Group Ten Metals Reports 2018 Exploration Results and Expands Land Position at Black Lake–Drayton Gold Project in Northwest Ontario, Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX.V: PGE; US OTC: PGEZF; FSE: 5D32) (the “Company” or “Group Ten”) is pleased to provide an update on the Black Lake–Drayton gold project, which adjoins the Goldlund and Goliath gold projects in the Rainy River district of northwest Ontario, Canada, including:

• acquisition of new ground by direct staking to incorporate orientation entropy anomalies identified in recent geophysical modelling work;
• completion of the earn-in on the last remaining claim block such that the Company now holds a 100% interest in the entire project, now approximately 13,733 hectares in size; and
• results of exploration work completed in 2018, including the identification of pristine gold grains in surface till samples with a demonstrated correlation between the density of these grains and geophysical (orientation entropy) anomalies in a new target area with pervasive shallow overburden.

Completion of Earn-In, Additional Staking, and Resultant Land Position

Group Ten reports that it has completed the final share issuance per an agreement with NWT Copper Mines Ltd. (“NWT”), as announced March 3, 2014 and subsequently amended. The Company has now earned a 100% right and title to the NWT claims, subject to a royalty interest that includes a buy-down provision.

The NWT claims include the western extension of the Moretti Zone that, in addition to the Black Lake property now held by Group Ten, provides the Company with over 2.4 km of strike on the Moretti system. Historic bulk samples at the Moretti Zone averaged 14.1 and 18.6 g/t Au, and multiple historical geological samples ranged up to 1,212 g/t Au (historic data not independently verified by Group Ten).

The Company also reports that it has expanded the Black Lake–Drayton claim block by 107 claims through direct staking, bringing the total project area to approximately 13,733 hectares. The latest ground was acquired to cover new targets developed through structural complexity modeling of previously acquired airborne magnetic (geophysical) survey data. Areas were prioritized for acquisition based on the correlation of known areas of gold mineralization, such as the Moretti Zone, with the new orientation entropy targets, and the results of the 2018 till samples collected from less-explored areas.

Structural complexity modelling is a new image analysis method for magnetic data that automatically maps lineaments and identifies geological structural complexity. Orientation entropy represents deviations of strike of lower order faults and ductile shear zones, and is visualized using heat maps. The methodology has been designed to exploit the known association of Archean gold deposits with zones of complex structure adjacent to major shear zones.¹

As a result of this acquisition and completion of the final remaining earn-in, Group Ten holds a 100% interest in the entire Black Lake–Drayton project, subject only to royalty interests on certain portions, which include buy-down provisions. Black Lake–Drayton complements Group Ten’s core Stillwater West project with a large and highly prospective land position which is strategically located beside advanced-stage projects in a world-class high-grade gold district.

2018 Exploration Results

Group Ten is pleased to announce the presence of pristine gold grains in twenty of the sixty till samples collected during the 2018 field season. Fieldwork focused on surface till sampling in the central area of the Black Lake–Drayton project. The program aimed to identify the presence of a proximal gold source within highly prospective and unexplored orientation entropy anomalies. As shown in Figure 1, the sample area was approximately 2.5 km long by 750 m wide and tested two orientation entropy anomalies. A correlation between gold found in till samples and the geophysical anomalies was observed, with the best samples being located “down ice” from the anomalies.

Figure 1 – Five primary historic target areas and the area of 2018 till sampling program, shown with orientation entropy (OE) anomalies developed in 2018 over regional geology is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/31ed6ff8-bd87-4d48-8ced-f09108cc2c88

Of the twenty gold-bearing till samples, five returned three or greater pristine grains and two returned nine pristine grains. Typically, these gold grains are silt-sized, visible, and have a mass of approximately 0.065 grams per grain. Pristine grains have not been transported far from their source, indicating a close source of mineralization. Gold grain analysis normalizes samples to gold grains per 10 kg of bulk sample – see Table 1 for highlights.

These positive results from the Company’s first till sampling program on the project are very compelling given the extensive shallow ground cover in the region and the number of significant high-grade occurrences elsewhere on the property, as well as in the broader district, including New Gold’s Rainy River Mine, Treasury Metals’ Goliath project, and First Mining Gold’s Goldlund project. Till sampling of this type played a significant role in the discovery of the Rainy River deposit, which in turn brought attention to the entire district. New discoveries and expansion of existing resources are now ongoing in the belt, and the success of Group Ten’s inaugural till sampling program at Black Lake–Drayton is a strong indication of the potential for high-grade gold in the immediate area.

