Fiore Exploration to acquire Chilean gold mining project
Fiore Exploration has acquired the Rio Loa gold exploration project in the Maricunga belt, Chile. The acquisition is subject to cash payments of $35,000 upon agreement; $30,000 one year from the agreement signing, and $820,000 four years from this point. It is also subject to the completion of $500,000 worth of exploration work, assigning vendors a 2% net smelter return royalty, and completing discovery payments from $2 to $5 per ounce.
2017-04-12 16:20 ET - News Release

Mr. Tim Warman reports

FIORE EXPLORATION ACQUIRES RIO LOA PROJECT IN CHILE'S MARICUNGA BELT

Fiore Exploration Ltd. has acquired the Rio Loa gold exploration project in the prolific Maricunga belt of Chile.

Tim Warman, Fiore's chief executive officer, stated: "The Rio Loa property shows strong evidence of a high-sulphidation gold-mineralizing system, with well-developed alteration and geochemical anomalies. Rio Loa is particularly interesting because of its proximity to Gold Fields' 3.3-million-ounce Salares Norte discovery, currently one of the highest-grade gold deposits in the Maricunga gold belt. The acquisition of Rio Loa follows our strategy of evaluating, acquiring and exploring undervalued assets in known mining districts hosting multimillion-ounce deposits."

Rio Loa

Rio Loa is located in the northern part of the prolific Maricunga gold belt, which boasts more than 100 million ounces of gold in reserves, resources and past production. Recent exploration success at the northern end of the Maricunga belt is highlighted by Gold Field's Salares Norte gold-silver oxide discovery, with measured and indicated resources of 3.3 million ounces gold at 3.9 grams per tonne and 42.1 million ounces of silver at 48.9 grams per tonne. Salares Norte has delivered some notable drilling results for Gold Fields, including hole SNDD017, which returned 132 metres at 53.2 grams per tonne gold and 59.3 grams per tonne silver.

Fiore's new Rio Loa property is located approximately 25 kilometres south of Salares Norte and can be accessed year-round by road. This 1,000-hectare property has seen minimal exploration and no drilling, but previous work has identified moderate to strong silica-argillic alteration and oxidized vuggy silica characteristic of high-sulphidation gold deposits. Rock chip sampling of trenches and outcrops by previous owners identified extensive strong anomalies of arsenic, antimony, lead and weak gold in trenches and outcrops. Alteration mapping using ASTER satellite imagery shows an alteration pattern interpreted as a mixture of advanced argillic (alunite), iron-oxide and silicification within the property limits. The geochemical response and alteration pattern at Rio Loa are similar to the geochemical responses on other high-sulphidation deposits within the belt such as at Salares Norte and Kinross Gold Corp.'s La Coipa mine.

Since much of the property is blanketed by younger rocks, initial fieldwork will begin later this year, focusing on erosional windows that reveal the underlying Miocene hydrothermal breccias and acid volcanic rocks that are the target of exploration. Mapping and sampling, utilizing surface infrared spectrometer measurements (TerraSpec), is planned to delineate the various alteration zones and the extent of the alteration system in order to prioritize areas for follow-up drilling later in the year. Geophysical surveying will also be used to identify targets beneath the younger cover. A previous, widely spaced reconnaissance induced polarization survey showed resistivity and chargeability anomalies coincident with the known alteration but also extending beneath the younger volcanic cover.

Acquisition terms

Fiore can earn 100 per cent of the Rio Loa project by:

Making cash payments of $35,000 (U.S.) upon signing of the definitive agreement, $30,000 (U.S.) one year from signing, $50,000 (U.S.) two years from signing, $80,000 (U.S.) three years from signing and $820,000 (U.S.) four years from signing;

Completing $500,000 (U.S.) of exploration work, including best efforts to complete 2,500 metres of drilling within the first 15 months of the agreement;

Assigning the vendors a 2-per-cent net smelter return (NSR) royalty on the property; Fiore will have the right to repurchase 50 per cent of the royalty (1-per-cent NSR royalty) for a payment of $3-million (U.S.);

Making discovery payments ranging from $2 (U.S.) per ounce to $5 (U.S.) per ounce of measured and indicated National Instrument 43-101-compliant gold resources to a maximum of $5-million (U.S.).

Technical information and qualified person

Vern Arseneau, PGeo, Fiore's vice-president of exploration, is the qualified person who supervised the preparation of the technical data in this news release.

About Fiore Exploration Ltd.

Fiore Exploration is a Latin America-focused gold explorer whose projects in Chile include Pampas El Penon and Cerro Tostado, adjacent to Yamana Gold Inc.'s flagship El Penon gold-silver mine, and the high-sulphidation Rio Loa gold project in the prolific Maricunga gold belt.

We seek Safe Harbor.