News

VANCOUVER, B.C., September 7, 2022 – Tectonic Metals Inc. (TECT: TSX-V; TETOF: OTCQB; T15B: FSE) (the "Company" or "Tectonic") today announced the initiation of a baseline metallurgical testwork program on the Company’s Flat Gold Project (“Flat”), an intrusion-hosted, bulk tonnage gold system located in southwestern Alaska, 40km north of the Donlin Gold Project (“Donlin”), owned equally by Barrick Gold Corporation (GOLD: NYSE; ABX: TSX) and NOVAGOLD Resources Inc. (NG: TSX; NG: NYSE American). Metallurgical samples were selected by Tectonic from historically drilled diamond core samples with the objective of investigating the potential for free-milling gold mineralization at Flat, and more specifically, within the Chicken Mountain Zone (“CMZ”).

Images detailing the metallurgical testwork and target area may be found here.

Tony Reda, Tectonic President & CEO, commented: “Metallurgical testing is one of the most critical steps a company can take in successfully transforming an exploration-stage project into a profitable mining opportunity.  The Tectonic business model is predicated on managing risk from day one onward and kicking off our initial work at Flat with a baseline metallurgy testwork program definitely embodies that philosophy.  At Flat, we are blessed with historical work, including soil sampling, trenching, and drilling, that suggests the presence of a large mineralizing gold system.  With that box ticked and given our business model, it only makes sense that we de-risk Flat as quickly as possible with metallurgical testing to add value quickly and provide a tremendous amount of insight into the processing amenability of the Flat gold mineralization, which in return will shape how we target and explore Flat going forward.”

More on the Flat Metallurgical Program

The metallurgical testwork is being undertaken by Base Metallurgical Laboratories, Kamloops, British Colombia, under the supervision of Tectonic’s consulting Metallurgist, Mr. Jeet Basi, Mining and Mineral Process Engineer, who has over 15 years of technical leadership experience in global public mining companies, including Newmont, Goldcorp and Teck Resources.  Base Metallurgical Laboratories (“Base Met Labs”) is a fully integrated mineral processing laboratory located in Kamloops, BC.  The facility incorporates metallurgical, mineralogy and analytical capabilities. This ensures rapid turnaround times on our testwork programs.  Base Met Labs is backed by experienced metallurgists with regard to flotation and cyanidation process flowsheet development and interpretation of mineralogical analyses.

Tectonic’s Metallurgical Program focuses on Flat’s Chicken Mountain Zone comprised of intrusion-related gold mineralization hosted within a zoned monzonitic intrusion, which forms part of the more extensive Late Cretaceous Flat volcano-plutonic complex intruding Cretaceous-aged Kuskokwim sediments. Forty historic (1997-1998), mineralized ½ core diamond drill intervals were collected by Tectonic, representing four target composites of various intrusive phases, alteration assemblages and oxidation profiles from the Upper Flat and Holy Cross targets at the Chicken Mountain Zone.

The objective of this metallurgical testing program is to conduct baseline level investigations to determine the amenability of intrusion-hosted gold mineralization at Flat to conventional cyanide extraction, flotation recovery, and gravity separation processing options. The scope of this study consists of feed characterization of each individual sample prior to compositing, composite head sample characterization, and metallurgical test work on each composite comprising grind calibration, cyanide kinetic leaching, rougher flotation, gravity testing, and geochemical characterization of test work products.

For each composite, process options will initially be tested at 75 µm and 150 µm target grind sizes to investigate the effect of grind size on gold recovery.

While extensive placer gold production has been recorded from drainages sourced on Chicken Mountain, historical metallurgical testing on intrusion-hosted gold mineralization is limited to a single bottle roll test in 1991 conducted on diamond drill core from a monzonite dyke east of the main Chicken Mountain mineralized body. The bottle roll test work data on this sample indicates that intrusion-hosted gold mineralization at Flat is amenable to direct cyanidation and showed increasing extractions with decreasing particle size for the sample tested. The sample tested in 1991 yielded a cumulative gold extraction of 82% for the 200 mesh particle size and 54.0% for the 6 mesh material. Unfortunately, neither the type nor style of the mineralization nor the representativeness of the material submitted is reported and the application of this historical met sample to the mineralization at Chicken Mountain is somewhat limiting.

About the Flat Gold Project

The Flat Gold Project is an intrusion-hosted, bulk tonnage gold project located in southwestern Alaska, just 40km north of the giant Donlin Gold Project, which is owned equally by Barrick and NOVAGOLD and have set a 2022 budget at Donlin of USD $60 million (see Barrick news release dated July 28, 2022).

Flat consists of 92,160 acres of mostly Native-owned land belonging to Doyon, Limited, a leading Alaska’s Native Regional Corporation and the largest private landholder in the State of Alaska. Doyon and Tectonic have formed a mutually beneficial mineral lease property agreement covering all aspects of exploration through to production, including royalties and ESG provisions. The resulting agreement aligns the interests and expectations of both parties involved, reduces risk, and creates a process that can advance a project from discovery through development and production to final reclamation. 

Flat represents a rare opportunity in a tier one jurisdiction:

• A large-scale, intrusion-hosted gold system with mineralization
• Documented as the 4th largest placer mining district in Alaska with over 1.4Moz of gold produced via placer mining*
• 55 historical drill holes:  mineralization begins at surface, average drill depth is only 100m vertical, open in all directions
• In close proximity to a world-class gold deposit (Donlin)
• +4km long, +200ppb gold-in-soil anomaly (open for expansion)
• Historical mineralized trenches, some of which remain untested
• Situated on Native Owned Land with full-scale mineral lease property agreement covering all aspects of exploration through to production, including royalties and ESG provisions.

To learn more about Tectonic’s latest acquisition, the Flat Gold Project, click here.

End Note: *Mineral Occurrence and Development Potential Report, Locatable and Salable Minerals, Being Sea-Western Interior Resource Management Plan, BLM-Alaska Technical Report 60, prepared by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, November 2010

Qualified Person 

Tectonic’s disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this press release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Peter Kleespies, M.Sc., P.Geo., Tectonic’s Vice President Exploration, who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.  

To learn more about Tectonic, please click here. 

On behalf of Tectonic Metals Inc., 

Tony Reda 

President and Chief Executive Officer 

For further information about Tectonic Metals Inc. or this news release, please visit our website at www.tectonicmetals.com or contact Tony Reda, President & CEO of Tectonic, or Bill Stormont, Investor Relations, at toll-free 1.888.685.8558 or by email at info@tectonicmetals.com. 

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking information and statements under applicable securities law. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “intend” and similar expressions.   

Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumptions about future prices of gold and other metal prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates, favourable operating conditions, political stability, obtaining governmental  and other approvals and financing on time, obtaining required licenses and permits, labour stability, stability in market conditions, availability of equipment, accuracy of any mineral resources, successful resolution of disputes and anticipated costs and expenditures. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Tectonic, and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. 

Although Tectonic considers these beliefs and assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation: the Company’s ability to implement its business strategies; risks associated with mineral exploration and production; risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; marketing and transportation costs; loss of markets; volatility of commodity prices; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; industry and government regulation; changes in legislation, income tax and regulatory matters; competition; currency and interest rate fluctuations; and other risks.   

Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Although Tectonic has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Tectonic does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. 

[Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.]