Arcwest Exploration Inc. Signs Oxide Peak Earn-In Agreement with TDG Gold Corp. (formerly Locrian Resources Inc.)

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TDG Gold Corp. (formerly known as Locrian Resources Inc.), a privately held mineral exploration company that is partly owned by OceanaGold Corp., has entered into an agreement to explore Arcwest Exploration Ltd.’s Oxide Peak property in Northern British Columbia. TDG Gold (Locrian) can earn an initial 60-per-cent interest in the property by financing, over a three-year period, cumulative exploration expenditures of $2.4-million, and staged cash payments of $55,000. In addition, TDG Gold (Locrian) will issue to Arcwest 5 per cent of its outstanding shares 12 months from signing, or immediately prior to a going-public transaction. A minimum exploration expenditure of $400,000 is required before Dec. 31, 2020.

Tyler Ruks, president and chief executive officer of Arcwest, commented: “Arcwest is pleased to join with TDG Gold (Locrian) in advancing our Oxide Peak property, an exciting early-stage porphyry copper-gold project in the prolific Kemess-Toodoggone porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold-silver district of Northern British Columbia. This agreement is consistent with Arcwest’s goal of attracting partners to successfully explore and develop its projects while minimizing shareholder dilution. Discussions with potential joint venture partners for Arcwest’s additional porphyry copper-gold projects throughout British Columbia are ongoing.”

TDG Gold (Locrian) may achieve the first option by fulfilling the following terms:

• By Dec. 31, 2020, financing $400,000 of exploration expenditures on the property;
• By Dec. 31, 2021, financing cumulative aggregate exploration expenditures of $900,000 on the property, including a minimum 1,000 metres of drilling;
• By Dec. 31, 2022, financing cumulative aggregate exploration expenditures of $2.4-million on the property, including an additional minimum 1,000 m of drilling.

Arcwest’s 100-per-cent-owned Oxide Peak project is situated in the northern part of the Toodoggone gold-copper district, a region of extensive Early Jurassic porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold-silver mineralization, including several past-producing Au-Ag mines (Baker, Lawyers, Shasta) and the large Kemess South Au-Cu porphyry deposit. Historical production in the district exceeds 3.2 million ounces of gold and 360,000 tonnes of copper. The property adjoins ground currently being explored for porphyry copper-gold by Freeport McMoRan.

The 8,437-hectare Oxide Peak property contains multiple undrilled zones of copper-gold mineralization that have yet to undergo systematic mapping and geophysical surveys, in addition to zones of strong gold-in-stream sediment anomalies that have yet to be traced to source (see Arcwest press release, July 26, 2019).

Previous exploration of the northern half of Oxide Peak by Seven Devils Exploration in 2016 and by Arcwest in 2018 identified widespread copper-gold mineralization with features typical of high-level porphyry systems. These include multiphase intrusive complexes with associated breccias, extensive propylitic, phyllic and advanced argillic alteration, and porphyry-style copper-gold mineralization comprising quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite veins with secondary biotite alteration. Despite promising geological indicators and widespread high-grade Au-Cu veins, including historical grab samples up to 43.32 grams per tonne Au and up to 3.64 per cent Cu, very limited geophysics and no drilling have been carried out to date on the original Oxide Peak property.

Recently acquired claims comprising the southern half of the property (see Arcwest press release, July 26, 2019) host multiple unexplored copper and gold occurrences, a number of which are spatially associated with significant magnetic anomalies and intrusions. These include the Saunders Creek area, which is interpreted to represent the southern extension of the 12-kilometre-long Oxide Peak-JD-McClair alteration zone, currently being explored for porphyry copper-gold mineralization on neighbouring claims to the north by Freeport McMoRan. Previous exploration of the Saunders Creek area has documented widespread gossans, silicified zones and associated intrusions. Steam sediment sampling in the zone has returned gold values in excess of 10 g/t Au. Soil sampling in the area has delineated a greater-than-100-parts-per-billion gold-in-soil anomaly (gold values up to 2,800 ppb) over an 885 m strike length. Based on public assessment filings, no subsequent exploration was carried out to follow up on these significant results.

To the south of the Saunders Creek area, multiple copper occurrences have been documented by previous workers that have yet to receive follow-up exploration. Chip sampling of quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite stock work at the SOM occurrence returned 0.28 per cent Cu over 9.1 m, with later select grab samples from the zones returning assays up to 9.5 per cent Cu, 122 ppb Au and 220 parts per million Ag. Multiple copper occurrences occur on two separate ridges approximately 1.5 km and two km southeast of the SOM showing. Five grab samples over an area about 350 m across on the western ridge averaged 0.5 per cent Cu (290 to 21,200 ppm), primarily from epidote altered tuff with disseminated chalcopyrite and local quartz stock works. On the eastern ridge, four grab samples over an area about 150 m across averaged 0.58 per cent Cu (767 to 12,300 ppm).

Upon exercise of the first option, TDG Gold (Locrian) may, at its option, elect to earn an additional 20-per-cent interest, for an aggregate 80-per-cent interest, by financing and causing within two years the preparation and delivery to Arcwest of a preliminary economic assessment. Following the exercise or lapse of the second option, the parties will form a joint venture to hold and operate the properties, and each party will proportionately finance or dilute. Should TDG Gold (Locrian) or Arcwest’s interest be diluted to less than 10 per cent, then that interest will convert to a 2-per-cent net smelter return royalty, of which 1 per cent of the royalty can be bought back for a $2-million cash payment at any time.

Qualified person

Arcwest’s disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by John Bradford, PGeo, technical adviser, who serves as a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. Historical exploration data summarized in this release are compiled from publicly available assessment reports, but assays and geological observations have not all been verified by Arcwest. With the exception of the 1969 Cominco copper assays, all quoted assays are accompanied in the cited reports by copies of certified laboratory assay sheets. Grab and chip sample assays are cited as strong evidence of the presence of mineralization, but these values should not be considered representative of values obtainable from larger rock volumes. Soil and silt samples were collected and analyzed by industry-standard techniques. Soil samples were collected by mattock from the top of B horizon at chained 25 m intervals along cut lines 200 m apart. Silt samples were collected from Saunders Creek at nominal 100 m intervals by sieving sand, gravel and silt through a 16 mesh screen and analyzing the fines.

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