NEW YORK, NY, March 17, 2017 /Sector Newswire/ - Macdonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: BMK) (US Listing: MCDMF) (Frankfurt: 3M72) last week announced a new Technical Advisory Committee and announced the contractor for its upcoming Oxide Sands trenching program at its Wawa-Holdsworth Gold Project. The property is located 25 km NE of Wawa Ontario, Canada, uniquely positioned proximal Arogonaut's >6Moz Au Magino deposit property, and Richmont's >1Moz Au Island Gold Mine, along an underexplored extension of the prolific Michipicoten Greenstone Belt.

 

Fig. 1 (below) Black Sands of Wawa-Holdsworth Property     Oxide Sand Zones offer a quick pathway to cash flow   Voluminous gold-bearing oxide sand (black sand) zones near surface have demonstrated potential for an immediate pathway to production/cash flow; e.g. 3.45 g/t gold and 29.99 g/t silver average grade from a composite of 23 panels, with preliminary metallurgical testing resulting in between 69% and 98.7% gold recoveries (without even crushing). The exploration team is now undertaking a program of mapping and quantifying these zones which were previously not mapped well and historically ignored for gold but characterized in the early-1900's as one of the best massive sulphide deposits in the country. There is the possibility of a 2.2 km strike length of gold laden Oxide Sands Zones over the auriferous iron formation (which acted as a trap for gold circulating in the system).   Oxide Sands can be treated like aggregate. Visible in the images of black oxide sands (seen to the right) taken from the property is gold and some course grain quartz (which likely also contain gold). The oxide sand zones appear amenable to MacDonald Mines simply obtaining a permit for mining aggregate; backhoe the material, then crush and ball mill the material (to maximize recoveries), and transport the floured material to one of the several mills located within a few kilometers of the property. Works programs underway this winter and spring 2017 are geared towards affirming a voluminous and robust understanding of these Oxide Sands Zones -- the potential for a 6-bagger in share price appreciation from current price levels appears in order if exploration findings/results affirm what is suspected.     Fig. 2 (above) Wawa-Holdsworth Gold & Silver Project Oxide Sands Zone Test Pit - Best composite samples; 5.95 g/t gold + 47.09 g/t silver in a 31x4.7x3.35m bloc, and 5.94 g/t gold+ 50.14 g/t silver in a 10x3.5x3.74m bloc. See press release (further above) on this page for details of 2002 sampling program.   Large near-term exploration upside potential - Oxide Sands, BIF, and Load Gold Vein   The exploration team has learned from other projects in the area that the alteration system associated in this land package is very large, something that people historically either didn't recognize, or know about, or chose to ignore, instead they would focus on the quartz veins. Banded Iron Formations (BIF) are hosted on the property, similar to other formations that were historically mined near Wawa. We know that when you put these type of rocks in an environment where gold bearing fluids are circulating they form very good traps for gold, and we know that BIF on this property are mineralized because the Oxide Sands are derived from the weathering of those banded formations. Additionally, localized drilling and samples in BIF have shown them to be gold bearing, historic samples were upwards of ~0.3 ounces/t.     Fig. 3 (above) Oxide Sands

