15 March 2022
Vancouver, BC – Sabina Gold & Silver Corp (SBB.T/SGSVF.OTCQX), (“Sabina” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that drilling has commenced at the Goose Property on its 100%-owned Back River Gold Project (“Back River” or the “Project”) in Nunavut, Canada.
A planned 3,500-meter spring surface exploration drill program has started, with a focus on targeting the interface between the planned open pit and the down plunge zone at Umwelt. This drilling will allow for further characterization of the geology and mineralization of higher-grade gold zones in those areas which will inform optimization of the open pit and underground mine designs.
Once complete, drilling will move to the Hook zone which is believed to be part of the gold structure linking the Goose Main and Nuvuyak gold deposits. Drilling is planned to be completed by mid April.
“We look froward to receiving the results of this spring drilling program as we continue to evolve and develop the resource potential at the 8 km long Goose Gold Complex,” said Bruce McLeod, President & CEO. “As we have demonstrated in past drilling campaigns, the gold endowment at Goose is exceptional and we remain committed to an exploration and resource growth and optimization strategy that we believe will add considerable value to the Project we progress towards production. With the application of our exploration framework through progressive 3D modeling, integrated data acquisition and drill testing, we are confident that we can continue to demonstrate the significant growth potential and world class nature of this well-endowed gold project.”
Umwelt Drilling
The initial series of six to eight drill holes are designed to better delineate and detail the gold mineralization at the intersection of the Quartz Feldspar Porphyry dyke and the Lower Iron Formation, which is an area of thickened iron formation host rock. Drilling is focused in and around the crown pillar and upper and lower sill areas, where it is believed that opportunities exist for better characterization of higher-grade mineral zones and mining infrastructure planning.
One geomechanical drill hole will be completed at the base of the Umwelt open pit for rock property data collection.
Hook Drilling
Two to three drill holes will be drilled at the Hook zone, which is located along the favourable gold structure that trends between the Goose Main gold deposit and the Nuvuyak Resource. The Hook target represents an important connector zone with a strike length of over 700m, demonstrating strong zones of mineralization in association with a tightly folded antiformal structure. Two drill holes will be drilled down plunge from 2021 drilling where drill hole 21GSE600 returned 5.42 g/t Au over 28.05 m, including 12.68 g/t Au over 5.30 m. An additional drill hole will target mineralization within the Hook gold structure located approximately 150m north of the Goose Main pit. Positive results from this drilling will help inform future decisions around resource growth and development along the Goose Main to Hook to Nuvuyak gold structure.
Figure 1. Inclined section, showing Umwelt open pit and underground mineralized areas, and general area of planned 2022 drilling.
Figure 2. Plan map of the Goose Project, with location of planned open pits and areas of 2022 drilling targets.
Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.
Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is an emerging gold mining that 100% owns the district scale, advanced, high grade Back River Gold District in Nunavut, Canada.
Sabina recently filed an Updated Feasibility Study (the “UFS”) on its first mine on the district, the Goose Mine, which presents a project that will produce ~223,000 ounces of gold a year (first five years average of 287,000 ounces a year with peak production of 312,000 ounces in year three) for ~15 years with a rapid payback of 2.3 years, with a post-tax IRR of ~28% and NPV5% of C$1.1B. See “National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Technical Report – 2021 Updated Feasibility Study for the Goose Project at the Back River Gold District, Nunavut, Canada” dated March 3, 2021.
Since the UFS, completion of detailed geotechnical test work on the tailings samples and the inclusion of a high-capacity tailings thickener, the tailings storage capacity of the Echo open pit has increased sufficiently to enable the decision to construct the mill at a 4,000 tpd capacity at the outset. This, in addition to optimized equipment selection and detailed engineering has reduced the cost of the expansion from C$17m to C$10m when compared to the UFS.
The Project received its final major authorization on June 25, 2020 and is now in receipt of all major permits and authorizations for construction and operations.
The Company is also very committed to its Inuit stakeholders, with Inuit employment and opportunities a focus. The Company has signed a 20-year renewable land use agreement with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association and has committed to various sustainability initiatives under the agreement.
In February 2022, the Company announced it had completed a comprehensive project financing package for US$520 million comprised of:
In addition to Back River, Sabina also owns a significant silver royalty on Glencore’s Hackett River Project. The silver royalty on Hackett River’s silver production is comprised of 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces produced and 12.5% of all silver produced thereafter.