High-Grade Gold Mineralization Extended At RDM Mine

 

TORONTO, ON - Brio Gold Inc. reported positive results from its recently completed drill program at its Riacho dos Machados (RDM) mine in Brazil, which includes 9.4 meters of 12.04 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 5.2 meters of 12.02 g/t gold (true thickness), both within wider high-grade zones of 24.0 meters of 5.41 g/t and 18.0 meters of 4.96 g/t, respectively. The program also extended the open pit resource down dip, with higher than average mine grade intercepts that verify the geologic model of resource continuity consistent with greenstone belt deposits typical in Brazil.

The drilling program achieved four resource objectives: 1) To expand the Mineral Reserves of the existing planned life-of-mine (LOM) pit. 2) To demonstrate the continuity of mineralization down-dip from the current LOM pit into areas that were previously underexplored. 3) To develop a high-grade Mineral Resource near the pit bottom that extends to depth. 4) To test these wide high-grade zones for underground mining potential. This potential may allow for supplemental gold production within the capacity of the existing plant, by supplanting some lower grade open pit tons with high grade underground production in the LOM plan.

All drilling data will be incorporated into an updated Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimate. The updated Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimate is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

The exploration program completed in 2017 at the RDM mine consisted of a total of 3,365 meters of core drilling contained within 11 resource holes intended to extend the mineralization down-dip (see Appendix A for a drill hole location map). The new resource holes were generally 100-meter step outs to the previous drill locations. All intercepts are consistent with the down-dip projection of the mineralized zones encountered in the current open-pit mining operation. Higher-grade mineralization is focused along southeast plunging mineralized zones or "shoots", within the plane of the tabular mineralized zone. See Appendix B for representative cross sections.