ATAC Resources releases maiden Osiris resource estimate

ATAC Resources Ltd. [ATC-TSXV] has released a maiden mineral resource estimate for its Osiris Project at the Rackla gold property 55 km northeast of Keno City, Yukon. The Osiris Project is 100% owned by ATAC and is located outside of the area currently under option to Barrick Gold Corp. [ABX-TSX, NYSE]. The resource estimate for the Osiris Project was completed by Mine Development Associates of Reno, Nevada.

Osiris Project resource highlights:

• Inferred mineral resource of 1,685,000 ounces gold averaging 4.23 g/t gold (in 12.4 million tonnes), including a pit-constrained mineral resource containing 1,055,000 ounces of gold at 4.08 g/t (in eight million tonnes);
• Globally competitive discovery cost of $32/oz of gold;
• All zones outcrop at surface and remain open in multiple directions;
• A 10,000-metre drill program is currently under way to increase the Osiris resources.

“Defining a maiden resource with over 1 million pit-constrained ounces is a major development for the company and highlights the emerging high-grade open-pit potential. With only 78,614 metres used to define the resource, we achieved an excellent discovery rate of over 21 ounces of gold for every metre drilled,” stated ATAC’s President and CEO, Graham Downs. “Expansion drilling is in full swing with two drills focused on step-out drilling at the eastern end of the Conrad zone. A total of five drills are now operating between Barrick’s Orion Project earn-in and ATAC’s Osiris Project, representing our largest drill campaign since 2012.”

“With the announcement of this maiden resource, it appears that the early-stage Osiris Project may have the potential to follow a life cycle path similar to many of the large producing Carlin-deposit mines in Nevada. Many of these mines started life with an initial open pit followed by underground mining,” stated Ed Cope, ATAC’s Technical Adviser. “In many cases, the initial discoveries expanded dramatically with additional exploration and were commonly followed by the discovery of more, and often larger, deposits resulting in the great mining camps of the Nevada trends. Classic examples are represented by the original Carlin mine, Goldstrike, Cortez and Getchell-Turquoise ridge, to name a few.”

The Osiris Project is located at the eastern end of the Rackla gold property and hosts numerous Carlin-type gold zones and targets. The Conrad, Sunrise, Osiris and Ibis zones included in the resource estimate occur as replacement bodies with both structural and stratigraphic control. All zones are open in multiple directions.

Step-out drilling is under way with two drills at the eastern end of the Conrad Zone near drill hole OS-17-238, which intersected 12.50 metres of 20.78 g/t gold. Drilling will begin shortly at the Sunrise Zone with a focus on stepping out from mineralization intersected in drill hole OS-17-249, which returned the highest-grade mineralized intercept to date, with 15.24 metres of 13.52 g/t gold and 10.42 metres of 7.97 g/t gold. The Sunrise Zone is located on a ridgetop and has only been tested for a 300-metre strike length and a vertical depth of 350 metres.

Excellent potential for new discoveries exists at the 302 km² Osiris Project. Additional mapping, prospecting and rotary air-blast drilling will be conducted throughout the Osiris Project to test for extensions or new areas of mineralization.