CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2024 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. ("EPL":TSX-V, or "Eagle Plains") is pleased to announce that partner Apogee Minerals Ltd (TSX-V-"APMI") has completed airborne geophysical surveys at Eagle Plains' 100% owned Pine Channel Property, located approximately 40km km west of Stoney Rapids. Apogee holds the exclusive option to acquire an 80% interest (less 2% NSR) in the Property, which includes both the Pine Channel and Shasko Bay projects. (details follow). The current program was comprised of helicopter-borne electromagnetic ("EM") and magnetic surveys, and was managed by Terralogic Exploration Inc. of Cranbrook, BC.
Pine Channel Property Highlights
Recently completed geophysical program at Pine Channel included a 267-line kilometre, helicopter-borne, magnetic survey at 75m line spacing,
Ten new trends have been identified at the Project, offering new adjacent and along- strike extension targeting potential,
Excellent access with existing winter road to within 1km of property boundaries, with central portions of the property accessible by boat or float plane,
Completed exploration program at Shasko Bay included 148-line kilometres of infill, high-resolution, airborne EM and magnetic data,
Exploration permit has been received at the project and provides for advanced exploration activities,
Multiple untested geophysical anomalies associated with favourable geology at the projects; targets for multiple deposit models (Orogenic Au and Unconformity-U),
Encouraging historical exploration to date including historical bonanza-grade Au mineralized drill intercepts.
Pine Channel Geophysical Survey
The northern part of the 8,878 hectare Pine Channel Property hosts numerous gold occurrences ranging from trace quantities to up to 870 g/t Au in grab samples. Shallow historical drilling has intercepted 0.6m of 63.50 g/t Au (Algold Bay, SMDI 1575), 1.75m of 5.27 g/t Au (ELA, SMDI 1574), and 0.5m of 407.96 g/t Au (North Norite Bay, SMDI 2183). The mineralization is interpreted to be closely related to northwest/southeast trending shear zones which are commonly identifiable in high resolution magnetic data.
The recently completed 2024 exploration program included a 267-line kilometre, helicopter-borne, magnetic survey at 75m line spacing over areas of the property without prior detailed magnetic coverage and geologic mapping in the vicinity of the Algold Bay occurrence. The geophysical contractor was Precision GeoSurveys of Langley, BC. Several structural trends considered important for Au have been identified, and ten new prospective trends have been located. Additional groundwork is recommended along several of the trends identified from the recently completed surveys at the Project.
Shasko Bay Geophysical Survey
The Shasko Bay uranium target is located on the south shore of Lake Athabasca. Airborne EM surveys in 2005 and 2007 identified conductive features on the property considered prospective to host unconformity and basement style uranium mineralization. A 2007 drill hole (RL-07-01) intersected anomalous uranium at the unconformity in proximity to a modelled conductive plate, with additional plates untested by drilling. The recently completed exploration program at Shasko Bay included 148-line kilometres of infill, high-resolution, airborne EM and magnetic data. The geophysical contractor was Geotech Ltd. of Aurora, Ontario. In addition, an exploration permit has been received at the project and provides for exploration activities to be conducted up until March 1st, 2026. The recent data from the survey will be used to model conductive structures to aid in future drill hole planning.
About the Pine Channel Gold Project
See Pine Channel Project Map and Webpage here
The Pine Channel property lies within the Tantato Domain which is composed of highly deformed gneisses which form the eastern margin of the Archean Rae Craton. Metamorphic rocks which have been subject to varying degrees of strain form the majority of the property area. The main deposit type that is being explored for at Pine Channel is structurally controlled vein-quartz (lode) gold deposits. Mineral occurrences on the Pine Channel Project contain predominantly gold, with rare base metal occurrences. Within the Pine Channel tenures there are eighteen historical showings reported by the Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index (SMDI).
Highlights from documented historical work and previously reported results include: North Norite Bay historical drill hole of 407.96 g/t Au over 0.5 m (SMDI 2183); ELA drill hole of 39.96 g/t Au over 0.55 m (SMDI 1574); Holes G-1 and G-3 which returned 3.20 g/t Au over 1 m (SMDI 2329); Occurrence No. 6 / Occurrence No. 8 trench samples which returned 90.6 g/t Au over 0.2 m (SMDI 1581); and Cole Lake Ni-Cu trench samples which returned 6.2 g/t Au, 0.01% Ni and 0.06% Cu over 3.0 m (SMDI 1583).
Government mapping in the Pine Channel area dates from 1913, with the first industry work reported in 1950. A total of 51 assessment reports have been filed within the current Pine Channel tenure area. Past operators include Golden Rule Resources Ltd. and Colchis Resources Ltd. who were both active on the project during the 1980's, the last sustained period of exploration in the area. The most recent work prior to Eagle Plains acquiring the claims in 2018 was in 2013 when the area was flown with an airborne Variable Time Domain Electromagnetic ("VTEM") survey focused on locating targets for diamond exploration. There has been a total of 6,066 metres of diamond drilling in 115 historic holes completed within the current Pine Channel property claim boundaries, with the majority of the holes completed less than 100 metres in length. Although the wide-spaced drilling did intersect significant gold mineralization in places, much of the drilling was completed using thin diameter core which is considered ineffective for assessing the high-grade "nuggety" gold shears and veins found at Pine Channel.