Excerpt of March 8, 2017 news release from MacDonald Mines:   MacDonald Mines Introduces Technical Advisory Committee and Contractor for Oxide Sands Trenching Program   Toronto, Ontario – March 8, 2017 - MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BMK) ("MacDonald Mines" or the "Company") is pleased to introduce its new Technical Advisory Committee. The Company believes that these experienced industry professionals with a varied array of expertise and background will be an important asset to the Company as it advances its recently acquired mineral projects. Technical Advisory Committee Jean-Philippe Desrochers, Ph.D., P.Geo. Mr. Jean-Philippe Desrochers, has over twenty years of experience in the mineral exploration industry in Canada, Central and South America. Dr. Desrochers has been involved with intermediate and junior mining companies with exploration projects ranging from grass-roots to mine-scale. He was Vice-President of Exploration at the Windfall Lake Gold Project for Murgor Resources Inc. from 2005 to 2010, and joined Eagle Hill as Chief Geologist in 2010 before becoming Vice-President Exploration for Eagle Hill in 2013. Past experience also includes senior positions with Aur Resources and SRK Consulting. Dr. Desrochers specializes in the field of structural geology applied to ore deposits in the search for Archean lode gold, volcanogenic massive sulphides, porphyry copper, skarn, and epithermal gold deposits. James Franklin, Ph.D., FRSC, P.Geo. Dr. James (Jim) Franklin, is a renowned and award winning exploration geologist with over 40 years of extensive geological knowledge and expertise focusing on discovering base metal, uranium, and gold-bearing ore deposits. His career in the mineral industry has involved teaching at the university level, and directing research programs for the Geological Survey of Canada as Director of the Survey and as its Chief Geoscientist from 1993 to 1998. Dr. Franklin was past President of both the Geological Association of Canada and the Society of Economic Geologists. He was a Co-editor of Exploration and Mining Geology for CIM and was also Associate Editor of Economic Geology (trade journal) for seven years. He serves as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and is an Adjunct Professor at Queen's, Laurentian and Ottawa university. Dr. Franklin is an expert on gold and VMS deposits in the Churchill and Superior Provinces of the Canadian Shield. Mr. Mackenzie Watson, B.Sc., P.Geol., P.Eng. Mr. Mackenzie (Mac) Watson, has over 50 years experience in the exploration, development, and mining industry, and has been involved in the discovery of numerous mineral deposits in Canada. He is currently Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors of Quest Rare Minerals. Mr. Watson spent his career in the junior mining sector, as CEO of Lynx Canada Exploration from l969 to 1985, and CEO of Freewest Resources from 1985 until 20l0 when it was taken over by Cliffs Natural Resources. Mr. Watson was awarded Canada's Prospector of the Year Award in 1991 for his contribution to the discovery of the Harker Holloway gold mine (Ontario), the Icon-Sullivan copper mine (Quebec), the Long Lake zinc mine (Ontario), the Ellison gold deposit (Quebec) and the Hebecourt copper deposit (Quebec); and again in 2010 for his contributions to the mineral discoveries in the Ring of Fire area of Northern Ontario. He was also awarded the Quebec Prospector of the Year Award in 1992 for his participation in the discovery of the Pusticamica and Verneuil gold deposits in Quebec. In January 2015, Mr. Watson was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. Mr. Hadyn Butler, B.Sc., P.Geo., P.Eng. Mr. Butler is a Professional Geoscientist and a practicing member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario. Mr. Butler had 30 years consulting experience with INCO and has enjoyed substantial success in mineral exploration. He has over 40 years of geological experience. He has been a Director of MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd., since August 14, 2003 and a member of its Technical Advisory Committee since February 2011. He served as Director of Uranium Star Corp. (Formerly Yukon Resources Corp.) from December 22, 2006 to January 2, 2009. He graduated with a degree in geology in 1974 (Bachelor of Science, with First Class Honours and University Medal) at the University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Trenching on Oxide Sands to Commence Spring 2017 Expedition Group of Companies Inc. has been contracted to conduct the trenching of the Oxide Sands, one of the main gold targets on the property. The Oxide Sands are interpreted to be derived from the weathering of an auriferous and pyritized Algoma-type iron formation. The pyritized iron formation has been traced over a 2km strike length. In 2002, the Oxide Sands were sampled over 332.5 metres along strike. They were reported to reach a depth of at least 8 metres and contained an average gold grade of 3.45 g/t and an average silver grade of 29.99 g/t. The objective of MacDonald's trenching program is to confirm the Oxide Sands' strike length and thickness and to undertake a systematic sampling of the mineralized horizon over the total strike length... ...click here for full copy of release from source

   

MacDonald Mines is the subject of a Mining Journal review, full copy of which may be viewed at http://miningmarketwatch.net/bmk.htm online.

 

Valuation Commentary: The risk-reward characteristics are highly advantageous for investors establishing a long position in BMK.V as the current market cap (~$9.3M Canadian, trading at ~17 cents/share) relative to the inherent value of MacDonald Mines' Wawa-Holdsworth Gold Property appears disproportionate; near-term share price catalysts exist as the Company is aggressively exploring to build on known gold values and leverage its exploration teams expertise and experience in the Wawa district gold camp.

