Kestrel’s QCM Drill Program Intersects 0.847 g/t Au over 152.44 metres including 3.665 g/t Au over 16.77 metres
NEWS RELEASE
Calgary, AB, April 21st, 2022: Kestrel Gold Inc. (“Kestrel” or the “Corporation”, TSX-V: KGC) is pleased to announce results of the Corporation’s 2021 reverse circulation (“RC”) drill program completed on the QCM property. The program, comprising 992.38 metres in nine holes, provided infill drilling within, and confirmed the potential for northwest strike extensions to, the QCM Zone. The QCM Zone is a road accessible, near surface, bulk tonnage gold target consisting of replacement and vein style mineralization within carbonate altered and pyritic volcanic greywacke and argillite.
Drill Program Highlights:
Broad intervals of gold-bearing mineralization and alteration were intersected in all holes completed, with peak values of 0.847 g/t Au over 152.44 metres including 3.665 g/t Au over 16.77 metres found within hole 7.
The gold bearing intervals within holes 1 and 2 provide confirmation that the QCM Zone remains open beyond the northwestern limits of the historical drill array.
Holes 3 (240° Azimuth) and 7 (180° Azimuth) were drilled from the same pad and at the same -45° dip. The overall higher gold values found within hole 7 may be attributed to the presence of narrow gold bearing shears trending approximately 240° Azimuth which would be intersected by hole 7 but which trend parallel to hole 3 and were therefore likely missed.
The program tested an approximate 350 metre strike length of the QCM Zone.
Table 1: Drill Results
True widths of the reported intervals are unknown.
Holes QCM21-3, 4, 5 and 7 bottomed in 1.52 metre intervals grading 0.13 g/t Au, 0.38 g/t Au, 0.56 g/t Au and 1.02 g/t Au respectively.
Due to poor ground conditions, holes QCM21-1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 were terminated before their planned target depth of approximately 160 metres.
Due to the project’s location within an active placer gold mining district, and historical reports of coarse visible gold within the QCM Zone, all gold analyses were completed using a metallic screen method.
Limited amounts of trace elements are found within the QCM Zone, with the most common gold pathfinder element being copper which occurs in amounts of up to 539 ppm but typically averaging approximately 100 ppm.
Rob Solinger, President and CEO of Kestrel, states: “We are very pleased to have finally received results for our QCM drill program, and thank our shareholders for their patience during this wait. The QCM Zone is a tabular northwest trending and southwest dipping body extending over an approximate 650 metre length, open to the northwest, by 350 metre width and possibly averaging 50 metres or more in thickness. These dimensions coupled with the gold grades returned from current and historical drilling suggest the potential for a significant gold resource within the QCM Zone. Preliminary planning for 2022 includes continued drilling of the QCM Zone focusing on expanding the Zone to the northwest as well as further infill drilling. An initial drill test of targets identified by our 2021 prospecting program is also being planned.”
For details on the 2021 prospecting program see the Corporation’s February 18th, 2022 news release that can be found at https://www.kestrelgold.com/news/nov-23-2021-49rxs.
Figure 1: Hole Location Map
Table 2: RC Hole Location Data (coordinates in Zone 10, NAD83)
QCM Project Highlights:
Project is comprised of 5,975 hectares covering an approximate 15-kilometre strike length of the Manson Fault Zone which is thought to be a controlling structure for much of the gold mineralization in the district.
Peak values from historical drilling completed within the QCM Zone were found within hole QCM04-002 which returned an interval of 2.86 g/t Au over 110.95 metres, including a high-grade interval of 173 g/t Au over 1.5 metres, true widths unknown.
Numerous showings occur throughout the project area, including Farrell where historical values of up to 1,777 g/t Au and 3,560 g/t Ag have been returned from grab samples of a 3.0-metre wide quartz vein and Flagstaff where historical values of up to 5.9 g/t Au and 1,153 g/t Ag have been reported for grab samples of quartz veins and stockworks.
Recently completed logging has resulted in improved access and numerous new bedrock exposures throughout the property. This has facilitated Kestrel’s prospecting efforts which have resulted in the discovery of several new gold-bearing showings. See Kestrel’s September 2nd, 2021 and February 18th, 2022 News Release’s.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Sampling Procedures
Drilling was completed using a reverse circulation drill that cut a 95 millimeter (3.75 inch) in diameter hole. Holes were sampled top to bottom in 1.52 metre (5 foot) intervals. Drill cuttings were captured in a cyclone then riffle split in a three-tiered Jones-type splitter. Samples were sent to Bureau Veritas, an independent laboratory in Vancouver B.C. where analytical results were obtained using FS631, a metallic screen/fire assay method for gold, and AQ300 an aqua regia digestion for trace element geochemistry. For quality assurance/quality control purposes, standards, blanks and field duplicates were inserted into the sample sequence at a rate of approximately one QA/QC sample for every ten samples submitted to the lab. An initial review of the drilling, sampling and assaying procedures did not recognize any factors that would materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.
Qualified Person
Derek Torgerson P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
About Kestrel Gold
Kestrel Gold Inc. is a gold exploration company headquartered in western Canada. The Corporation is focused on gold exploration within the Canadian Cordillera, with an emphasis on hardrock targets located in placer gold mining districts. Kestrel is listed on the TSX Venture exchange under the symbol KGC. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Corporation’s website “www.kestrelgold.com” for further information.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information and statements in this news release contain certain forward-looking information. This forward-looking information relates to future events or the Corporation’s future performance including exploration activity that could take place on the Corporation’s properties or projects. This forward-looking information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may be based on assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking information. The Corporation’s forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.
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.
For further information contact:
Rob Solinger, President and CEO
Office: (403) 816-2141
Email: rob@kestrelgold.com