Promising assay results from the Ataani discovery at Roma boost Blue Star's resource ambitions.

Blue Star Gold Corp. Sept. 24 announced an update of its ongoing exploration program, focusing on the critical mineral component of its Roma copper-gold-silver project in Nunavut, Canada, revealing promising exploration developments that point toward significant resource potential.

Located approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Agnico Eagle's Doris Gold Mine and 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) south of the proposed Grays Bay port in Nunavut's Kitikmeot region, the Roma project sits within the northern section of the High Lake Greenstone Belt. This region, also home to the company's flagship Ulu and Hood River projects, forms part of the company's 27,000-hectare (66,718 acres) land package in a highly prospective area for gold and base metals exploration.

*According to a 2023 calculation, the Flood and Gnu zones on the Ulu property host 2.54 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 7.02 g/t (572,000 ounces) gold; and 1.28 million metric tons of inferred resource grading 7.34 g/t (303,000 oz) gold.

Following the late-May start to the 2024 exploration season, the company focused on expanding resources at both the Ulu-Hood River and Roma projects and aimed to refine high-priority drill targets, while geophysical surveys were carried out alongside testing several areas for gold and critical mineral potential.

Progress through the season has been marked by significant developments, with follow-up drilling further defining the massive sulfide lens discovered at Ataani in 2023. Assay results from the initial drill holes confirmed copper, gold, and silver mineralization, with all five holes intercepting massive sulfide zones. Geophysical surveys, including Fixed Loop Electromagnetic (EM) surveys, have also helped refine the targets, laying the groundwork for additional exploration across Blue Star's landholdings.

Highlights from the initial results reported in early Sept. include:

• 17.1 meters grading 0.42% copper, 1.43% zinc, 0.03% lead, 9.19 g/t silver, and 0.13 g/t gold from a depth of 239.8 meters in hole DD24-HII-001, including two meters averaging 0.08% copper, 10.95% zinc, 0.11% lead, 4.33 g/t silver, and 0.12 g/t gold, and 3.5 meters averaging 1.46% copper, 0.15% zinc, 0.01% lead, 25.68 g/t silver, and 0.29 g/t gold.

"This is the first exploration program where we have focused on gold exploration and assessing some of our high priority critical mineral targets," said Blue Star Gold CEO Grant Ewing at the time of the announcement. "Blue Star's exploration team delivered an excellent result with the discovery of the Ataani massive sulphide lens with the first drill hole on the target. There is substantial potential for the discovery of additional near surface massive sulphide lenses in the immediate area as the gossan trends under a small lake to the south, and only approximately 20% of the HI01 property has been evaluated to date."

Blue Star Gold Corp.

With the field components of the program now complete, the company has turned its attention to reviewing and interpreting the latest assay results from the remaining drill holes at the Ataani discovery.

Deposit modeling is planned to assess the impact on the resource base, with further work set to prioritize high-potential targets for the 2025 exploration season. Additionally, the company expects to identify new prospects as it continues to evaluate the unexplored 80% of the HI01 property, where early indications suggest further potential for near-surface mineralization.

For now, the company will continue to focus on better understanding the system's scale and complexity. The intersected mineralization from recent drilling provides early evidence that the Ataani discovery could be part of a larger, multi-lens system typical of massive sulfide deposits. This suggests a significant resource potential, particularly as only a small portion of the property has been thoroughly tested.

"The wide section of stringer to massive sulphide mineralization intersected in the second Ataani hole downdip from the first hole is encouraging and suggests the potential for a large system in the area," said Ewing. "These types of deposits tend to have multiple lenses and occur in clusters and only a small portion of the property has been assessed to date."

Recent assays from the last three drill holes at Ataani further confirm the discovery's potential; highlights include:

• 25.15 meters averaging 0.34% copper, 1.05% zinc, 0.03% lead, 0.13 g/t gold and 8.03 g/t silver from a depth of 214.65 meters in hole DD24-HII-001, including 17.1 meters averaging 0.42% copper, 1.43% zinc, 0.03% lead, 0.12 g/t gold, and 9.19 g/t silver.

• 26.9 meters averaging 0.42% copper, 0.04% zinc, 0.004% lead, 0.1 g/t gold, and 10.93 g/t silver from 234.7 meters in DD24-HII-002, including 7.2 meters averaging 0.91% copper, 0.03% zinc, 0.002% lead, 0.13 g/t gold, and 20.07 g/t silver.

• 1.7 meters averaging 0.68% copper, 0.22% zinc, 0.05% lead, 0.11 g/t gold, and 8.13 g/t silver from 288.65 meters in DD24-HI01-003.

With assay results from the final two holes still pending and the 2025 exploration season already in pre-planning, Blue Star is poised to build on the successes of its 2024 program by further defining the Ataani discovery and expanding its critical mineral resources.

As exploration continues across the HI01 property, the company remains optimistic about the potential for near-surface discoveries that could significantly contribute to long-term resource growth in the Kitikmeot region.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was updated on Oct. 3 to include the most recent resource calculation.