m.

Selective assay intervals for GIS-08-04 are shown below:

In addition, a number of untested induced polarization anomalies were to be tested for possible extensions of the mineralized corridor and/or additional zones of Co-Ag-Ni mineralization.

Although no economic grade Co-Ag-Ni was intersected, a number of anomalous multi-element mineralized zones were intersected and are associated with similar fracturing and alteration observed in the original discovery hole intersection. Following completion of the diamond drill hole database, 3D modeling and a proposed follow-up drill program, a structural geological review was undertaken on the historical and 2018 drill core (SRK Senior Consultant - Structural Geology). The objective of SRK’s work was to constrain the structural framework of cobalt mineralization and support exploration targeting. It is now understood that cobalt mineralization is hosted within breccia veins locally developed as dilational jogs along regional faults or shear zones. These breccia veins and dilational jogs will be targeted by the next drill programs.

In addition, Golden Valley and BMR ground staked 12 new claims in 2017 and 73 mining cells in 2018. The Island 27 Prospect is now comprised of 233 mining cells covering an area of 4,641 hectares.

The Island 27 Prospect is located at the northern margin of the Cobalt Embayment and is underlain by early Proterozoic rocks which rest unconformable on Archean intrusive and metavolcanics rocks of the Superior Province.

On May 8, 2019, the Company received notice from Battery Minerals terminating their participation on the Island 27 property. Golden Valley believes the work completed has identified compelling geologic targets that warrant further drill testing. The Company intends to initiate a business development process to identify a new partner, or subject to market conditions, continue as operator on the Island 27 property.

• Eldorado Gold Corporation (“Eldorado”) – Abitibi Greenstone Belt Joint Venture – Bogside Gold Prospect – Cadillac, Québec

In 2008, the Company earned a 70% interest in the group of nine (9) properties (8 gold and 1 copper-zinc-silver) located in the AGB (Québec and Ontario) and a joint venture (“JV”) was formed with Integra Gold Corporation (“Integra”). Golden Valley is the operator for the joint venture. The Bogside, Perestroika, Recession Larder, Murdoch Creek, Munro, Denovo, Cook Lake and Claw Lake prospects are held under a 70%:30% JV agreement between Golden Valley and Eldorado, with the latter having acquired their interest through the acquisition of Integra.

A ground prospecting and sampling program during the summer 2019 field season is planned over the Claw Lake Prospect (NE Ontario – Shiningtree area) for follow-up of a remote sensing study previously completed on the property. An exploration program over selective parts of the Cook Lake Prospect (NE Ontario – Kirkland Lake Gold Camp) targeting the historical Scott-Kirkland Gold Mines Shaft #1 where historical sampling yield results of 2.63 oz/t Au over 3 feet (Reid, A., 1929) is planned.

4. Summary of Activity:

Golden Valley remains active through its related entities (Abitibi Royalties, International Prospect Ventures and Val-D’Or Mining), and its arms length joint ventures. Exploration activity is expected to continue with the focus on both the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and Western Australia, as noted above. 

The Company has relied on publicly available information from the other public companies and has not attempted to independently verify the information in this press release.

Glenn J. Mullan P. Geo., the President and Chief Executive Officer of Val-d’Or Mining, and Michael P. Rosatelli M.Sc., P.Geo., the Vice-President Exploration of Val-d’Or Mining, are the Qualified Persons (as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) who approved the technical disclosure included in this news release.

About Golden Valley Mines Ltd.: Golden Valley Mines is focused on project generation and continues to evaluate opportunities to enhance its mining exploration property portfolio. The Company is able to grow its current assets by way of partner-funded option/joint ventures and through its shareholdings in related entities.

For additional information please contact:

Glenn J. Mullan
Chairman, President, and CEO
Golden Valley Mines Ltd.
152, chemin de la Mine École
Val-d’Or, Québec J9P 7B6
Telephone: 819.824.2808 ext. 204
Email: glenn.mullan@goldenvalleymines.com

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made.  Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.