TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan 18, 2018) - Sparton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SRI) ("Sparton" or the "Company") announced today that it has signed a drill contract with Edcor Drilling Services for a minimum of 1,000 metres of core drilling on the Bruell Gold Property in Vauquelin Township, Quebec. The work is expected to start in the third week of January 2018 and requires a minimum of 3-4 weeks to complete.
DRILLING PROGRAM
The initial 1,000 metre program will involve testing an area on the east part of the claims where several past drill holes returned encouraging gold values associated with a 300 metre long Induced Polarization geophysical anomaly that has been incompletely tested.
Drilling in this area in 2005 returned values of 5.32 gm/tonne gold over 2.44 metres and 6.51 gm/tonne gold over 2.13 metres in one drill hole, and 1.15 gm/tonne gold over 9.5 metres and 3.23 gm/tonne gold over 1.5 metres in an adjacent hole, 100 metres to the east. Approximately 5 holes are planned for this area. Three other areas on the claims have also been selected for initial testing. Each of these has encouraging gold values in past drilling and associated geophysical targets that have not been comprehensively tested.
ACCESS AND INFRASTUCTURE
The 36 Bruell claims are accessible from Val d'Or and Senneterre by paved Highways 117 and 113, and local forestry roads and logging trails. The property contains a number of structurally hosted vein type gold occurrences and two (2) shallow, vertical shafts, the Bruell 1 and Bruell 2, and one inclined shaft, the Avocalon (Aurora zone). Exploration work dates back to 1934, with the last significant work done in 2005. New winter logging operations taking place in the claim area will facilitate access to the planned drill sites with serviced road access now nearly completed.
Follow up work will be planned after all assay information is available.
VANADIUM DEVELOPMENTS
Initial planning and budgeting for the Yao Wan Project evaluation in Shaanxi China is underway. The priority activities will be discussed with the property owners and a final program approved in early February. The priority will be to implement a shallow drilling program to acquire detailed information on the near surface Historical Estimates provided by the project database, which indicate a near surface vanadium mineralized zone containing 5,433,900 tonnes grading 1.02% V2O5 and containing 75,632 tonnes of V2O5. (See Company News Release dated January 2, 2018).
It should be noted that the near surface vanadium endowment quoted here is considered "Historical Estimates" under NI 43 -101 and include estimates from data generated from work done by a Chinese Licensed Exploration Organization which was engaged by the Yao Wan, the exploration license owner, for various work programs between 2006 and 2015.
The data are believed to be reliable and were generated using recognized calculation procedures and analytical techniques. The "Historical Estimates" are related to Chinese category 332 and 333 level resource reporting standards.
More work needs to be done to upgrade or verify these "Historical Estimates" into current resource categories. While VStar has the right to acquire a 70% equity interest in the Yao Wan exploration license and project (and through it the Company a net 56% interest), the Company recognizes that sufficient work has not been yet done to classify the "Historical Estimates" as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.
As such, Sparton is not treating the "Historical Estimates" as current mineral resources or mineral reserves or implying any economic value to them. Insufficient metallurgical testing has been completed on the Yao Wan mineralization to understand recoverability of the vanadium from these deposits, and cost estimates for open cast or underground mining have not yet been made by an independent organization.
VANADIUM FLOW BATTERY UPDATE
Pu Neng Energy, a leading vanadium flow battery manufacturer in which the Company holds a minority interest, continues to pursue new sales opportunities for its products and its representatives have recently attended a number of energy storage conferences in developing markets.
A. L. Barker M.A.Sc., P. Eng., P. Geol. is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 for the technical information in this news release and has reviewed all available data for the Bruell and Yao Wan Properties and approved the contents of this news release.
Neither 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.
Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this news release involves forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, financings and transactions being pursued, and all such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although the Company believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and, accordingly, undue reliance should not be put on such forward-looking statements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein.
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