VANCOUVER, July 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Awalé Resources Limited ("Awalé" or the "Company") (TSXV: ARIC) is pleased to report that the Odienné 2018/2019 field season has culminated with delineation of two priority drill targets at the Vakaba and Empire prospects. Work completed during the field season has included ground geophysical (Induced Polarisation or IP) surveys, mapping and soil sampling, as well as deep hand auger, and has enhanced the prospectivity of the strong gold in soil anomalies reported at both prospects (see Company news release dated 28th June 2018).

Both prospects now represent exciting drill targets and have well understood geological and structural frameworks with demonstrated mineralisation from soil, channel and rock chip sampling. The company plans to drill test both these targets in Q4 2019 with a minimum of 2000m of Reverse Circulation ("RC") or diamond ("DD") drilling. Further to these current high priority targets the company continues with geological mapping and sampling on newly identified prospect areas within the 90% owned Odienné permit.

Highlights
Empire - The Empire prospect represents a compelling drill target where geology, gold geochemistry and geophysics form coincident anomalies. High order soil anomalism coincides with a mapped mylonite bearing structure that has been intruded by a later diorite body. A resistive chargeable anomaly which potentially indicates coincident silicification and sulphidation of the diorite, conforms with the soil both the soil anomalism and the mapped structure (see attached figures 2 through 5). Rock chips from a quartz veins on the prospect have returned up to 65 grams/tonne ("g/t") gold* and a channel sample in altered wall rock has returned 8m at 0.7 g/t Au including 2m at 3.17g/t and 2m at 1.57 g/t Au. 

The soil sampling completed by the company forms a 2km long 50ppb anomaly which includes a 200m long 200ppb core, artisanal mining activity commenced some months after the completion and reporting of the of the soil program. The pit opened by these artisanal workers (figure 2) does not cover the best soil anomalism nor the best resistive chargeable IP anomaly. This also demonstrates the potential for wide shear zone hosted mineralisation in a classic Birimian gold setting.

Vakaba – The target mineralization at Vakaba is high grade gold hosted in quartz tourmaline veins at a granite/intermediate volcanic contact. A series of veins have opened oblique to the NNE trending faulted contact between the granite and volcanic rocks, the veins are dominantly oriented NE with a subordinate NE orientation. Gold hosted in the quartz tourmaline veins have returned results of up to 111.5 g/t gold and an average grade of 6 samples of quartz material from orpaillage pits and outcrop returned 24.6 g/t Au*.

Deep artisanal pits and a trench have been opened by artisanal workers along a NW quartz-tourmaline bearing structure in the central part of the prospect (figure 2), a channel sample along the wall of the costean returned 14m of wall-rock alteration at 1.14 g/t Au, with included values of 1m at 2g/t, 4.4 g/t and 1.9 g/t Au from 1, 2, and 5 metres respectively. The same structure is clear in the induced polarisation surveys completed in May 2019, as well as revealing a major structural confluence at this location with NW/NE chargeable resistive structures meeting at the granite/volcanic contact. This confluence is a compelling target for the planned maiden drill program at the Vakaba prospect.

CEO Glen Parsons commented today:

"Awalé Resources strategy for this field season was to define and deliver multiple drill ready targets for the 2019-2020 field season for Odienné and Bondoukou.  Both have absolutely delivered on this objective.

The systematic and methodical nature of our exploration strategy has paid off and we are pleased that both Empire and Vakaba at Odienné have presented as priority drill targets for high grade gold mineralisation.  Weather permitting, we anticipate these can be drilled over the next 3 months.  In the northeast, exploration activities at Bondoukou have for now been curtailed due to the seasonal monsoon rains and we expect to be recommencing in September when water levels abate.

Awalé will maintain its systematic strategy to keep a project pipeline advancing in tandem with drill testing these developing exciting anomalies. I look forward to updating the market on our activities at Odienné and new developments at the Bondoukou project in the near future."

