Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 5, 2023) - Cassiar Gold Corp. (TSXV: GLDC) (OTCQX: CGLCF) ("Cassiar Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the mobilization of field crews and launch of the 2023 Exploration Program at Cassiar North, the appointment of Jill Maxwell as the Company's new Vice President of Exploration and Vern Shein as Advisor to the Board, and the closing of the final tranche of its non-brokered private placement.
Commencement of 2023 Drill Campaign and Exploration Program
The Company launched the first phase of the 2023 drill program on June 1st at the Cassiar North project area. The campaign plans to drill up to 20,000 m of core from June to October utilizing three diamond drill rigs at the Taurus Deposit, Cassiar South project area, and high-priority regional targets. Drilling commenced with two rigs, initially focused on the Taurus Deposit, with one drill shifting to test regional exploration targets in the third quarter. A third rig will start mid-June to concurrently test highly prospective targets identified at Cassiar South during the 2022 drill campaign.
Taurus deposit
The Taurus Deposit hosts a near-surface, bulk-tonnage pit-constrained inferred gold resource of 1.4 million ounces grading 1.14 g/t Au1 which remains open in most directions. The deposit holds significant expansion potential laterally, at depth, and between widely spaced drill holes within the resource footprint. Drilling at Taurus is designed to build on the success of the 2022 program, leveraging recent results with continued focus on expanding the resource through step out drilling and evaluating untested areas between resource blocks.
Cassiar South and regional
Drilling at Cassiar South is planned to test for potential extensions of highly prospective targets at the Main Mine and East Bain Extension areas. Drill holes are designed to follow up on 2022 drilling which encountered previously untested gold-bearing veins, confirmed the potential to identify offset extensions of past-producing high-grade veins, and discovered new mineralized veins occurring parallel to known gold-bearing structures. Cassiar Gold continues to evaluate regional prospects based on historical datasets as well as mapping and sampling data acquired during 2020-2022 exploration programs. Field work will resume in June with the intention to reveal high priority regional targets for drilling in the third quarter of 2023.
Appointment of Jill Maxwell as VP of Exploration, Vernon Shein as Advisor to the Board
Cassiar Gold is pleased to announce the appointment of Jill Maxwell, P.Geo as its new Vice President of Exploration, effective immediately. Ms. Maxwell is an exploration geologist with 12+ years focused on the precious metals sector. She brings a wide range of experience in mineral exploration from greenfields programs through to feasibility level studies for orogenic gold and Ni-Cu-PGEs, including at Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.'s Back River Project (recently acquired by B2Gold for $1.1B in an all-stock deal) and North American Palladium Ltd.'s Lac des Iles Mine through and following its acquisition by Impala Platinum (for a total cash consideration of approximately C$1.0 billion). Ms. Maxwell has a demonstrated track record for exploration success in various leadership roles on discovery teams at greenfields and advanced staged projects, and most recently as Exploration Manager for Cassiar Gold. Concurrently to Ms. Maxwell's appointment, Vernon Shein is appointed as Advisor to the Board of Directors.
"Jill brings tremendous managerial and technical experience, strong leadership, and a proven track record of success that is highly relevant to our exploration and development objectives. As we embark on the next phase of growth at Cassiar Gold, I'm looking forward to translating these changes into continued success for the company," stated Marco Roque, President and CEO of Cassiar Gold. "On behalf of the board and team at Cassiar Gold, I would like to extend our gratitude to Vern Shein for setting us on a solid path for growth, and we look forward to his continued support as an Advisor to the Board."
"I am pleased to continue working with Cassiar Gold as Vice President of Exploration. The Cassiar Gold Property is a compelling project with a significant land package, bulk-tonnage and high-grade gold potential, regional scale structures, excellent access, and several enticing targets identified following the Company's largest exploration program to-date. I look forward to leading our skilled technical team in advancing this highly prospective asset," said Ms. Maxwell.
Mr. Shein stated, "I joined Cassiar Gold because I believed the flagship project held high potential for discovery and expansion of gold-bearing vein systems. The 2022 program reinforced my view that the Cassiar District is highly prospective ground and I look forward to supporting the board and highly capable technical team to realize the potential of this exciting property."
