Barrick Gold drops option on ATAC's Orion

ATAC Resources Ltd. Dec. 12 reported that Barrick Gold Corp. has terminated its option to acquire an interest in the Orion project, one of three project that makes up ATAC's expansive Rackla Gold property in the Yukon.

"We would like to thank Barrick for its exceptional collaboration and sharing its extensive knowledge of Carlin-style systems with ATAC over the past two years," said ATAC Resources President and CEO Graham Downs.

ATAC also announces the results from the 2018 exploration program on the Orion Project which included 7,410 meters of diamond drilling in 16 holes.

Much of this drilling targeted the 5,300-meter-long Anubis Fault corridor, where AN-12-001, a hole previously drilled by ATAC, cut 8.5 meters of 19.85 grams per metric ton gold in the Anubis zone and AN-16-010, another ATAC hole, cut 61.3 meters of 2.75 g/t gold in the Orion zone.

Four widely-spaced holes drilled by Barrick this year identified high-grade gold mineralization along a 2,500-meter section of Anubis Fault and indicates that gold mineralization extends down the fault for at least 535 meters.

• BDO-18-008, drilled 535 meters down-dip of AN-12-001, cut 4.66 meters of 6.95 g/t gold, the deepest intersection to date at Orion;

• BDO-18-017, drilled 390 meters below AN-12-001, cut 7.61 meters of 10.48 g/t gold;

• BDO-18-018, targeting shallow mineralization along the Anubis Fault 285 meters east of AN-12-001, cut 10.73 meters of 7.2 g/t gold; and

• BDO-18-019, which tested the Anubis Fault 2,300 meters northwest of AN-12-001, cut 2.78 meters of 9.49 g/t gold.

"This year's drill campaign successfully identified the principal regional-scale gold bearing structure at Orion," said Ed Cope, technical advisor, ATAC Resources. "The fact that high-grade gold was intersected in all four step-out holes, across a very large area along the Anubis Fault, is a strong testament to the strength of the underlying hydrothermal system. The extensive Anubis Fault clearly warrants additional drilling."

Geologic modeling of data collected by Barrick in 2017 identified three faults that were all projected to intersect with the Anubis Fault in proximity to favorable stratigraphy.

Eight holes targeting these areas, however, intersected the modeled structural targets. While moderate to intense alteration and pathfinder element response was encountered in several of these holes provide evidence for hydrothermal fluid transport in the area, no significant gold mineralization was intersected.

ATAC said the program provided valuable information about structural orientation and stratigraphy at depth that will be incorporated into ongoing geological modelling and the projected fault intersections remain priority targets for future work.

The four remaining holes tested targets identified by geophysical and geochemical surveys, but none encountered significant gold mineralization.

"Though early results from the Orion Project may not meet the corporate thresholds at Barrick, the project remains a highly-prospective mineral asset in a top-tier jurisdiction," said Downs. "With over C$10 million in working capital, ATAC remains well positioned to continue exploration in 2019 across the Rackla property, including the Orion project."

–SHANE LASLEY