Tombill completes near-surface drilling and provides assessment of results of recent exploration programs

Tombill Mines Limited [TBLL-TSXV; TBLLF-OTCQB] reported on its 2022 near-surface Phase 2A diamond drilling program that was designed to evaluate a number of newly defined gold targets distributed across two of the three 100%-controlled claim groups the Company holds in the Geraldton gold mining district of north-central Ontario.

The Phase 2A drilling campaign consisted of eight NQ-diameter boreholes for a total length of 2,941 metres. Seven of the eight drill-holes are located on the 51-patented claim Main Group property which adjoins on the west the mining property of Greenstone Gold Mines GP Inc. where a large open-pit gold mine is currently being constructed. In addition, a single borehole was drilled on the smaller Original claim group property where the past-producing Tombill gold mine was located.

Summary of the Phase 2A 2022 Drilling Program: The best assay results produced by the Phase 2A drilling program were obtained from drill-hole TB22-008. A 30-centimeter (cm) long sample from 288.8 metres down-hole returned an assay of 2.61 g/t gold, while another core sample from 292.1 metres to 293.0 metres (length of 90 cm) assayed 4.17 g/t gold.

Six of the eight holes that constitute the Phase 2A program were distributed across the northern sector of Tombill’s Main Group, with the TransCanada Highway giving good access to the drill-sites. Together, these drill-holes were designed to investigate the gold potential of the Ellis Syncline exploration target. Overall, assay results produced by these boreholes were disappointing.

Hole TB22-002 intersected a zone of weak gold mineralization from 155.0 metres to 161.0 metres, with the maximum gold assay from this zone being 0.406 g/t gold. Two other zones of weak mineralization were intersected between 199 metres and 218 metres in the hole, with maximum gold assays for 1-metre long core samples from these zones being 0.428 g/t gold and 0.396 g/t gold.

No significant assay results were generated by drill-holes TB22-003 through TB22-007.

Hole TB22-008, which is in the central part of the 6-patented claim Original property, yielded two core samples that assayed 2.61 g/t Au and 4.17 g/t Au. This drill-hole was designed to test for the eastward continuation of the Key Lake-Jellicoe Gold Corridor that in past decades was extensively drilled by various resource companies on claims now owned by Greenstone which is currently constructing an open-pit mine some 13 kilometers to the southeast.

According to Greenstone’s NI43-101-compliant technical report¹, the measured and indicated in-pit mineral resources of the Key Lake gold deposit are estimated to contain 141,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.16 g/t gold. An additional inferred resource is estimated to contain 82,000 ounces averaging grade of 1.39 g/t gold.

Drill-hole TB22-008 essentially confirms that the laterally extensive Key Lake-Jellicoe Gold Corridor passes through Tombill’s Original claim group, with about 1,000 m of strike potential existing on the property from the hole itself to its western border extending to the Corridor. For a gold deposit comparable in size or larger than Greenstone’s Key Lake deposit to discovered on Tombill’s claims, a considerable amount of diamond drilling would be required, with many drill-holes yielding mineralized intersections that are significantly greater in length and with higher gold contents than what was obtained by hole TB22-008.

Drill-holes TB22-002 through TB22-007 confirmed the existence of a geological setting, i.e., lithologies and structures, that is comparable to the litho-structural setting hosting the large low-grade Hardrock gold deposit being developed a few kilometers east of Tombill’s drilling. While the six drill-holes failed to discover a ‘blind’ zone of significant gold mineralization, the Company believes compelling exploration potential still exists in the favorable geology of the Ellis Syncline on the Main Group. The application of induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveying over the area of interest could assist in defining new drill targets, where chargeability anomalies might be indicating zones of gold-bearing sulphide replacement mineralization.