Vancouver, British Columbia / ACCESSWIRE / October 15, 2014 / Northern Lion Gold Corp. (the "Company") announces that it has received notice from its joint venture partner, Centerra Gold (KB) Inc., a subsidiary of Centerra Gold Inc. (collectively "Centerra"), that Centerra is terminating the previously announced option agreement (reported April 4, 2013). Pursuant to the option agreement, Centerra had an option to earn up to 70% interest in a number of the Company's exploration permits located in the Larnaca and Paphos Districts of the Republic of Cyprus by paying US$100,000 (paid) and incurring an aggregate of US$6,000,000 in exploration expenditures.
Centerra completed a drill program (reported January 22, 2014), surface exploration program (reported June 21, 2014), follow-up drill program (reported July 7, 2014) and advised the Company of its termination of the option agreement. Centerra commented: "Unfortunately, after some promising results last year, the drilling this year failed to provide any further encouragement and, as the majority of the targets of interest to us have now been tested, we have made the decision to terminate the Option Agreement."
Drilling Update
The 2014 drill program commenced on June 27, 2014 and concluded on August 22, 2014. A total of 1,659.5 metres were drilled in ten holes; nine in the Mavroyi area and the final hole at the Saramas target, 1.5 kilometres to the northwest. The work was contracted to GEOPS-Bolkan Drilling Services Ltd of Bulgaria, who used a Christenson CS-14 drill.
Initial hole targeting was focused mainly on geophysical results from the 2014 Induced Polarization and gravity surveys at Mavroyi (reported June 12, 2014) and reinterpretations of earlier work, most notably the 2011 airborne Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic survey ("VTEM") program (reported February 7, 2012). Highest priority was given to testing a number of coincident magnetic/gravity +/- chargeability/VTEM anomalies east of the Mavroyi alteration zone and near to the main Basal Group outcrop. These geophysical anomalies were interpreted to represent possible Volcanogenic Hosted Massive Sulphide ("VHMS") accumulations, which were potentially the source of the VHMS-related mineralized debris flow material that was discovered in the 2013 drilling (reported January 22, 2014).
Assay Results from 2014 Diamond Drill Program:
------------------------------------------------------------ |Hole No. |From(m)|To(m)|Interval (m)|Au ppm|Ag ppm|Zn% | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-05 |12.1 |97.8 |85.7 |0.16 |0.02 |0.067| |----------------------------------------------------------| |incl |12.1 |25.0 |12.9 |0.33 |0.55 |0.1 | |----------------------------------------------------------| |incl |13.05 |19.0 |5.9 |0.56 |0.85 |0.1 | |----------------------------------------------------------| |and |79.6 |97.8 |18.2 |0.33 |0.23 |0.09 | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-06**| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-07**| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-08**| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-09**| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-10**| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-11**| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-12**| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-13 |31.6 |36.5 |4.9 |0.27 |1.48 |902 | |----------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-14 |150.0 |156.0|6.0 |0.21 |0.3 |466 | ------------------------------------------------------------
** no significant assay results
ppm = parts per million
Summary of 2014 Diamond Drill Holes:
------------------------------------------------------------------ |Hole No. |District|Target |UTM E |UTM N |Elev|Azimuth|Dip|Depth| | | |Area | | |(m) | | |(m) | |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-05|Paphos |Mavroyi|458639|3868242|344 |70 |-50|123.1| |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-06|Paphos |Mavroyi|459611|3868100|357 |270 |-70|253.2| |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-07|Paphos |Mavroyi|459125|3868509|307 |75 |-60|239.4| |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-08|Paphos |Mavroyi|458899|3868304|325 |260 |-60|223.0| |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-09|Paphos |Mavroyi|458758|3867977|355 |90 |-60|54.3 | |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-10|Paphos |Mavroyi|458496|3868376|344 | |-90|121.4| |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-11|Paphos |Mavroyi|458787|3867742|371 |225 |-60|39.7 | |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-12|Paphos |Mavroyi|458786|3867742|371 |225 |-75|125.3| |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-13|Paphos |Mavroyi|458834|3867933|368 |50 |-60|136.2| |----------------------------------------------------------------| |MVDD14-14|Paphos |Saramas|457789|3869483|256 |270 |-75|343.9| ------------------------------------------------------------------
UTM datum is WGS84 Zone 36 North
m = metres
The VHMS related mineralization at Mavroyi was believed to have been derived from a nearby massive sulfide body that hosts gold and zinc. The 2014 drilling program was designed on the assumption that this massive sulfide body was located to the east of the Mavroyi alteration zone. The results from the geophysics surveys supported this interpretation. However, no sulfides or alteration were found in the drill holes in that area.
The Company has put all exploration activities on care and maintenance in Cyprus while a full review of the exploration, land package and future plans are reviewed by the Board.
Quality Control and Assurance
The Company's field activities in the Republic of Cyprus are under the direction of Robert Johnston, P.Geo. (BC), a consultant to the Company and "qualified person", as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). Mr. Johnston is responsible for the technical content of this news release.
All drill core is transported by Company personnel to a secure logging and sampling facility located proximal to the exploration site. After the core has been logged and sample intervals marked, it is split by means of a diamond saw. One half of the core is then placed in a plastic bag with a waterproof uniquely numbered sample tag, which is sealed with a tamperproof security tie, while the balance is retained in the core box for future reference. The bagged samples are placed in secured sacks for transportation by truck to the Company's customs broker in Nicosia. The samples are sent by air to ALS Romania SRL, located at Rosia Montana, Romania. The facility is NI 43-101 and Joint Ore Resource Committee (JORC) compliant and is accredited to international quality standards through the International Organization for Standardization /International Electrochemical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025:2005.
The total sample is jaw crushed dry to <2 mm. A 250 gram representative sample is obtained using a Riffle splitter and pulverized so that 85% passes 75 microns. Samples are then analyzed for gold and ICP analysis. A four acid digestion is used for a thirty three element ICP analysis, while the gold analyses used a 30 gram sample with lead-fire assay followed by atomic absorption spectrometry finish.
The Company and ALS Romania both employ rigorous systems of mineralized standards, sample duplicates and blanks in each batch of samples.
Corporate Update
The Company announces that Dr. E. Max Baker, a director since 2007, has resigned as a director of the Company for personal reasons.
Company President and CEO, John Lando, commented: "We thank Dr. Baker for his contributions and dedication to the Company and we wish him all the best."
About Northern Lion
Northern Lion is committed to building a strong portfolio of projects within mining-friendly and infrastructure-rich areas of Europe. Northern Lion currently has a number of exploration permits in the Republic of Cyprus and is pursuing other opportunities within the region.
NORTHERN LION GOLD CORP.
John Lando, President
For information with respect to Northern Lion or the contents of this news release, please contact the Company at (604) 669-2701, toll free at 1 800 663 0510, or email to [email protected] or visit the web site at www.northernliongold.com.
This news release includes "forward-looking information", as such term is defined in applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information includes, without limitation, exploration plans of the Company, including the time thereof, the success of exploration activities and other similar statements concerning anticipated future events, conditions or results that are not historical facts. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development; risks arising as a result of the Company operating in Cyprus; the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing; the Company's limited operating history; the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations; potential defects in title to the Company's properties; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; fluctuating prices of commodities; operating hazards and risks; competition; and other risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, actual future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. All statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by law, the Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking information.
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SOURCE: Northern Lion Gold Corp.