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Cassiar Gold Provides Mid-Season 2022 Exploration Campaign Update

Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - August 17, 2022) - Cassiar Gold Corp. (TSXV: GLDC) (OTCQX: CGLCF) ("Cassiar Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a mid-season exploration program update at its flagship Cassiar Gold Project in northern British Columbia, Canada.

Highlights:

  • Drill campaign ahead of schedule with over 13,000 metres completed of the planned 20,000-metre drill program, with initial results expected by early September.

    • 8,198 m of drilling has been completed at Cassiar North including:

      • 7,373 m of drilling completed at the Taurus Deposit at Cassiar North in 17 step-out and six infill holes; and

      • 825 m of drilling completed at Wings Canyon at Cassiar North.

    • 5,041 m of drilling have been completed at Cassiar South in seven step-out and two exploration holes.

  • Exploration is underway at regional target Wings Canyon with fieldwork planned at the Lucky and Snow Creek targets.

  • Geological and geochemical review of the gold mineralization at the Taurus Deposit is underway to support future metallurgical domaining.

  • The current rate of drill production may allow for the program to exceed 20,000 metres.

"We are grateful to the tireless and dedicated team and crew at site for an extremely productive drill season to date," stated Marco Roque, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Due to high drill productivity and thanks to the closing of our recent insider-led private placement, we are well funded and evaluating opportunities to increase the number of metres drilled for our 2022 drill campaign. We look forward to reporting initial results from our program in the coming weeks and to updating the market on our final program once the drill campaign wraps up in October."

2022 Drill Program Overview

The Company´s 2022 drill campaign, which commenced on June 1st, remains ongoing with three active drill rigs and is projected to conclude by late October. The program consists of approximately 50 planned holes totalling 20,000 metres at both the Cassiar North and Cassiar South project areas including regional targets.

Cassiar North

To date, a total of 23 holes totalling 7,373 metres have been completed and one hole is in progress at the Taurus Deposit located at the Cassiar North project area. Of the holes completed, 17 holes were step-out holes designed to expand the deposit and six were infill holes designed to confirm continuity of mineralization and to reduce drillhole spacings. While results remain pending for all drill holes, a summary of objectives is presented below by zone (see Figure 1):

  • Sable Zone: Two drillholes totaling 535 m were completed. Infill hole 22TA-148 was designed to test the extent/continuity of sulphide mineralization encountered in 1993-era historical drill holes as well as distribution of lithologies included in the current geological model. Step-out hole 22TA-159 was drilled 50 m along strike of 2020 drill hole 20TA-116 which intersected 18.2 m of 5.43 g/t Au[1] to test the extent and continuity of the mineralization and potential for near-surface mineralized features parallel to known veining/alteration and accompanying mineralization.
  • Taurus Gap: Four drillholes totaling 1,400 m were completed. Infill holes 22TA-149, 22TA-150, 22TA-152 and 22TA-153 were designed to confirm the presence of near-surface sulphide mineralization reported in adjacent 1995/96-era drillholes and test a large gap in the 0.3 g/t Au gradeshell.[2]

Cannot view this image? Visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2958/134055_4ecdefaff47c9b9b_002.jpg

Figure 1. Cassiar North 2022 Taurus Drill Campaign Drillhole Location Map. Surface projection of 2022 0.3 g/t 
Au gradeshell is shown for reference (from Zelligan, Moors, Jolette 2022). Historical production figures from September Taurus MINFILE Production Detail Report, file number 104P 012, BC Geological Survey.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2958/134055_4ecdefaff47c9b9b_002full.jpg

  • Taurus Northwest: Four drillholes totaling 1,250 m were completed. Two holes (infill hole 22TA-151 and step-out hole 22TA-157) tested the continuity of the north-south mineralized trend both 80 m up-dip to the west and 70 m down-dip to the east of mineralization encountered in 21TA-134 (35.5 m of 1.59 g/t Au[3]) and adjacent 1995-era drillholes. Another two step-out holes (22TA-154 and 22TA-156) aimed to test down-dip of the Highway Zone mineralized trend, validate the 2022 Highway Fault model interpretation and confirm the depth of a sediment base contact at this location. Hole 22TA-154 also evaluated the potential for near-surface mineralization in the hanging wall of the Highway Fault.
  • Taurus Southwest: Five drillholes totaling 2,126 m were completed. Three infill holes (22TA-147, 22TA-155, 22TA-158) were designed to infill gaps from previous widely spaced drilled holes and two large step-out holes (22TA-160, 22TA-161) were designed to extend near-surface mineralization southward in the hangingwall of the Taurus West Fault to follow up from 2021 drill results in previously untested or sparsely tested areas.

An additional seven holes are planned for the Taurus deposit area (see Figure 1). Four drill holes will be added to Taurus SW with two holes stepping back from drill holes 22TA-158 and 22TA-149 to test the Taurus West zone to the east and south, respectively, of the current 0.3 g/t Au gradeshell. The remaining two Taurus SW holes will be drilled in the southern end of Taurus SW to test the zone at depth and to the south of the current 0.3 g/t Au gradeshell. A fifth hole will be drilled west of the Taurus West Fault, which is believed to have occurred at the same time as gold mineralization, to test for the potential extension of mineralization in the footwall of the Taurus West Fault. A sixth hole is planned at the southeast portion of the Sable Zone to test for the southeastward extension of the mineralization. Finally, a seventh hole will be drilled to test for the eastward extension of mineralization from the historic Taurus Mine.

