Nevada King Gold Corp. (TSX-V: NKG) (OTCQX: NKGFF) is pleased to announce results from four vertical, reverse circulation holes and one vertical, PQ-diameter diamond core hole completed in the northern portion of the West Atlanta Graben Zone at its at its 5,166 hectares (51.6km²), 100% owned Atlanta Gold Mine Project, located in the prolific Battle Mountain Trend 264km northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Highlights:

• Core hole AT23WS-23C.1 intercepted 4.51 g/t Au over 86.3m including 7.77 g/t Au over 48.6m and was collared 6m north of RC hole AT23WS-23, which intercepted 2.45 g/t Au over 102.1m, (released June 6, 2023). AT23WS-23C.1 was planned to provide metallurgical material for the ongoing Phase II test work program, as well as to verify the RC drilling.
• While core hole AT23WS-23C.1 shows a 60% increase in overall grade, a comparison of gold distribution in AT23WS-23C.1 with AT23WS-23 (see Table 4 below) reveals close lateral correlation. This is particularly evident when comparing elevations of the upper high-grade zones (highlighted in yellow in Table 4) and the lower high-grade zones (highlighted in magenta). The sub-horizontal geometry of these zones suggests higher grade mineralization along low-angle bedding features or breccia horizons.
• As shown below in Figure 1, the high-grade intercepts in AT23WS-23C.1 and adjacent AT23WS-23 also add definition to a developing, northwest-trending high-grade zone along the axis of the WAGZ that currently spans 200m long by 70m wide. Relative to the location of AT23WS-23C.1, other previously reported holes of note within this zone include:
  • AT23WS-44 (11.64 g/t Au over 108.2m) located 56m southeast;
  • AT23WS-53 (2.72 g/t Au over 64m) located 34m to south;
  • AT23WS-62 (6.09 g/t Au over 41.5m) located 41m southwest;
  • AT23WS-34 (1.74 g/t Au over 114.3m) located 82m to the southeast; and
  • AT23WS-56 (1.55 g/t Au over 94.5m) located 108m southeast.
• At least two high-grade feeder zones appear to be responsible for this well mineralized zone. Holes AT23WS-23C.1, AT23WS-44, AT23WS-34, and AT23WS-56 most likely share the same NW-trending basement structure, whereas AT23WS-62 probably tapped into a different structure with a different orientation. It is also important to note the high proportion of holes shown in Figure 1 that bottomed in mineralization and did not fully penetrate both of the high-grade horizons described above. The Company is currently re-drilling these holes along the NW trend connecting AT23WS-23C.1 and AT23WS-44 in order to obtain representative Au/Ag grade averages through the entire mineralized sequence.

• Holes AT23WS-58 and AT23WS-59 intercepted 0.75 g/t Au over 83.8m and 0.86 g/t Au over 61.7m, respectively, filling in a previously untested 45m-wide gap between the WAGZ and the Atlanta Mine Fault Zone (“AMFZ“). As shown in Figure 3, both holes extend the thick mineralization found in the centre of the WAGZ eastward to the West Atlanta Fault, thus building additional tonnage potential.
• AT23WS-61 (50.3m of 1.56 g/t Au) was lost just short of entering the lower high-grade zone (Figure 3), but the hole did demonstrate continuance of the thick mineralization seen in the middle of the WAGZ westward to the West Atlanta Fault #2 (“WAF2“), which bounds the western margin of the WAGZ. This is particularly important when taking into account the low-grade intercepts in two historical holes located only 32m west of AT23WS-61 but on the western side of the WAF2. Neither DHRI-11-15C (67.1m @ 0.28 g/t Au) nor DHRI-11-NRC01 (27.4m @ 0.42 g/t Au) indicated potential for the thick, much higher-grade mineralization encountered in AT23WS-61, much less in the centre of the WAGZ.

Cal Herron, Exploration Manager of Nevada King, stated, “The Company’s multiple structure model continues to lead to thick, high-grade mineralized zones. In addition to following high-angle structures that served as loci for higher grade Au-Ag mineralization, Nevada King’s success at increasing both grade and thickness can also be attributed to achieving full penetration of the low-angle unconformity that hosts most of the mineralization at Atlanta. The occurrence of two separate, sub-horizontal high-grade horizons as illustrated in Table 4 is replicated throughout the Atlanta system but is most often observed in the WAFZ where the deeper high-grade occurs in the carbonate section at or directly above the unconformable basement contact, while the shallower high-grade is hosted in the volcanic sequence above the unconformity. Higher grade and thicker intercepts occur close to feeder structures controlling the mineralization, as seen in AT23WS-23C.1, while grades decrease and thin laterally away from the feeders as seen in AT23WS-23.”

