Expansion Of The SH-1 Zone At Unga Project

VANCOUVER - Heliostar Metals Limited reported results from six additional holes completed at the SH-1 Zone in its 2020 exploration program at the Unga project in Alaska. EO, Charles Funk, said, "SH-1 continues to deliver robust widths and high grades as we step out and expand on the historical drilling, particularly in holes SH20-03 and SH20-04. The company is preparing to recommence drilling at Unga in late March to continue infilling and stepping beneath open intersections at the SH-1 zone. Assays also remain pending from the Apollo-Sitka Mine area and the Aquila zone and are expected in later this month and early March."

Drilling Highlights: SH20-03: 6.66 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 11.7 g/t silver over 6.97 meters (m) from 20.0 m downhole including; 8.32 g/t gold and 12.0 g/t silver over 5.52 m from 21.45 m downhole including; and 19.80 g/t gold and 23.3 g/t silver over 2.0 m from 23.0 m downhole. SH20-04: 5.13 g/t gold and 14.6 g/t silver over 4.42 m from 13.26 m downhole including; and 11.5 g/t gold and 20.7 g/t silver over 1.58 m from 13.26 m downhole.

SH-1 Zone: SH-1 is a priority target at Unga. It holds a high-grade, inferred resource containing 384,318 ounces gold at a grade of 13.8 g/t and has significant potential for expansion, with high grade intercepts open along strike and at depth. The resource is centered on the Main Shoot, which is well defined by tightly spaced drilling, but is loosely defined by widely spaced drilling outside of this zone.

A 100-meter vertical gap existed between surface and the first historical vein intercepts and in 2020, seven holes were completed to improve our understanding of the rocks around the upper portions of the Main Shoot. The reported holes are 50 meter step outs on previously completed drilling. Based on previous drilling, it was possible to interpret both steep and shallow plunges to mineralization. Holes SH20-02 and SH20-03 suggest a steeper orientation is more likely and this will guide drilling in 2021.

The company also completed two deeper holes in 2020 to test depth extensions in areas of widely spaced drilling. These holes each intersected a wide vein, but gold mineralization is low-grade. Epithermal veins have natural variability in the distribution of mineralization, and these are the first two of 10-12 that the company plans to drill to systematically infill the loosely defined areas to better constrain the distribution of coarse grained gold.

The deepest completed hole to date at SH-1 intersected 23.99 g/t gold over 5.48 metres in hole BM-01 and the company will continue expand to depth where the system remains open.

Drilling along strike from the Main Shoot indicates parallel zones of mineralization that remain open and will be tested when drilling recommences in late March.

SH-1 is one of multiple epithermal gold targets along the 8.4km-long Shumagin vein corridor. It is the most advanced prospect at Unga with a high-grade inferred resource and has considerable potential for expansion.

The SH-1 inferred resource sits at the eastern end of the Shumagin vein corridor, where quartz veining and alteration with associated gold mineralization form an elongate hill. At SH-1, the vein occurs between rhyolite in the hanging wall to the southeast and andesite in the footwall to the northwest. The vein comprises a multi-episodic quartz vein, with a core of competent, brecciated quartz vein that grades outwards through an intense to weak zone of quartz alteration. Gold and lesser silver mineralization is carried within the veins and strongly silicified zones, and is usually found associated with the zinc and lead sulphides, sphalerite and galena.