 

 

Fig. 4 Location Map of MacDonald Mines' Wawa-Holdsworth Gold Project - Within a few km of impressive gold deposits of miners whose deposits keep growing, and mills. There is road access to the property, it is close to power, rail, and a stable workforce, in a mining-friendly region.

  

Fig. 5 (below) Wawa-Holdsworth Gold Zones -Three styles of gold mineralization exist on the original 285 hectares Wawa-Holdsworth project, all part of the same gold system within the 500 metre-wide deformation corridor:

 

"*" in the image above signifies non NI 43-101 compliant values for the Soocana Vein.

 

The three gold mineralization styles on the property (and shown in the claims map above) are:

1. An oxidized cap at surface developed over a massive pyrite zone (Algoma Iron Formation) -- "The Oxide Sands",

2. The precursor to the Oxide Sands - a massive pyrite zone (Algoma Iron Formation) at depths -- "The Massive Sulphide", and

3. Lode Gold in traditional quartz veins -- "The Soocana Vein".

 Lode Gold in traditional quartz veins -- "The Soocana Vein":

 

Almost all the historic drilling and work done for gold on the property was concentrated into a 700 m strike length associated with this 'Soocana' vein with very little efforts put into other gold plays on the property, apart from the Oxide Sands. The Soocana vein system is a shear zone with stacked auriferous quartz veins. A poor understanding of the shear system geometry by previous operators is obvious as drilling occurred in every direction with un-systematic sampling practice. Noteworthy historic (non NI 43-101 compliant) drilling intersections include 16g/t gold over 4.3 m, and 6.9 g/t gold over 15.8m and demonstrates the potential.

 

Figure 5 (below) Surface Mining Plan of Soocana Vein from November 15, 1933 - From the then Soocana Mining Company. There were plans at one point to exploit the robust gold and silver values of the vein. At the time, the Soocana Mining Company Limited calculated a gold resource (historical non NI43-101) of 54,000 tons of material grading 0.556 oz/t (19.06 g/t), however the Soocana Vein was never meaningfully mined in any way, only a small pit scratched the surface in one spot from earlier on.

Fig. 6. (above) Soocana Vein

 

  

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Proven exploration team that understands area geology: One of the most effective investment techniques for generating superior returns in exploration mining stocks is to follow quality/proven people to new ventures. The advisory and exploration team for MacDonald Mines has enjoyed exploration success in the Wawa gold camp (e.g. another mining Company just raised ~$6M off the success of their exploration efforts on a neighboring property). For example, Dr. Jean-Philippe Desrochers ,Ph.D., P.Geo., is part of the MacDonald advisory/exploration team (Dr. Desroches is also currently the QP for Osisko) -- he was Vice-President of Exploration at the Windfall Lake Gold Project (now owned by Osisko Mining) in its early days from 2005 to 2010 (then Murgor), and became Eagle Hill's Chief Geologist in 2010 before becoming Vice-President Exploration for Eagle Hill in 2013. Under his watch from 2005 - 2013 he took the Windfall gold project from conceptual to advanced stage with impressive resource that resulted in the Osisko buy-out. The advisory and exploration team of MacDonald Mines is looking to replicate that type of success here on the Wawa-Holdworth property now and believe their success in the area and intimate understanding of the geology provides a level of insight and expertise that was never previously afforded this prime land package. 

 

Plans - Winter-Spring-2017 works program:

 

There are many gold structures that are present on the property and the exploration team knows that the structures control the gold so the first order of business is to get a handle on them with geophysics this winter and map them all. The exploration team will pick targets, do trenching to test the Oxide Sands, expose structures, and perform channel sampling. The goal will be twofold; 1) lead to drilling load-hosted/shear-hosted structures highly prospective for significant discovery, and 2) to quantify the potential of the gold laden Oxide Sands for a short-term path to production which could finance the Company in exploration (non-dilutively) going forward and reward shareholders establishing a long position now.

 

The Company is topped up, and able to meet near-term exploration objectives. The area is hot, area miners keep growing their deposits, and the property has already yielded exceptional grades in different mineralization styles -- showing the potential of what we can expect in what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting exploration plays in North America this 2017.