QAQC Protocols

All RC samples from the Atlanta Project are split at the drill site and placed in cloth and plastic bags utilizing a nominal 2kg sample weight. CRF standards, blanks, and duplicates are inserted into the sample stream on-site on a one-in-twenty sample basis, meaning all three inserts are included in each 20-sample group. Samples are shipped by a local contractor in large sample shipping crates directly to American Assay Lab in Reno, Nevada, with full custody being maintained at all times. At American Assay Lab, samples were weighed then crushed to 75% passing 2mm and pulverized to 85% passing 75 microns in order to produce a 300g pulverized split. Prepared samples are initially run using a four acid + boric acid digestion process and conventional multi-element ICP-OES analysis. Gold assays are initially run using 30-gram samples by lead fire assay with an OES finish to a 0.003 ppm detection limit, with samples greater than 10 ppm finished gravimetrically. Silver samples that run greater than 100ppm are also finished gravimetrically. Every sample is also run through a cyanide leach for gold with an ICP-OES finish. The QA/QC procedure involves regular submission of Certified Analytical Standards and property-specific duplicates.

The PQ-diameter core was sampled in the Company’s warehouse in Winnemucca, Nevada, with whole core samples being placed in heavy canvas bags and sent to American Assay Lab in Reno, Nevada, in heavy shipping bags by a Company contractor with full custody being maintained at all times. CRF standards and coarse blanks were inserted into the sample stream on a one-in-twenty sample basis, meaning both inserts are included in each 20-sample group. At American Assay Lab, samples were weighted then completely crushed to -1 inch. The coarse-crushed sample was quarter-split and one quarter was reduced to 75% passing 2mm. A 300g split was subsequently pulverized to 85% passing 75 microns. Prepared samples are initially run using a four acid + boric acid digestion process and conventional multi-element ICP-OES analysis. Gold assays are initially run using 30-gram samples by lead fire assay with an OES finish to a 0.003 ppm detection limit, with samples greater than 10 ppm finished gravimetrically. Every sample is also run through a cyanide leach for gold with an ICP-OES finish. The QA/QC procedure involves regular submission of Certified Analytical Standards and property-specific duplicates.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Calvin R. Herron, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Nevada King Gold Corp.

Nevada King is the third largest mineral claim holder in the State of Nevada, behind Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick/Newmont) and Kinross Gold. Starting in 2016, the Company has staked large project areas hosting significant historical exploration work along the Battle Mountain trend located close to current or former producing gold mines. These project areas were initially targeted based on their potential for hosting multi-million-ounce gold deposits and were subsequently staked following a detailed geological evaluation. District-scale projects in Nevada King’s portfolio include (1) the 100% owned Atlanta Mine, located 100km southeast of Ely, (2) the Lewis and Horse Mountain-Mill Creek projects, both located between Nevada Gold Mines’ large Phoenix and Pipeline mines, and (3) the Iron Point project, located 35km east of Winnemucca, Nevada.

The Atlanta Mine is a historical gold-silver producer with a NI 43-101 compliant pit-constrained resource of 460,000 oz Au in the measured and indicated category (11.0M tonnes at 1.3 g/t) plus an inferred resource of 142,000 oz Au (5.3M tonnes at 0.83 g/t). See the NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources titled “Atlanta Property, Lincoln County, NV” with an effective date of October 6, 2020, and a report date of December 22, 2020, as prepared by Gustavson Associates and filed under the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

Figure 1. Detailed plot of historical and Nevada King drill holes in the northern end of the WAFZ. A northwest-trending “core zone” of higher-grade and thicker mineralization formed at the intersection of the westerly-trending North Fault with the northerly trending West Atlanta #1 and West Atlanta #2 Faults. Stars denote holes that did not fully penetrate both the upper and lower high-grade projected zones or suffered serious sample loss within these zones. (CNW Group/Nevada King Gold Corp.)

Figure 2. Location map for holes reported in this news release along drill Section22-17N(2) relative to the perimeter of historical Atlanta Pit and footprint of the Gustavson 2020 NI 43-101 resource. Shallow drillholes on the mine dumps have been removed from the plot for clarity. (CNW Group/Nevada King Gold Corp.)

Figure 3. Cross section 22-17N(2) looking north across the northern ends of the WAGZ and AMFZ. High-angle, northerly trending faults channeled shallow sub-volcanic intrusions and Au/Ag bearing fluids up into a highly receptive horizon developed at the erosional surface (unconformity) separating Paleozoic dolomite from overlying Tertiary-age volcanics. (CNW Group/Nevada King Gold Corp.)