TORONTO: Argo Gold Inc. has entered into a mining claim acquisition agreement with Denison Mines Inc. pursuant to which Argo Gold can acquire a 100% interest certain mineral claims located near Talbot Lake, in the Pickle Lake area of the Patricia Mining District in exchange for an aggregate of $135,000 cash and 1,350,000 common shares of the Company and the grant of a 2% net smelter return on the property.

In addition, if Argo Gold establishes an aggregate mineral resource (in all categories) on the Talbot Lake Gold Project of greater than 1 million ounces of gold or gold equivalent using the CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources adopted by CIM Council and reported in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, the Company will make a one-time payment to Denison of $1,500,000 in cash or common shares which equates to $1.50 per ounce of gold resource.

The mineral claims are also subject to the Bruce Royalty which is 3% of exploration expenses to a maximum of $245,180; and $100,000 owing on a production decision. The acquisition of the mineral claims is subject to receipt of regulatory approval and the common shares issuable thereunder will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance.

The Talbot Lake Gold Project consists of 760 hectares underlain by a sequence of tholeiitic to komatiitic basalt containing several unexplored iron formations, and one partially-explored high grade vein-type gold deposit. In addition to this acquisition, Argo Gold has staked an additional 399 claim units for a total of 7,982 hectares covering the geological strike extension of the Talbot Lake Gold Project. Argo Gold now controls a total of 23 line kilometres of iron formation containing very high-quality exploration targets for additional gold mineralization.

Talbot Lake was identified in the early 1980’s by a belt-scale litho-geochemical exploration program targeting banded iron formations throughout the Pickle and Red Lake greenstone belts by Dome Exploration (Canada) Limited. Identified targets included: Opapamiskan Lake (the future Musslewhite Mine), Dona Lake (the future Dona Lake Mine), and Talbot Lake. Ground prospecting at Talbot Lake identified a high-grade gold quartz vein on the property which became the focus of exploration efforts.

The vein itself is hosted in tholeiitic to komatiitic basalts and has been channel sampled on surface for a length of 48 metres over an average width of 3.28 metres for an uncut grade of 13.8 grams per tone gold; and the vein was drilled to a depth of 200 metres. Denison acquired the property in 1998 and further drilling extended the vein continuity to a depth of 250 metres. Denison also performed down hole orientation surveys on several of the Dome drill holes and determined that the auriferous vein, based on pierce points, was increasing in strike length at depth. Denison briefly optioned the property to Abbastar Resources who carried out a drill program and noted in the press release that gold mineralization occurred in both quartz vein host and iron formation host rocks.

Argo Gold’s exploration work during 2020 will consist of consultations with First Nations, basic geological mapping of the iron formation, GPS relocation of the diamond drill holes, and digital compilation of historical exploration data including geological and airborne surveys (Ontario Geological Survey Map P3763 and AMAG/AEM GDS 1108B). The recent and historical ground magnetic surveys identified strong disruption of the magnetic fabric likely due to faulting and/or demagnetization (Dome Exploration, OGS Assessment Files). Argo Gold plans to reprocess and interpret both the OGS GeoTEM AEM/AMAG survey over the property to target areas looking for these characteristics along the iron formation.