CRANBROOK, BC /ACCESSWIRE / January 17, 2019 / Taiga Gold Corp (CSE:"TGC") ("Taiga") has received notice from SGO Mining Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SSR Mining Inc.("SSRM") (TSX:SSRM) (NASDAQ:SSRM) that it has commenced a winter drilling program on the Fisher Property, owned 100% by Taiga and under option to SSRM. Winter drilling will consist of a minimum of 8,000m using two rigs and will be funded by SSRM as part of an estimated US $3,000,000 (CDN $4,000,000) budget approved for the property in 2019.

SSRM is in the third year of a four-year option agreement whereby SSRM may earn up to an 80% interest in the 34,000ha property by completing a minimum of CDN $4,000,000 in exploration expenditures and making a total of CDN $3,300,000 in cash payments to Taiga. The Fisher Project located 125km east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan and is contiguous to the north, south and east with SSRM's Seabee Gold Operation.

See Fisher area location map here: https://www.taigagold.com/projects/fisher

The 2019 exploration work is a continuation of systematic exploration carried out on the property since 2016 at a cost of approximately CDN $4,200,000, funded by SSRM. The 2018 exploration activity consisted of geophysical surveys, geological mapping and sampling and approximately 14,000m of drilling carried out in 2 phases for a total of 54 holes. Final year-end results of the 2018 drilling are expected to be received by Taiga management within the coming weeks.

Fisher Property Summary:

Both the Fisher Project and Seabee Gold Operation occur within the Pine Lake Greenstone Belt. Ore geology at the Seabee Gold Operation consists of high-grade gold hosted by vein mineralization associated with shear zones that transect mafic meta-volcanic and intrusive rocks, as well as granitic rocks emplaced during the regional deformation events impacting Pine Lake rocks during the Proterozoic. Mineralization at the Seabee Gold Operation occurs at the Seabee and Santoy mines, which are located approximately 14km apart. The former is affiliated with the more westerly-oriented Laonil Lake shear zone, while the latter is hosted by the Santoy Shear, a regional north-trending shear zone that has been traced over much of the Fisher Property. Field and underground observations at the Seabee Gold Operation suggest that shear structures nucleated at contacts between granodiorite and meta-volcanic lithologies, with high-grade mineralized zones forming at minor flexures.

The 2019 exploration program is designed to target a Mineral Resource discovery on the Fisher Property. To achieve this objective, the SSRM exploration team is expected to focus on drilling targets resulting from an improved geological and structural understanding of the property, further evaluating and testing historical mineral occurrences and identifying additional mineralization in a structural setting similar to that observed at the Seabee Gold Operation.

The Seabee Gold Operation has been in continuous production since 1991 and has produced over 1.4 ounces of gold from the Seabee and Santoy deposits. As reported by SSR Mining, the Seabee Gold Operation includes the following estimated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources: Proven and Probable Reserves of 400,000 oz Au at an average gold grade of 9.88 g/t; Measured and Indicated Resources of 680,000 oz Au at an average grade of 10.74 g/t and Inferred Resources of 667,000 oz Au at a grade of 9.29 g/t. SSRM projects peak production in 2020 of 120,000 oz/year with estimated life of mine cash costs of $548 per payable ounce of gold. SSRM earlier reported uncut drill intercepts grading up to 1,004 g/t gold over 1.6m including 3,887 g/t gold over 0.4m (true widths) along the Santoy Shear in an area located approximately 3km northwest of the Fisher property boundary (source: SSRM website, SSRM news release dated May 1, 2017).Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties.

Details of the Fisher Option Agreement:

To earn a 60% interest over four years, SSRM paid CDN $100,000 to Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.(TSX-V:"EPL") on signing of a formal agreement and has agreed to complete a minimum of CDN $4,000,000 in exploration expenditures and make annual cash payments of CDN $75,000 for each of the four years of the option period. Following the Plan of Arrangement completed in April 2018, the Fisher Property and option agreement was transferred to Taiga. Once the 60% earn-in has been completed, SSRM has a 365-day, one-time option to earn an additional 20% interest (for a total of 80%) by making a cash payment of CDN $3,000,000 to Taiga, at which time an 80/20 joint venture will be formed to further advance the property. As announced on October 29th, Taiga further completed the purchase of a 2.5% Net Smelter Return ("NSR") from Eagle Plains, subject to reduction on certain claims by underlying NSR agreements. Taiga's NSR may be reduced by 1% at any time upon payment of CDN $1,000,000 by the joint venture. In addition, Taiga will receive advance royalty payments of CDN $100,000 annually from the joint venture until commencement of commercial production.

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 -- Published: Friday, 18 January 2019 | E-Mail  | Print  | Source: GoldSeek.com

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