The Company may expand its exploration program by drilling additional metres at the Taurus Deposit, if seasonal considerations and logistics permit, and is fully funded for an expanded exploration campaign.

Cassiar South

A total of 10 holes have been completed at priority vein targets at the Cassiar South project area on Table Mountain with all drill results pending. A summary of completed and planned holes is presented below, broken down by target vein locations (see Figure 2 for drillhole locations):

  • East Bain Extension: Five drillholes were completed and one abandoned, for a total of 1,984 m drilled. Drilling was designed to test the potential presence of pyrite-mineralized quartz veining 95 m east of 2021 drilling and tested the downdip extension of a 16.87 g/t Au sample in historical drillhole C90-344 (hole 22EBX-102). Additional drillholes were designed to test for potential new offset segments of the Bain vein system along strike to the east, including a 75 m step-out hole from 2021 drilling (hole 22EBX-103) which was subsequently followed up by testing for a downdip extension of the step-out hole (hole 22EBX-104A) and an additional step-out of 50 m to the east (hole 22EBX-105).
  • Vollaug: Two drillholes were completed, one abandoned, for a total of 1,061 m drilled. Drilling was designed to test for: (1) potential shear veins in the mafic volcanic package below the Vollaug vein (holes 22VOL-701A and 22VOL-702), (2) the continuity of different listwanite horizons identified to the north and south as controlling structures to adjacent veins, (3) the potential for repetition of favourable stratigraphic host rocks to host quartz veins through thrust stacking, and (4) the westward continuation of the Vollaug vein (hole 22VOL-701A).

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Figure 2: Cassiar South 2022 Drill Campaign Drillhole Locations Map. Historical production figures from September 2017 NI43-101 Technical Report on the Cassiar Gold Property, BC by Paul Cowley, P.Geo.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2958/134055_4ecdefaff47c9b9b_003full.jpg

  • Cusac Area: Two drillholes have been completed and one abandoned for a total of 974 m drilled, with two drillholes in progress and one planned for an additional 1,150 m pending. Drill holes are designed to: (1) test for potential downdip extensions of known veins, (2) evaluate potential for parallel vein sets between the Cusac and adjacent vein systems, and (3) test the potential for thrust stacking of mafic volcanic panels that may host additional, blind underlying quartz veins, as was developed at the Main Mine.
  • West Bain: One drillhole is planned at the West Bain area for a total of 425 m. The drillhole is planned in an area of sparse drill data and is designed to: (1) test for potential parallel veins northwest of the Bain vein system, (2) test for the possible downdip extension of the West Bain vein, undercutting a historical surface sample that returned 51 g/t Au, and (3) potentially extend a listwanite sill beyond the extent of the current model as a controlling structure to additional underlying veins.

Regional Exploration

At the regional Wings Canyon target located approximately 500 m to the southeast of the Taurus Deposit on Cassiar North, the Company has completed three drill holes totaling 825 m, designed to evaluate and expand known mineralization. The Company plans to drill additional holes to the target to the east in the hangingwall of the interpreted Decline Fault.

Additional fieldwork is also planned at the Lucky and Snow Creek regional prospects which may include prospecting, sampling and mapping.

Geological and geochemical characterization at Taurus

An initial phase of work is underway to support efforts to better understand the metallurgy of the Taurus deposit by updating geological domains within the deposit. This work involves drill core and assay review to identify mineralization-associated multi-element enrichment and depletion patterns, along with characterization of the mineralogy and structural geology of the deposit to determine controls on gold mineralization. Preliminary results from this phase of work are anticipated this fall and will be followed by a secondary phase of LECO sulphur analysis and cyanide soluble gold analysis to support a geological domain model and provide a foundation for future metallurgical testwork design.

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jill Maxwell, P.Geo., Cassiar Gold Corp.´s Exploration Manager, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Cassiar Gold Corp.

Cassiar Gold Corp. is a Canadian gold exploration company holding a 100% interest in its flagship Cassiar Gold Property located in British Columbia, Canada. The Cassiar Gold property spans 590 km2 and consists of two main project areas: Cassiar North, which hosts a NI 43-101-compliant inferred resource estimate of 1.4Moz at 1.14 g/t Au (cutoff grade of 0.5 g/t) known as the as the Taurus Deposit (see National Instrument 43-101 Technical report on the Cassiar Gold property, April 28, 2022, by S. Zelligan, J. Moors, C. Jolette, posted to SEDAR); and Cassiar South which hosts numerous gold showings, historical workings, and exploration prospects. Historical underground mines in the Cassiar South area have yielded over 315,000 oz of Au at average head grades of between 10 and 20 g/t Au (BC Minfile), underscoring the high potential for further discovery and expansion of high-grade orogenic gold veins.

The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Sheep Creek gold camp located near Salmo, BC. The Sheep Creek gold district ranks as the third largest past-producing orogenic gold district in BC with historical gold production of 742,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 14.7 g/t gold from 1900 to 1951. Minimal exploration work has been conducted since the 1950s.

Cassiar Gold acknowledges, respects, and supports the rights of Traditional First Nations in the lands and communities where we operate.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Cassiar Gold Corp.
Shirley Anthony
VP Investor Relations & Communications
1-778-999-2771
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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