MONTREAL, May 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Osisko Metals Incorporated (the “Company” or “Osisko Metals”) (TSX-V:OM) (FRANKFURT:OB51) is pleased to announce assay results from the first 16 shallow drill holes of the 129-hole winter drill program at the Pine Point Project. Drill hole EM-18-PP-016 intersected 4.86% Zn and 0.61% Pb over 10.30 metres within the East Mill Zone, a 7.6-kilometre trend of tabular-style, near-surface mineralization that extends to the east from the electrical substation (see Osisko Metals website for additional geological background). Additional highlights are listed below in Table 1 and details are provided in Tables 2 & 3. These initial results are reported from a portion of the L-36 deposit, located in the East Mill Zone, which hosts unclassified historical resources reported by Cominco Ltd. (1988) of 2.8 M tonnes grading 3.3% zinc and 1.5% Pb. Near-surface zinc and lead sulphides were intersected in 14 of the 16 holes above 60 metre depths. (See 2018 Winter Drill Campaign East Mill Zone Map).

Table 1: Highlights

Jeff Hussey, President and CEO of Osisko Metals, commented: “We are very pleased to announce our first results from the Pine Point Project, nine weeks after closing the transaction on February 23^rd.  These initial results are encouraging as these are economical grades for near-surface deposits that could potentially be mined by open pit methods. We look forward to more results in the coming weeks as we prepare for the summer drill program”.

The objective of the 2018 drill program is to convert approximately 50 million tonnes of unclassified near-surface historical resources to NI43-101 Indicated Resources as quickly as possible in areas amenable to open pit extraction. The program consists of approximately 700 drill holes (129 now completed) in the central 20-kilometre long portion of the Pine Point Mining Camp (“PPMC”) that is located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, near infrastructure and paved highway.

Note regarding historical resource and Qualified Person

The above-mentioned historical resources do not conform to National Instrument 43-101 standards. The Company is reporting the historical estimates for reference purposes only. Neither Osisko Metals nor its consultants have completed sufficient work to verify the historical estimates and these should not be relied upon for investment purposes. A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as NI43-101 compliant mineral resources and there is no guarantee that such work will allow conversion of such historical resources.

Stanley G. Clemmer, P. Geo is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical data reported in this news release. He is a Professional Geologist registered in the Northwest Territories and is Chief Geologist for Pine Point Mining Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Osisko Metals Limited.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Osisko Metals adheres to a strict Quality Assurance and Quality Control program with regard to core handling, sampling, transportation of samples and lab analyses. Drill core samples from the Pine Point project area were securely transported to its core facility in Hay River, Northwest Territories where they were logged and sampled. Samples selected for assay were shipped via secure transportation to the ALS Canada Ltd’s preparation facility in Yellowknife. Pulps were analyzed at the ALS Canada Ltd. facility in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Zinc and lead were analyzed by assay-grade four acid digestion with ICP-AES finish for higher-grade samples and four acid digestion and ICP-AES for low grade-samples.

Table 2: Composite Assay Results

Table 3: Drill hole collar locations (UTM NAD83 zone 11).

About Osisko Metals

Osisko Metals is a Canadian exploration and development company creating value in the base metal space with a focus on zinc mineral assets. The Company controls Canada’s two premier zinc mining camps in Canada, namely the development-stage Pine Point Camp (“PPMC”) located in the Northwest Territories and the advanced-exploration Bathurst Mining Camp (“BMC”), located in northern New Brunswick. The Company is currently drilling in both camps a combined 100,000 metres that will focus on upgrading and expanding historical deposits, bringing high-priority targets into NI 43-101 compliance and conducting brownfield exploration using new innovative 3D techniques. In Québec, the Company owns 42,000 hectares that cover 12 grass-root zinc targets that will be selectively advanced through exploration. In parallel, Osisko Metals is monitoring several base metal-oriented peers for opportunities. Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. (TSX/NYSE: OR) and Osisko Mining Inc. (TSX: OSK) are significant shareholders of the Company.

Neither 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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the use of proceeds of the Offering; the timing and ability of the Corporation, if at all, to obtain final approval of the Offering from the TSX Venture Exchange; an exemption being available under MI 61-101 and Policy 5.9 of the TSX Venture Exchange from the minority shareholder approval and valuation requirements for each related party transaction; objectives, goals or future plans; statements regarding exploration results and exploration plans. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity markets; inflation; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks set out in the Corporation's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Corporation believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

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 news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/06d42707-33e3-4d30-86da-4a782821f66e