VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoro Gold Corp. (TSXV: SGO | OTCQB: SMOFF | FRA: 23SP) (“Sonoro” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce assay results from 12 reverse-circulation (RC) drill holes at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora State, Mexico. These results reflect all assays received to date from the Company’s ongoing RC drilling program focused on expanding four of the 17 gold mineralization zones at Cerro Caliche. Highlights include key intercepts at the premier Japoneses and Buena Suerte zones.

At Japoneses, SCR-104 intercepted 15.24 meters averaging 1.278 g/t Au and SCR-106 intercepted 16.76 meters averaging 0.853 g/t Au. At Buena Suerte, SCR-096 intercepted 16.76 meters averaging 0.841 g/t Au and SCR-097 intercepted 12.19 meters averaging 0.508 g/t Au. The Company expects that these results will contribute to establishing a significant addition to Cerro Caliche’s existing 201,000 gold equivalent (AuEq) inferred resource estimate¹. In total, 34 RC holes have been drilled to date, but assay turn-around times are very slow due to COVID-19 related delays. An additional 25 to 30 RC holes are expected to be completed by this coming mid-December and rock density determinations have also been initiated for incorporation into the resource data.

Core drilling at Cerro Caliche to investigate the higher-grade gold targets remains ongoing. Nine exploratory holes have been completed to date and an additional ten core holes are expected to be completed by mid-December. Furthermore, an air-track drill rig is scheduled to commence shallow percussion drilling to investigate continuity of mineralization between the mineralized zones.

As part of the Company’s strategy to fast-track the development of a Heap Leach Mining Operation (HLMO) at Cerro Caliche, ten 85-mm diameter PQ Core holes were drilled to supply deeper mineralized material for metallurgical testing. Management is expanding its development plans from the previously announced pilot level project to assess the economic viability of a proposed 8,000 ton per day mining operation.

The current exploration work is part of the Company’s conceptual fast-track development schedule for the Cerro Caliche project with the aspirational goal of commencing gold production by the end of 2021. However, a successful realization of that goal remains subject to several material conditions, most notably including the satisfactory completion of metallurgical testing, securing required environmental permitting, a favourable preliminary economic assessment and the availability of project financing.

Crews for both the RC and Core drilling rigs are to take a one-week pause-break so that long-awaited assay results may be received and incorporated into the ongoing refinement of the drill targets within the two respective drill programs.

Sonoro CEO, Kenneth MacLeod stated, “We are very encouraged by the results thus far as they indicate we are on track with our plans to increase and upgrade Cerro Caliche’s inferred gold equivalent resource, while at the same time our work to develop a heap leach gold mining operation is proceeding right on schedule. We are also pleased to report that 100% of 5 million warrants exercisable at $0.15 have been exercised for proceeds to Sonoro of $750,000.”

John Darch, Sonoro’s Chairman, added, “While we continue drilling our higher-grade gold targets,our primary focus remains on accelerating the proposed heap leach mine development with the intention of achieving production and cash flow by December 2021. I expect both efforts, in addition to our high-grade drilling program, shouldproduce an exceptional and exciting 2021 for Sonoro’s shareholders.”   

The 12 RC drill holes tabulated or discussed here are listed with the below-selected assay intervals. A Cutoff of 0.15 grams per ton Au was used for reporting intervals and, for consistency, is in the same format as in previous years’ news reports. The drill holes are angled generally 45 degrees at azimuth 225° and are targeted to cut the vein zones near perpendicular to their plane of strike. The drill intervals are near true widths of the vein zones unless reported otherwise.

The Japoneses vein zone is the largest mineralized zone on the Cerro Caliche project with dimensions of up to 300 meters wide by 550 meters long with the five new holes reported here filling several drill pattern gaps and also extending the mineralized zone 100 meters to the northwest and 100 meters to the southeast. The apparent continuation of this zone by an additional 350 meters to the southeast is identified as the Los Cuervos zone. This entire mineralized zone is a series of northwest-trending veins, shears and shatter bands in quartzite with shales in its central and southern parts. The northern extension of the Japoneses zone gold mineralization passes into andesite and vein associated rhyolitic dikes where both rock units host gold mineralization.

Two drill holes were in the vicinity of the El Boludito vein, a small zone that begins in the hanging wall of the Japoneses vein zone and extends in a northerly direction away from the Japoneses zone. The results indicated insufficient dimensions and mineralization to add to the current mineralized material inventory.

