TORONTO, Jan. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Continental Gold Inc. (CNL.TO) (CGOOF) (“Continental” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce plans for the 2018 exploration program at its 100% owned high-grade Buriticá project in Antioquia, Colombia. The program will consist of up to 100,000 metres of core drilling from both surface and underground, mainly involving the use of direction-drilling equipment. There are currently 10 drill rigs turning on site and, depending on productivity, up to six additional rigs may be added in due course.

“We will be very active in 2018 as we embark on a multi-strategy exploration program. It is our firm belief that the upside to our Buriticá project remains largely untested and we plan to be aggressive in our quest to unlock this potential during the construction phase of the project,” commented Ari Sussman, CEO.

2018 Exploration Plans

• 40,000 metres of definition drilling in the Yaraguá and Veta Sur vein systems targeting areas where stopes will be developed during construction for early production years of the mine. Select results from recent definition drilling completed at the location where the Company extracted two vertically-stacked trial stopes are as follows (see CNL news release dated October 2, 2017):
  
  
  • 6.10 metres @ 67.69 g/t gold and 136.8 g/t silver (BUUY320);
  • 7.55 metres @ 19.96 g/t gold and 33.5 g/t silver (BUUY321);
  • 6.72 metres @ 28.07 g/t gold and 36.8 g/t silver (BUUY322);
  • 3.25 metres @ 51.76 g/t gold and 95.3 g/t silver (BUUY324) and
  • 7.85 metres @ 39.13 g/t gold and 44.2 g/t silver (BUUY326).
    
    
• 41,000 metres of infill drilling in the Yaraguá and Veta Sur vein systems largely focused on converting portions of the 4.5 million ounces of inferred mineral resources at 9 g/t gold and 29 g/t silver (8.8 million tonnes) into measured or indicated resources in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43‑101 (“NI 43-101”). Additionally, a primary focus will be continued outlining and testing for broad mineralized zones (“BMZ”), where six targets have been identified to date. The BMZ consists of a group of modelled precious metal-bearing veins in the current mineral resource block model with significant mineralization occurring between these veins, generally in the form of veinlets at oblique angles to strike. The majority of the mineralization between modelled veins is not in the current mineral resource estimate, providing potential upside both in terms of identifying significantly broader and more productive zones for mining and increased mineral resources. The Company is currently drilling to potentially expand the vertical extent of BMZ #1 and will systematically test the other five BMZ targets throughout the year. Select drill results previously announced for BMZ #1 (see CNL news release dated September 18, 2017) are as follows (see Figure 1):
  
  
  • 29.6 metres @ 14.33 g/t gold and 20 g/t silver (BUUY330);
  • 45.6 metres @ 17.67 g/t gold and 16 g/t silver (BUUY331);
  • 34.0 metres @ 10.54 g/t gold and 4.9 g/t silver (BUUY335); and
  • 33.9 metres @ 17.17 g/t gold and 25.6 g/t silver (BUUY336).
    
    
• 15,000 metres of step-out drilling along strike and at depth at the Yaraguá and Veta Sur vein systems to expand the deposits, with a particular focus on targeting areas that are relatively close to existing mineral reserves and areas that are being infill-drilled as part of the overall program. Additionally, the program will also probe the potential for a porphyry system at depth, following up on earlier drill holes that hit gold-rich porphyry-style mineralization as follows (see CNL news release dated April 29, 2015):
  
  
  • 65.1 metres @ 10.4 g/t gold and 9 g/t silver (BUSY291; elevation of 654 metres);
  • 17.38 metres @ 10.8 g/t gold and 7 g/t silver (BUUY291D01; elevation of 614 metres);
  • 10.3 metres @ 6.2 g/t gold and 5 g/t silver (BUUY291D02; elevation of 640 metres);
  • 7.95 metres @ 4.7 g/t gold and 6 g/t silver (BUUY291D03; elevation of 537 metres); and
  • 21.15 metres @ 4.6 g/t gold and 4 g/t silver (BUUY291D05; elevation of 595 metres).
    
    
• 41,000 metres of drilling will test up to nine greenfield or near greenfield targets at Buriticá (see Figure 2) with a goal of making a new material precious metal discovery. Each of the nine targets are located within short trucking distance to the future plant site presently under construction in the Higabra Valley and have been generated using the same exploration techniques that have led to the discovery of both the Yaraguá and Veta Sur vein systems. A brief description of the greenfield targets is as follows:

Diamond drill hole" data-reactid="21">            * Diamond drill hole

• Drilling is presently underway at Perseus, Orión and Laurel, with additional rigs anticipated in the near term to begin testing Yaraguá East Deep and Yaraguá North. Drilling will commence in H2 2018 at the Adonis, Electra, Poseidón and Medusa targets.
  
  
• Updated mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates are planned for 2019 and will incorporate all results from H2 2017, 2018 and any additional drilling completed in 2019.
  
  
• As announced on November 9, 2017, the Company negotiated a nine-month option agreement with Red Kite Mine Finance for an additional US$25 million.

Mauricio Castañeda, Vice President, Exploration of the Company, stated: “We are excited that management and the board of directors are supportive of this major exploration program and we look forward to making our next major discovery at our Buriticá project.”

Geological Description of the Buriticá Project

Continental’s 100%-owned, 70,764-hectare project, Buriticá, contains several known areas of high-grade gold and silver mineralization, of base metal carbonate-style (“Stage I”) variably overprinted by texturally and chemically distinctive high-grade (“Stage II”) mineralization. The two most extensively explored of these areas (the Yaraguá and Veta Sur systems) are central to this land package. The Yaraguá system has been drill-outlined along 1,100 metres of strike and 1,700 vertical metres and partially sampled in underground developments. The Veta Sur system has been drill-outlined along 1,000+ metres of strike and 1,800 vertical metres and has been partially sampled in underground developments. Both systems are characterized by multiple, steeply-dipping veins and broader, more disseminated mineralization and both remain open at depth and along strike, at high grades.

Technical Information

Mauricio Castañeda, Vice-President, Exploration of the Company and a qualified person for the purpose of NI 43‑101, has prepared or supervised the preparation of, or approved, as applicable, the technical information contained in this press release.

The Company utilizes a rigorous, industry-standard QA/QC program. HQ and NQ core is sawn or split with one-half shipped to a sample preparation lab in Medellín run by ALS Colombia Limited (“ALS”) in Colombia, whereas BQ core samples are full core. Samples are then shipped for analysis to an ALS-certified assay laboratory in Lima, Peru. The remainder of the core is stored in a secured storage facility for future assay verification. Blanks, duplicates and certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance and a portion of the samples are periodically check assayed at SGS Colombia S.A., a certified assay laboratory in Medellín, Colombia.

The Company does not receive assay results for drill holes in sequential order; however, all significant assay results are publicly reported.

For information on the Buriticá project, please refer to the technical report, prepared in accordance with NI 43‑101, entitled “Buriticá Project NI 43–101 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Antioquia, Colombia” and dated March 29, 2016 with an effective date of February 24, 2016, led by independent consultants JDS Energy & Mining Inc. The technical report is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, on the OTCQX at www.otcmarkets.com and on the Company website at www.continentalgold.com.

About Continental Gold

Continental Gold Inc. is an advanced-stage exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of 100%-owned gold projects in Colombia. Formed in April 2007, the Company – led by an international management team with a successful track record of discovering and developing large high-grade gold deposits in Latin America – is focused on advancing its fully-permitted high-grade Buriticá gold project to production with first gold pour on track for early 2020. Additional details on Continental Gold’s suite of gold exploration properties are also available at www.continentalgold.com.