View attached figures: http://www.awaleresources.com/_resources/maps/Odienne-Drill-targets-05072019.pdf

Technical Background
Empire
The Empire prospect was initially targeted by SODEMI and Randgold in the 1990's. Awalé's initial reconnaissance of the area revealed an old trench and patchy outcrop with mylonitic rock in contact with a large outcrop of tonalite trondhjemite granite (TTG) intrusive to the south, and intermediate volcanic and a porphyritic granodiorite to the north.  A rock chip sample of a quartz vein from the trench returned 36.7g/t Au. 

Subsequently a soil program completed in 2018 defined a 2km long greater than 50ppb anomaly with a 200m long greater than 200ppb core (Figure 2). The anomaly strikes roughly east west, parallel to the interpreted contact with the mylonite and the TTG intrusion to the south.

The 2019 field season included mapping, infill soil sampling and deep hand auger which confirmed the robust nature if the soil anomaly.  Further to this Mapping over the prospect has revealed the mylonite is extensive, it forms a WNW trending structure that cuts through the prospect area and is more than 500m wide in places and bounded by granite to the south and granodiorite and volcanic rocks to the north.  Soil anomalism is mostly contained within this corridor. The presence of mylonite suggests the Empire structure is an old deep seated fluid pathway and has a protracted history through the eo-Eburnean and Eburnean orogeny.  Gold mineralisation in in the Birimian is often preferentially located where northeast-trending faults and shears crosscut thrust-folds, or where these northwest-trending thrust-folds join north–northeast trending shear zones, which may be the case at the Empire prospect.

Artisanal miners entered the area after completion of the 2018 soil surveys and subsequently a 'gold rush' occurred at the prospect with up to 3000 workers (figure 3). The miners rapidly dug through 10 to 20 metres of saprolite material to reveal a buried diorite intrusive body. The extent of artisanal mining is small in comparison to the soil anomalism and the pit is offset to the north of the 200ppb core anomaly (figure 2). The Diorite ranges from fresh/unaltered with trace sulphides (Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, +/- Pyrrhotite) to highly strained and foliated (sheared) with >1% sulphide associated with silica/sericite alteration. Figure 4 is a conceptual cross section for geology and mineralisation at Empire.

In early stages of the artisanal activity a channel sample was taken across an area where the previously mentioned quartz vein inside an old trench returned 36.7 g/t Au. This 8 m horizontal channel retuned 8m at 0.7 grams per tonne including 2 intervals at 3.17 and 1.57 grams per tonne, samples were collected a 2 metre composites (figure 3). These results demonstrate the presence of disseminated mineralisation within the variably sheared diorite host rock. This sampling was conducted perpendicular to the near vertical dip of the (now mined) vein and associated wallrock alteration, it represents a true width of the length sampled, the mineralisation here is considered open and the best soil anomalism continues to the south of the artisanal activity – the channel sample was limited by the width of the pit.

Gradient Array and Pole-Dipole IP (figure 4) completed in May 2019 is consistent with the mapped surface geology, the dipole lines show clear evidence for a buried resistive body (the diorite) that is cut by a late chargeable structure – this forms a compelling chargeable resistive structure that is coincident with the high order soil anomalism. The gradient array IP also suggests presence of later north to northeast structures cutting the dominant WNW orientation – this is also observed in the artisanal pit with north to northeast fractures noted in the in the diorites. These observations are consistent with hypothesis of the interaction between WNW shear/thrust systems interacting with the later N to NE trending structures later in the eburnean orogeny. Further to this the dolerite intrusion has been controlled by the WNW mylonite structure that cuts the prospect and is elongate in the same orientation. The Empire location may be a small window where the diorite has ascended higher in the system and should the system deliver economic grades, the depth potential of such a system is vast.

The model for mineralisation is shear zone hosted and has analogues such as the Junction deposit in the St Ives goldfield in Australia, where the Junction dolerite intrudes a sheared contact between the Black Flag sediments and the Paringa Basalt.  

In summary the chargeable resistive target that is coincident with the high order soil anomalism is a compelling drill target for the company once the monsoon season abates, and the company looks forward to drilling this target along with Vakaba.

