Vancouver, British Columbia - TheNewswire – March 31, 2021 – Au Gold Corp (TSXV:AUGC) (“AUGC” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce assay results from a trench sampling program completed at  the Ponderosa gold project in British Columbia (“Ponderosa”).  The program focused on the Tomahawk Zone, the highest priority of four target areas on the property.  The results support the exploration thesis that Tomahawk represents the intact upper portion of an epithermal gold system and should be prioritized for future diamond drilling.  

Tomahawk Sampling Highlights

• - Trench TR-DP-04 returns 1.04 g/t gold across 5.25 m including 3.99 g/t gold and 14.9 g/t silver across 1.00 m;

 

• - Variably altered volcanic host rocks yield up to 0.61 g/t gold across 1.25 m;

  - Anomalous gold response from all trenches sampled; and

  - Textures supportive of high-level position in the epithermal system

“Results from the Tomahawk sampling program are significant especially given the target area is essentially blind to surface geochemistry.” states President and CEO Marc Blythe.  “The tenor of gold mineralization and accompanying textures are consistent with the Company’s interpretation that the Tomahawk Zone represents the upper portions of an epithermal gold system.  We are highly encouraged by these results and look forward to advancing this target and others within the project area in 2021”.

The Tomahawk Zone is currently the most advanced and highest priority showing on the Ponderosa Property.  The area was identified through historical prospecting as a quartz rubble pile roughly 3 m in diameter.  Six historical grab samples reportedly returned from below detection to 0.54 g/t gold but no additional follow-up work was conducted.  This was likely due to the very weak gold-in-soil geochemical signature over the Tomahawk Zone with values generally less than 2 ppb.    

In 2019 the Company expanded the target at the Tomahawk Zone by prospecting an additional six grab samples of epithermal quartz mineralization further afield that returned values ranging from below detection limits to 2.96 g/t gold.  Subsequent hand trenching identified in-situ mineralization and alteration along a 55 m strike length and 15 m across the widest continuous exposure. The Tomahawk vein zone strikes north-northeast and dips moderately westward between 45 and 70 degrees. Interpreted dips suggest true widths are between 70 and 90 percent of the reported surface exposures.  The vein zone remains open along strike and the hanging-wall contact has not been delineated.

Chip and saw channel sampling yielded anomalous gold values (>50 ppb) from the four trenches sampled along the 55 m trend.  Numerous intervals from three of the trenches returned >100 ppb gold with the best weighted average series of samples collected from the southernmost and lowest elevation trench, TR-DP-04, which yielded 1.04 g/t gold across 5.25 m including 3.99 g/t gold and 14.9 g/t silver across 1.00 m.  In addition, elevated gold values (up to 613 ppb) were sampled from sections of the vein zone where volcanic host-rocks are only weakly to moderately clay and silica altered.  Base metal elements, which commonly occur in the deeper parts of these systems, were mostly below weakly anomalous thresholds for all samples collected.  Select intervals (>200 ppb Au) are tabulated on the following table:

Trench	From (m)	To (m)	Interval (m)	Au (ppb)
TR-DP-01	2.00	3.00	1.00	245
TR-DP-01	3.00	4.00	1.00	235
TR-DP-02	14.00	15.30	1.30	592
TR-DP-03	6.00	7.00	1.00	243
TR-DP-04	0.00	1.00	1.00	241
TR-DP-04	2.00	3.00	1.00	283
TR-DP-04	3.00	4.00	1.00	3990
TR-DP-04	4.00	5.25	1.25	631

 

Sampled intervals exhibit a variety of textural features throughout the vein zone.  Photographs of select textures and complete tables of gold results can be viewed on the Company’s website https://augoldcorp.com/tomahawk-zone/ .  The most common textural features observed include: high level angular breccias with multiple phases of silica cement and stockwork style veining; tan to orange-brown clay altered volcanic often finely fractured with multiple generations of clear to white sheeted quartz; and crustiform banded opaque to white quartz veining.  

Magnetic Survey underway

In addition to receiving assay results for the Tomahawk Zone, the Company recently flew a high resolution helicopter-borne magnetic gradiometer survey over Ponderosa under the guidance of Precision GeoSurveys Inc. of Langley BC.  The data is currently being processed and will be reviewed for further understanding of the structural architecture of the project area as well as identifying extensions of existing targets and new prospective areas where soil geochemical and/or prospecting anomalies have been previously identified.  

Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC)

All samples were submitted to ALS Canada Ltd. in North Vancouver BC for sample preparation and analysis.  Samples were fine crushed to 70% passing 2 millimeters before a 250 gram split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Pulps were then analyzed for gold using the Au-AA24 technique which involves fire assay preparation using a 50 gram charge and an atomic absorption spectroscopy finish.

Multi-element analyses for 51 elements including gold were determined for all sample pulps by the ME-MS41 procedure which utilizes a four acid digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

All scientific and technical information in this press release has been prepared under the supervision of William A. Wengzynowski, P. Eng., a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.  Mr. Wengzynowski is the Exploration Manager for Au Gold Corp.

Ponderosa Gold Property

The road accessible Ponderosa Gold Property is located 16 km southwest of Merritt, BC, within the Spences Bridge Gold Belt which forms a northwest trending belt roughly 180 km long and up to 24 km wide.

Exploration by AUGC and others, notably Westhaven Gold Corp., has identified the potential for gold associated with low-sulphidation epithermal mineralization (quartz-adularia).  Examples of this style of mineralization include Kupol (Kinross Gold Corp.), Hishikari (Sumitomo Metal Mining) and Fruta Del Norte (Lundin Gold).

Work conducted in 2019 and 2020 significantly upgraded three historic showings and identified an entirely new showing.  These showings in order of priority are referred to as the Tomahawk, Flat Iron, T-Bone and Rib Eye zones.  The Tomahawk Zone is the most advanced and highest priority showing on the Property.

The Ponderosa Gold Property is located within the unceded traditional territory of the Nlaka’pamux People.

Further information on the Property can be found on the Company’s website: www.augoldcorp.com/ponderosa-property/.

Cautionary Note

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Au Gold Corp

Marc G. Blythe, MBA, P.Eng., President & Chief Executive Officer

Sandrine Lam, Investor Relations Phone: 1-604-687-3520 Ext. 250

Email: info@augoldcorp.com

To learn more visit: https://www.augoldcorp.com

NEITHER THE 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. STATEMENTS IN THIS NEWS RELEASE, OTHER THAN PURELY HISTORICAL INFORMATION, INCLUDING STATEMENTS RELATING TO THE COMPANY'S FUTURE PLANS AND OBJECTIVES OR EXPECTED RESULTS, MAY INCLUDE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON NUMEROUS ASSUMPTIONS AND ARE SUBJECT TO ALL OF THE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES INHERENT IN RESOURCE EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT. AS A RESULT, ACTUAL RESULTS MAY VARY MATERIALLY FROM THOSE DESCRIBED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.