Preliminary Economic Assessment Scheduled For Fondaway Canyon Gold Project

VANCOUVER - Getchell Gold Corp. announced preparation for preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Fondaway Canyon gold project in Nevada. The Company has been diligently advancing its flagship Fondaway Canyon gold project through the first half of 2024, building upon three highly successful drill campaigns and the publishing of the Project's first Mineral Resource Estimate in early 2023 (2023 MRE), reporting: Inferred Mineral Resource of 38.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.23 g/t Au for 1,509,100 ounces of gold; and Indicated Mineral Resource of 11.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.56 g/t Au for an additional 550,800 ounces of gold.

The Company has been focusing on a number of key activities required to support a PEA on the Project with the first major task consisting of the generation of an updated mineral resource estimate (Updated MRE). Of the 26 holes drilled by the Company in the Central Area of Fondaway Canyon, only 18 of those holes were incorporated into the 2023 MRE.  The results of the additional eight (8) drill holes were received after the cutoff date for data to be included in the 2023 MRE.  All eight (8) of these drill holes, FCG22-20 to FCG22-28, excluding FCG22-24 that drilled a separate target area, reported significant intervals of gold mineralization.

As part of the Updated MRE process, the Company has completed a bulk density sampling program to establish a representative value to input into the Updated MRE model.  A density of 2.74 g/cm3 was derived from the bulk density sampling program representing a 7% increase to the rock hosting the mineralized zones factored into the 2023 MRE (refer to Company news release dated June 6, 2024, for further details).  This value is a direct input factor in a mineral resource estimate and may potentially represent a commensurate increase in tonnes given all other factors and inputs remain unchanged.

The second major task launched is a metallurgical study of the mineralized material hosted within the Updated MRE.  There has been a fair breadth of historical metallurgical studies on the Project, however the majority were conducted 20 years ago or more.  The current metallurgical study will represent a modernized analysis considering advancements in mineral processing experienced over the last 20 years.

Additional drilling was not required to source material for the metallurgical testwork. Two batches of analytical laboratory coarse rejects from the Company's drill programs were delivered to Forte Dynamics laboratory in April and May to initiate the metallurgical testwork.  A supplemental sampling program to collect oxide drill core material was determined to be warranted to assess the rock mechanics of the oxide zone material in addition to gold recoveries.   Four Company drill holes that had reported mineralized oxide material from surface were selected for sampling.  The half-core material residing in the core box, after splitting for the original analytical analysis for gold, was fully collected and delivered to the lab.

Upon completion of the Updated MRE (to be completed by Apex Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB) and the modernization of the metallurgy (to be completed by Forte Dynamics), the Company will post a news release detailing the results.  Forte Dynamics awaits receipt of these two studies to incorporate into the Fondaway Canyon PEA with completion scheduled for the Fall.