Two RC drill holes cut the Chinos NW gold mineralized zone which is about 400 meters long and up to 30 meters wide running parallel to the Japoneses zone on its east side. It continues northerly for another 500 meters between El Boludito and the Veta de Oro vein zone before merging into Veta de Oro where a further outcrop of the vein zone is hidden by soil cover. The Chinos NW vein zone appears to be part of a classic vein splitting pattern called “horse tailing” on its southern part. Drill hole SCR-101 tested the Chinos NW mineralization’s northernmost extent with mixed results, including 3.05 meters averaging 0.517 g/t Au and 3.6 g/t Ag. Two of the core drill holes cut the southern part of Chinos NW and will be reported in upcoming diamond drill hole results.

Three holes were completed in the Buena Suerte vein zone and, while showing the vein zone is independent of other nearby vein zones, they also added to the potential for increasing the project’s current inferred gold resource. The veins are hosted in quartzite and a vein parallel - rhyolite dike. The three drill holes intersected gold mineralization that will potentially extend mineralized material to more than double the prior drill confirmed mineralized dimensions. The dimensions of the Buena Suerte mineralized zone are approximately 30 meters wide by 300 meters in length and located about 120 meters west of the Japoneses footwall structure with a parallel NW trend.

Drill collar locations, azimuths and dips for the drill holes included in this release are provided in the table below and have been posted to the Company’s web site for all drill holes.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (“QA/QC”) Measures and Analytical Procedures
Drill samples are collected with an airstream cyclone and passed into a splitter that divides each sample into quarters. The quartered samples are then bagged and sealed with identification. The sample group has blanks, standards and duplicates inserted into the sample stream. ALS-Chemex collects the samples and transports them directly to the preparation laboratory in Hermosillo, Sonora.

At the laboratory, part of each sample is reduced through crushing, splitting and pulverization from which 200 grams is sent to the ALS-Chemex assay laboratory in Vancouver. Thirty grams undergoes fire assay for gold with the resulting concentrated button of material produced is dissolved in acids and the gold is determined by atomic absorption. Another quantity of the sample is dissolved in four acids for an ICP multi-element analysis.

Geologic Description
Cerro Caliche is located 45 kilometers east southeast of Magdalena de Kino in the Cucurpe-Sonora Mega-district of Sonora, Mexico. Multiple historic underground mines were developed in the concession including Cabeza Blanca, Los Cuervos, Japoneses, Las Abejas, Boluditos, El Colorado, Veta de Oro and Espanola. Mineralization types of the Cucurpe-Sonora Mega-district include variants of epithermal low sulfidation veins and related mineralized dikes and associated volcanic domes. Local altered felsic dikes cut the mineralized meta-sedimentary rock units and may be associated with mineralization both in the dikes and meta-sedimentary rocks.

Host rocks include Jurassic-Cretaceous meta-sedimentary rock units including argillite, shale, quartzite, limestone, quartz pebble conglomerate and andesite. Younger intrusive rock consisting of medium coarse-grained granodiorite-granite is present in the westerly parts of the concessions near the historic Cabeza Blanca Mine. It is apparent that veining cuts and pervasively alters the intrusive stock. Rhyolite occurs in irregular bodies distributed in higher elevations in the northerly part of the concession, including the Rincon area, where it occurs as flows, sills, dikes and rhyolite domes. Part of the rhyolite is mineralized and appears to be related to epithermal gold mineralization throughout the property.

Qualified Person Statement
Stephen Kenwood, P.Geo., a director of Sonoro, is a Qualified Person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) and has read and approved this news release. Readers are cautioned that the presence of mineralization on historic mines adjacent to or on Cerro Caliche is not necessarily indicative of gold mineralization in the concessions held by the company.

About Sonoro Gold Corp.
Sonoro Gold Corp. is a publicly listed exploration and development company with a portfolio of exploration-stage precious metal properties in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company has highly experienced operational and management teams with proven track records for the discovery and development of natural resource deposits.

For further information, please contact:
Sonoro Gold Corp. - Tel: (604) 632-1764
Email: info@sonorometals.com

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to, among other things, the Company's plans for the drilling of the above-described Cerro Caliche Concessions, located in the municipality of Cucurpe, Sonora, Mexico, and the Company’s future exploration and development plans for those properties. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable based on current circumstances, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the possibility of unfavourable interim exploration results, the lack of sufficient future financing to carry out exploration plans, and unanticipated changes in the legal, regulatory and permitting requirements for the Company’s exploration programs. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law or the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. Readers are encouraged to review the Company’s complete public disclosure record on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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1} NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Cerro Caliche Property, July 26, 2019, Strickland, D., Sim, R.C. prepared for Sonoro Metals; comprised of an inferred resource of 201,000 AuEq ounces at a grade of 0.55 AuEq (0.495 g/t Au and 4.3 g/t Ag)