Vakaba
Vakaba is an area of significant artisanal mining activity that consists of both primary and alluvial workings. The primary workings are focused on several high-grade quartz veins which have formed oblique to a NNE trending contact between granodiorite/granite intrusive rocks and intermediate (dacite/rhyodacite) volcanic rocks. Where deep shafts are operated (workers claim depths of at least 50m in some shafts) visible gold has been observed in quartz veins hauled from underground. This deep/hard rock activity has been ongoing at the site for more than 25 years. Wall-rock piles around these shafts display intense biotite and silica alteration with subordinate calc-silicate mineralogy (garnet, epidote) and sulphides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite). These rocks are also intensely folded, foliated and crenulated close to the quartz lodes.  

The vein system is structurally controlled and manifest as quartz tourmaline veins/lodes that are dominantly oriented NW with a subordinate series of NE veins. Both orientations are controlled by a NNE structure that follows the contact between late granite/granodiorite intrusions and a dacite/rhyodacite volcanic package. The NNE structures are evident as shear planes and foliations at the eastern granite contact with the volcanics, mm scale quartz shear veins are evident along this orientation and are often epidote altered. This structural framework is consistent with the fact that many gold deposits in west Africa occur where northeast-trending faults and shears are focussed at sites of competency contrast. Confluences between these 3 structures at the granite contact are considered potential bonanza lodes and are high order targets for drill testing – figure 6.

Further to the significant gold in soil anomalism selected rock chip samples from the mining area included grades up to 111.5g/t Au from mineralized rock piles in the main mining area and 5.36g/t Au from an outcropping quartz tourmaline vein within an artisanal exploration costean (figure 6), the same costean was channel sampled and returned 14m of wall-rock alteration at 1.14 g/t Au, with included values of 1m at 2g/t, 4.4 g/t and 1.9 g/t Au from 1, 2, and 5 metres respectively. (the channel sample follows the strike of the vein, and does not represent a true width, however it does demonstrate significant mineralisation within the wall-rock alteration system in the granite. This vein forms the primary target for the prospect as it also forms a prominent chargeable-resistive anomaly in the Ip survey completed over the prospect - these is also a prominent NE trending chargeable resistive anomaly that confluences with this vein at the granite/volcanic contact (Figure 7). 

A full list of rock chip samples greater than 1 gram per tonne from Vakaba is given in table 1. These selected samples are not necessarily representative of the mineralisation hosted on the prospect but do demonstrate the gold mineralisation and prospective nature of structures identified in geological mapping.

Additional to identification of quartz tourmaline veins exploiting NW and NE structures shown in figure 6, these observations are replicated by the induced polarization surveys completed by the company in May 2019 (figure 7).

Quality Control and Assurance

Analytical work for geochemical samples and rock chip samples is being carried out at the independent Intertek Laboratories Ghana Ltd. an ISO 17025 Certified Laboratory. Samples are stored at the company's field camps and put into sealed bags, they are transported to the companies Bondoukou office where they are stored securely until collected by Intertek for transportation to Ghana. Samples are logged in the tracking system, weighed, dried and finely crushed to better than 70%, passing a 2 mm screen. A split of up to 1,000 g is taken and pulverized to better than 85%, passing a 75-micron screen, and a 50-gram split is analyzed by fire assay or Aqua Regia with an AAS finish. Blanks, duplicates and certified reference material (standards) are being used to monitor laboratory performance during the analysis.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

AWALE RESOURCES LIMITED.                                                                                    

"Glen Parsons"                                                                                                

Glen Parsons, President and CEO                                                                                            

Qualified Person                                                                                       

The technical and scientific information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved for release by Andrew Chubb, the Company's Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr Chubb is the Company's Chief Operating Officer and holds a Economic Geology degree, is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), and is a Member of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG).  Mr Chubb has 17 years of experience in international minerals exploration and mining project evaluation.

Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by such information. The statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law.

Cautionary Statement

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SOURCE Awale Resources