Ascot Resources Ltd (TSX: AOT) (OTCQX: AOTVF) is pleased to announce further outstanding results from drill holes completed in the Silver Coin deposit of Ascot’s Premier Gold Project near Stewart in northwestern British Columbia.

Highlights from 30 drill holes reported in this release include:

• 30.81g/t Au over 6.69m in hole P19-2137
• 28.96g/t Au over 3.20m in hole P19-2136
• 12.24g/t Au over 4.59m in hole P19-2130

The Silver Coin deposit is located approximately five kilometres to the north of the Premier mill and 800 metres south from the Big Missouri deposit. In 1991, the Premier mill processed 102,500 tonnes of Silver Coin ore at a grade of 8.88g/t Au. Ascot acquired Silver Coin in 2018 and is currently preparing a mine plan using side hill access.  

At Silver Coin, Ascot conducted an 11,000-metre drill program in the 2019 field season. This release reports the results from the fourth and final set of drill holes, adding to the intercepts reported in releases of September 5, October 9 and December 2.

Derek White, President and CEO of Ascot commented, “This concludes results from our 2019 drill campaign at PGP. This last set of holes produced some outstanding results for the Company with thick high-grade intercepts. Overall at Silver Coin we reported 34 individual intercepts over 10g/t gold, including one exceptional 273g/t gold interval. The new intercepts underpin a better understanding and predictability of the geological model and provides Ascot a stronger base to work from for the development of the forthcoming updated resource statement and feasibility study. We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a Webinar on Wednesday January 8 at 1:05 pm Pacific/4:05 pm Eastern. Details can be found on our web site. In addition, we would like to invite interested parties to meet Ascot management in person at the upcoming Cambridge House investor show and at the industry focussed Roundup in Vancouver if you are planning to attend.”

Drill Results

This news release presents the results from 30 drill holes, comprising 3,783 metres of drilling, completed from 8 separate pads. The holes were drilled to test the northern and southernmost parts of the deposit.

Drill holes from pads SC30 and SC35 were targeted on a previously modeled mineralized zone (see figure 2) to follow up previous widely spaced high-grade gold intercepts.  The holes were successful in increasing the density of drill spacing and the confidence level in interpretation of the geology. Drill holes 2118 and 2123 from pad SC-01 intersected gold mineralization at the northwestern periphery of the deposit that will require future follow-up as the deposit appears to still be open in that direction.

Drill holes from pads SC-31 and SC-32 were targeting peripheral parts of the deposit. The drill holes from pads SC-03, SC-04 and SC-10 intersected gold mineralization at various levels and will contribute to improving the grade interpolation in the targeted zones.

The results of the infill program exceeded expectations and are expected to be particularly positive when integrated into the pending resource update for the Premier Gold Project. The results from the Silver Coin drill holes are summarized in Table 1 and the pad locations are listed in Table 2.

Figure 1 is available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/48336d4b-560a-45db-b6a1-366db85e9e13.

Image of the Silver Coin deposit showing the locations of collars and drill holes reported in this release relative to the existing underground infrastructure and the orientation of the cross-section A-A’. 

Figure 2 is available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cd186b55-907d-4e00-9086-2835d582bd10.

The cross-section A-A’ is in mineralization at the southern end of the Silver Coin deposit with a view to the north-east. The section shows the zone as it was modeled before the 2019 drill infill drilling. The new mineralized intercepts fall largely within the modeled zone and updated wire frames are in progress.

Table 1 Summary of drill results from Silver Coin

True width is estimated to be approximately 70-90% of reported intercepts.

Table 2 Drill pad locations

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Lawrence Tsang, P. Geo., the Company’s Senior Geologist provides the field management for the Premier exploration program. John Kiernan, P. Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company is the Company’s Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.

Analytical work is being carried out by SGS Canada Inc (“SGS”). Ascot’s quality-assurance and quality-control program includes the use of analytical blanks to monitor for cross contamination, certified reference material standards to assess analytical accuracy, and duplicate samples to quantify sampling precision. This is in addition to the internal quality assurance program employed by SGS.

Samples are dried and weighed by SGS. They are then crushed to 75% passing 2mm, with 250g split and pulverized to 85% passing 75µm. Samples are processed on site by a mobile lab supplied by SGS and run by SGS personnel. All splits are sent to SGS in Burnaby. There, all samples are digested using aqua-regia with an ICP-AES finish and fire assay with AA finish for gold. Samples over 100ppm silver are digested with aqua regia and then volumetrically diluted before an ICP-AES or AA finish (up to 1,500ppm). Samples over 1,500ppm silver are fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. Samples over 10ppm gold are fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. Identified or suspected metallic gold or silver are subjected to “metallics” assays. Sampling and storage are at the Company’s secure facility in Stewart.

About Ascot Resources Ltd. 

Ascot is a Canadian-based junior exploration company focused on re-starting the past producing historic Premier gold mine, located in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. The Company continues to define high-grade resources for underground mining with the near-term goal of converting the underground resources into reserves, while continuing to explore nearby targets on its Premier/Dilworth and Silver Coin properties (collectively referred to as the Premier project). Ascot’s acquisition of IDM Mining added the high-grade gold and silver Red Mountain project to its portfolio and positions the Company as a leading consolidator of high- quality assets in the Golden Triangle.