Golden Sky Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:AUEN) is pleased to announce results from the inaugural 2020 reverse circulation drill program at its 100%-owned Hotspot property in the Yukon Territory (see Table 1 for results and Table 2 for collar information).

• Six reverse circulation holes totalling 568.45m were drilled at the Sure Bet zone. All six holes returned significant near-surface gold bearing intervals.
• This first pass, shallow-hole drill campaign tested only a 200-metre strike length of the Sure Bet zone which is a 1.7-kilometre-long mineralized structure. An extensive follow-up diamond drill program has been recommended to test the zone at depth and along strike.
• The Hotspot property is a 46.4 km² land package that contains numerous high priority drill targets that will be evaluated in 2021.

Table 1: Assay results from the 2020 Hotspot RC drill program

Table 1 (continued):

*Of specific note is the exclusion of high-grade overburden intersected in HSRC-20-02. An assay of 17.82 g/t Au over 3.05m was returned from 1.52m to 4.57m, which comprised a mix of strong gold-bearing overburden and bedrock. The source of the high-grade gold values in overburden is undetermined, but warrants follow-up exploration.

Table 2: Drill collar information

LOCATION:

The Hotspot property is located on the Yukon side of the Yukon-Alaska border, in the North Ladue placer district which has produced >20,000 oz of placer gold. The property is situated along the Big Creek fault, a regional-scale fault system that hosts numerous porphyry and orogenic gold deposits within the Yukon-Tanana Terrane. The closest major prospect to Hotspot is the Taurus copper (Cu) – molybdenum (Mo) – gold (Au) porphyry deposit, located 25 km to the northwest (in Alaska), which has an inferred resource of 68.3 million tonnes grading 0.275% Cu, 0.032% Mo, and 0.166 g/t Au.

MINERALIZATION:

Gold mineralization at Hotspot is hosted by a Tertiary-aged (Eocene, 48-58 Ma) rhyolite pyroclastic tuff. Gold is associated with limonite and pyrite and bears a pathfinder signature indicative of a low-sulphidation epithermal system (silver, antimony, mercury, and arsenic). Rhyolite-hosted low-sulphidation epithermal systems include deposits with significant tonnage such as the Round Mountain deposit (>20M oz gold) and the Sleeper deposit (4.7M oz gold), both in Nevada, USA. In addition to the geological and geochemical settings, the grade and style of gold mineralization show similarities to these deposits.

The Round Mountain deposit is characterized by three styles of gold mineralization: 1) low-grade, high tonnage oxidized ore in a poorly welded tuff; 2) vein-hosted gold along fractures in welded tuffs and sediments, and; 3) bonanza-grade ‘pockets’.

At Hotspot, the widest and most consistently mineralized intercept was returned from HSRC-20-06 (0.40 g/t Au over 83.82m). Oxidation occurred throughout the majority of the hole, with variable concentrations of pyrite (1-5%). Other holes returned sporadic mid-grade gold values within the broad lower grade zones, likely related to veining and fracturing. An example of this occurs in hole HSRC-20-03, which returned 2.26 g/t Au over 1.52m within a broader interval of 0.62 g/t Au over 19.81m (67.06m – 86.87m). Lastly, HSRC-20-02 intersected a “Bonanza-grade” pocket returning 20.9 g/t Au over 1.52m (33.53m – 35.05m).

Of the six holes, three were terminated in low- to mid-grade gold mineralization. Due to the limitations of the equipment, holes were drilled to a maximum of 100 meters, and had a maximum vertical depth of 77 meters. Of interest are anomalous molybdenum values at depth in HSRC-20-04: 171 ppm (0.0171%) Mo over 13.7m (67.1m – 80.8m). This suggests potential for various styles of mineralization at depth.

UNTESTED AREAS:

The drill program followed up on a brief 2020 Phase 1 program which included the collection of 135 soil samples and 22 rock samples. Also, an additional 38 additional quartz claims were staked, bringing the property’s total to 222 claims (4,640 ha). The results of this program indicate the presence of another mineralized zone 1 km to the west, displaying a similar pathfinder signature to the Sure Bet zone (refer to linked map).

In addition to this newly discovered zone, the vast majority of the Sure Bet zone has yet to be drill-tested. Gold-in-soil values up to 0.55 g/t Au are present 1.2 km north of the drilled area. A ground magnetic survey shows a magnetic high feature in this area of the zone, to the northwest of the linear magnetic low (interpreted to be a structural feature) which extends through the drilled area. Future drill programs will be directed at fully testing this area, as well as the rest of the Sure Bet zone.

The Sure Bet zone remains open to the north. Further soil sampling, prospecting, and geophysical surveying will be necessary to explore the extent of mineralization.

Message from John Newell, President and CEO:

“This is a grassroots discovery in an unexplored part of the Yukon. To say the results from this inaugural drill program are exciting is an understatement. We may have a deposit type not yet seen in the Yukon on our hands. Although it is early days to be comparing Hotspot to known deposits, the similarities of Hotspot’s geology, geochemistry, and gold grades to the aforementioned deposits in Nevada are striking.

The results of the RC drill program make it clear that more information is needed. Discussions are already in the works for bringing a diamond drill to the property for the 2021 season to thoroughly test the Sure Bet zone and gain more insight to the structural and alteration settings associated with this mineralized system.

As with our recent Bull’s Eye property results, we would again like to thank the Yukon Territorial Government and Yukon Geological Survey for funding part of this program through the Yukon Mineral Exploration Program (YMEP). Their support has been instrumental in advancing Hotspot and similar programs through the initial exploration phase.”

Other

Carl Schulze, P. Geo., Consulting Geologist with Aurora Geosciences Ltd, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, for Golden Sky’s Yukon exploration projects, and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.