The Company is now working to compile and prioritize targets, including:

• 20 historic showings (see Figure 1 for the five most advanced locations);
• 43 drill targets described in a property-wide targeting report announced July 27, 2017 (including three high-priority targets that require only minor ground-truthing prior to drilling); and
• orientation entropy anomalies identified during the 2018/2019 geophysics survey, till sampling, and follow-up data studies.

Table 1 - Highlights of gold grain values for 2018 surface till samples

President and CEO Michael Rowley said, “We are very pleased with the success of our first till sampling program at Black Lake–Drayton, a method that has proven very successful historically in similar conditions and in related geology in the Sioux Lookout Deformation Zone, and in the broader Rainy River gold belt. Our results show potential for discovery of a high-grade gold system in a 15-kilometer-long area between the Moretti Zone high-grade historic bulk samples to the northeast and the Shaft target to the west that is historically underexplored because of pervasive shallow ground cover. We have also validated the use of orientation entropy anomalies in target generation and have expanded our land position based on these results. We look forward to further announcements including continued news flow from our flagship Stillwater West project in the very near term.”

About the Black Lake–Drayton Project

The Black Lake–Drayton project has been consolidated by the Company in five parcels as four option deals plus direct staking. This has provided Group Ten with 100% ownership on more than 137 km² and over 30 km of under-explored strike length in the Abrams–Minnitaki Lake Archean greenstone belt, along the northern margin of the Wabigoon sub-province. This highly active gold belt is host to a number of well-known deposits including Goliath (Treasury Metals), Goldlund (First Mining Gold), and Rainy River (New Gold), all of which have seen substantial recent expansions. Since the development of New Gold’s Rainy River deposit, 10 Moz of gold has been discovered in the belt (Figure 2).

The Black Lake–Drayton project includes a database with more than 20 historic occurrences, multiple high-grade bulk samples, and over 127 drill holes, in addition to geological, geochemical and geophysical data. Although 43% of past drill holes intercepted gold or copper mineralization, they did not adequately test the mineralized zones which are now better understood in the area. Much of the project remains untested, despite the success of neighbouring deposits with similar geology.

On a regional scale, the project is located in the Abrams–Minnitaki Lake greenstone belt which is south of and parallel to the Birch–Uchi belt, another Archean greenstone belt that is home to a number of high-grade gold producers including Goldcorp’s Red Lake mine. Despite its proximity to the Red Lake area and the Birch–Uchi belt, the Abrams–Minnitaki greenstone belt remained under-explored into the 1990s due to persistent ground cover and limited road access. In the past two decades, new roads and improved exploration techniques have led to the delineation of multiple multi-million-ounce high-grade gold reserves and resources on numerous projects in the belt.

Figure 2 - Rainy River Gold District and the Sioux Lookout Deformation Zone is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/db7a3af5-d342-4b8b-b36f-218bc095323d 

Management Change

The Company announces that Mr. Tim Thiessen has been appointed to the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for an interim period. Mr. Thiessen was CFO of Group Ten from May 2017 to September 2018 and the Company is glad to have him return to the role to replace Mr. Mathew Lee who has stepped down from the position in order to concentrate on his CFO roles with other listed companies.

About Group Ten Metals Inc.

Group Ten Metals Inc. is a TSX-V-listed Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the development of high-quality platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, cobalt and gold exploration assets in top North American mining jurisdictions. The Company’s core asset is the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu project adjacent to Sibanye–Stillwater’s high-grade PGE mines in Montana, USA. Group Ten also holds the highly prospective Black Lake–Drayton Gold project in the Rainy River district of northwest Ontario, and the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinum‘s Nickel Shaw (previously Wellgreen) deposit in Canada‘s Yukon Territory.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Quality Control and Quality Assurance

Ms. Debbie James, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and she has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

1. For more information on structural complexity modeling see: http://www.cet.edu.au/research-projects/geophysics-integrated-data-analysis/projects/cet-grid-analysis-extension

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Group Ten believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Group Ten and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

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 release.