The first recorded systematic exploration work on the Pine Channel property was in 1950 by Goldfields Uranium Mines. The first significant program on the property was in 1980 by Golden Rule Resources which completed 246 line-km of airborne EM (INPUT) and magnetic surveying. Follow-up groundwork located 11 significant occurrences. From 1985-1988 Colchis Resources completed VLF-EM geophysics, biogeochemical surveys, prospecting, soil sampling and trenching followed by shallow diamond drill testing of selected targets.
In 2019-2020, Eagle Plains completed field programs focused on prospecting and mapping in areas of known mineral occurrences. The work confirmed the widespread occurrences of auriferous quartz veins and associated shear systems in the Pine Channel property. Analytical results from the seventy-two rock samples collected in 2020 range from 6 ppb Au to 68,400 ppb Au. Twenty-three of the samples returned greater than 1 g/t Au, and eight returned greater than 10 g/t Au. The most encouraging of the known showings are the ELA Shaft showing (SMDI 1574) and Occurrence No. 6 and No. 8 (SMDI 1581), which both demonstrate anomalous gold geochemical results and potential for extension of known mineralization along strike.
About the Shasko Bay Project
See Shasko Bay Project Map and Webpage here
The Shasko Bay Project is located along the southeast shore of Lake Athabasca in Northern Saskatchewan, 20 km southeast of Fond-du-Lac, and proximal to the Company's Pine Channel Project. The claims are accessible by boat, barge, winter road or float equipped aircraft from the village of Stony Rapids, which has all season road access to it. The Project is currently owned 100% by Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (subject to an underlying 2% NSR) and is under option to Apogee which has acquired the right to earn-in up to an 80% interest in the Project under terms of the Pine Channel agreement.
The Project was staked by Eagle Plains in early 2023 in recognition of both the gold potential (with basement-hosted auriferous quartz veins and associated shears that strike onto the property from the Pine Channel Project); and for the unconformity uranium potential that is associated with the district.
Between the late 1960's to the early 2000's the region was explored for uranium and gold by various companies. The Fond Du Lac Uranium deposit is the most significant discovery in the region to date and is located 24 km to the NW-W. Work in the area consisted of seismic reflection studies, multiple types of airborne and ground-based geophysical surveys, geochemical surveys, prospecting, mapping, trenching and four separate drill programs which intersected multi gram-per-tonne gold assays (up to 6.8 g/t Au over 2.1m) from quartz stringers in the Athabasca sediments. The underlying basement metasedimentary rocks, starting at 226m depth, also recorded mineralization in the form of disseminated pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite and rare sphalerite, galena and molybdenite. The last drill program intersected anomalous uranium in the Athabasca sandstone (up to 18.4 ppm) concluding with recommendations to drill test several additional targets.
The above results were summarized from SMDI descriptions and assessment reports filed with the Saskatchewan government. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work in the Pine Channel Project area.
Pine Channel Option Agreement Details
In May 2021, Apogee entered into an option agreement (the Pine Channel Agreement) with Eagle Plains. The agreement, as amended, gives Apogee the exclusive right to earn an 80% interest in the Pine Channel Property, by completing CAD $3,000,000 in exploration expenditures, issuing 2,200,000 voting class common shares to Eagle Plains and making $150,000 in cash payments over a 5-year period. Under the terms of the agreement Eagle Plains is designated as the Operator of the projects.
Eagle Royalties Ltd. ("ER":CSE) holds a 2% NSR on the majority of claims comprising the Pine Channel Property, which may be bought down to 1% for $CDN 1,000,000, while an arms-length party holds an underlying 2% royalty (with buy down to 1%) on specific dispositions comprising the Pine Channel property. Royal Uranium Inc. holds a 2% NSR on specific dispositions comprising the Shasko Bay Project, which fall under the Pine Channel option agreement.
Qualified Person
Technical information in this News Release has been reviewed and approved by C.C. Downie, P.Geo., a director and officer of Eagle Plains, hereby identified as the "Qualified Person" under N.I. 43-101.
About Eagle Plains Resources
Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains is a well-funded, prolific project generator that continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada, with a focus on critical metals integral to an increasingly electrified, decarbonized economy.
The Company was formed in 1992 and is the ninth-oldest listed issuer on the TSX-V (and one of only three that has not seen a roll-back or restructuring of its shares). Eagle Plains has continued to deliver shareholder value over the years and through numerous spin outs has transferred over $100,000,000 in value directly to its shareholders, with Copper Canyon Resources and Taiga Gold Corp. being notable examples. Eagle Plains latest spinout; Eagle Royalties Ltd. (CSE:"ER") was listed on May 24, 2023, and holds a diverse portfolio of royalty assets throughout western Canada.
Eagle Plains' core business is acquiring grassroots critical- and precious-metal exploration properties. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team.
Expenditures from 2010-2023 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $38M, the majority of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 50,000m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development.
Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Eagle Plains
"C.C. (Chuck) Downie, P.Geo"
President and CEO
For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at
1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Email: [email protected] or visit our website at https://www.eagleplains.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
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. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
SOURCE: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.