Closing of Equity Offering for Gross Proceeds of C$10,122,500
Cassiar is also pleased to announce the Company completed the second and final tranche (the "Final Tranche") of a non-brokered private placement (the "Non-Brokered Offering"). Under the Final Tranche, the Company issued 269,999 traditional flow-through units of the Company (each, a "FT Unit") at a price of C$0.75 per FT Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$202,500.
The closing of the first tranche of the Non-Brokered Offering (the "First Tranche") was announced on May 04, 2023, concurrently with the closing of a bought deal public offering (the "Underwritten Offering", and together with the Non-Brokered Offering, the "Offering"). The closing of the Final Tranche brings the total gross proceeds of the Offering to C$10,122,500.
Each FT Unit consists of one common share (each, a "FT Share") and one half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Both the FT Share and the one half of one Warrant comprising each Unit qualify as a "flow-through share" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Income Tax Act"). Each whole Warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one non-flow-through common share of the Company (each, a "Warrant Share") at a price of C$0.70 at any time on or before that date which is 24 months after the closing date of the Offering. The securities issued pursuant to the Non-Brokered Offering are subject to a four month hold period. The Final Tranche remains subject to final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Certain insiders of the Company participated in the Non-Brokered Offering. Each of the insiders is a related party of Cassiar Gold, and therefore the Non-Brokered Offering is considered a "related party transaction" subject to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under subsections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 on the basis that participation in the Offering by insiders did not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.
Proceeds from the sale of FT Shares will be used to incur "Canadian exploration expenses" as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act and "flow through mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act. Such proceeds will be renounced to the subscribers with an effective date not later than December 31, 2023, in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of gross proceeds raised from the issue of FT Units. The Company intends to use the proceeds raised from the Offering for the exploration of the Company's Cassiar Gold property in British Columbia, Canada. No finders fees were paid in connection with the Non-Brokered Offering.
The securities issued pursuant to the Offering have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jill Maxwell, P.Geo, Cassiar Gold Corp.'s VP Exploration, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Cassiar Gold Corp.
Cassiar Gold Corp. is a Canadian gold exploration company holding a 100% interest in its flagship Cassiar Gold Property located in British Columbia, Canada. The Cassiar Gold property spans 590 km2 and consists of two main project areas: Cassiar North, which hosts a NI 43-101-compliant inferred resource estimate of 1.4Moz at 1.14 g/t Au (cutoff grade of 0.5 g/t Au) known as the as the Taurus Deposit (see National Instrument 43-101 Technical report on the Cassiar Gold property, April 28, 2022, by S. Zelligan, J. Moors, C. Jolette, posted to SEDAR); and Cassiar South which hosts numerous gold showings, historical workings, and exploration prospects. Historical underground mines in the Cassiar South area have yielded over 315,000 oz of Au at average head grades of between 10 and 20 g/t Au (2022, Zelligan, Jolette, Moors1), underscoring the high potential for further discovery and expansion of high-grade orogenic gold veins.
The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Sheep Creek gold camp located near Salmo, BC. The Sheep Creek gold district ranks as the third largest past-producing orogenic gold district in BC with historical gold production of 742,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 14.7 g/t gold from 1900 to 1951. Minimal exploration work has been conducted since the 1950s.
Cassiar Gold acknowledges, respects, and supports the rights of Traditional First Nations in the lands and communities where we operate.
See April 28, 2022, NI43-101 Report titled "National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Cassiar Gold Property" by Zelligan, P.Geo, Moors, P.Geo, Jolette, P.Geo.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Cassiar Gold Corp.
E-mail: ir@cassiargold.com
Phone: 236-878-6160
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward looking statements including those describing Cassiar's future plans and the expectations of management that a stated result or condition will occur. Any statement addressing future events or conditions necessarily involves inherent risk and uncertainty. Actual results can differ materially from those anticipated by management at the time of writing due to many factors, the majority of which are beyond the control of Cassiar and its management. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining, directly or indirectly, to the following: the Company's exploration plans and work commitments; potential developments relating to Cassiar's mining projects; estimates of future productions, costs and other financial or economic measures; the use of proceeds of the Offering; and the expected receipt of stock exchange approvals.
Although Cassiar believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties, actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with the exploration and development industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; the uncertainty of mineral resource estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), constraint in the availability of services, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, the current COVID-19 pandemic, changes in legislation impacting the mining industry, adverse weather conditions and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. These statements speak only as of the date of this release or as of the date specified in the documents accompanying this release, as the case may be. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable securities laws.
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 release.
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