Positive Results From Near-mine Exploration Drilling At Aurizona

 

VANCOUVER - Equinox Gold Corp. reported positive drilling results from near-mine exploration at the Company’s 100%-owned Aurizona Gold Mine in Brazil. Broad intervals of economic grade gold mineralization, including ultra high-grade gold values up to 1,005 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au), were intersected near surface at the Genipapo, Micote and Mestre Chico targets. The Company tested six near-mine exploration targets with 45 holes totaling 5,500 meters (m).

“The bulk of recent exploration work at Aurizona has successfully focused on resource growth at the Piaba West target,” said Scott Heffernan, EVP Exploration of Equinox Gold. “Concurrently, near-mine exploration drilling has highlighted three targets east of the Piaba gold deposit with significant near-surface gold mineralization, clearly demonstrating the growth potential at Aurizona.”

The Genipapo target, located east and north of the Piaba gold deposit, measures several square kilometers in area and covers numerous NW-SE trending gold-in-soil and geophysical anomalies. Drilling focused on the largest gold-in-soil anomaly, measuring 500 m by 1,000 m, and has now intersected gold mineralization on three distinct structures within a 400 m wide corridor. The NW-SE orientation of these mineralized structures is new and unique to this portion of the Piaba trend.

Drilling at Micote, located several kilometers to the east along trend from Piaba, successfully tested a typical ENE-SSW trending structure over a strike length of 200 m before being truncated by a NW-SE trending fault. Recent mapping and historical drilling suggest that the zone might be displaced approximately 100 m to the NW. Of note, drilling returned two ultra high-grade gold assays of 1,005 g/t Au and 735 g/t Au from within a broader zone of 84.3 g/t Au over 21.0 m. Exploration composites are calculated on uncapped assay values. The samples are from the saprolite zone where surficial processes can significantly enrich gold content. Applying the 40 g/t Au cap that was used for saprolitic material in the Piaba resource estimate would change the interval to 5.29 g/t Au over 21.0 m.

Drilling at the Mestre Chico target was limited to an area measuring 100 m by 100 m. The target is associated with a NNE-SSW shear zone where several structures converge forming a complex fault system associated with rare felsic plutonic rocks. The exploration team at Aurizona is currently focused on updating geologic models and refining plans for future drill campaigns, including a first pass drill program at the Tatajuba target that the Company plans to commence in the second half of 2018.