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2012

NORTH COUNTRY ANNOUNCES SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THREE BLUFFS RESOURCE


April 4, 2012
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240% increase in inferred ounces, 34% increase in indicated ounces

April 4, 2012, Edmonton, Alberta - North Country Gold Corp. (NCG: TSX-V) (NCG or the “Company”) today announces a significant increase in the gold resource at the 100% owned Three Bluffs Gold Project in the Committee Bay Greenstone Belt located northeast of Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada. The resource at the project now comprises of an Indicated resource of 4.30 mt grading 4.90 g/t for 678,000 ounces and Inferred resource of 4.53 mt grading 5.69 g/t for 829,000 ounces.

“The updated resource model marks a major milestone for the Three Bluffs Project with the new resource essentially doubling since the last estimate completed in early 2009” stated John Williamson, President and CEO of North Country Gold Corp. “This new estimate continues to underpin our belief that we are delineating a significant gold deposit with multi-million ounce potential at high grades. North Country's phase one 12,000 metre expansion program has commenced, specifically targeting high grade zones to depth on the main Three Bluffs trend” added Mr. Williamson.

Table 1, Three Bluffs Resource Estimate, April 2012

Open Pit- Three Bluffs Inside Whittle Shell
Classification
Grade Cut-off
g/t
Tonnage
tonnes
Au
g/t
Au
ounces
Indicated
1.35 g/t
3,600,000
4.81
557,000
 
Inferred
1.35 g/t
1,000,000
5.24
169,000
 
Underground - Three Bluffs Outside Whittle Shell
Classification
Grade Cut-off
g/t
Tonnage
tonnes
Au
g/t
Au
ounces
Indicated
2.50 g/t
695,000
5.43
121,000
 
Inferred
2.50g/t
3,530,000
5.81
660,000
 
Total Three Bluffs Resource
Tonnage
Tonnes
Au
g/t
Au
ounces
 
 
 
 
Total Indicated OP+UG
 
4,300,000
4.90
678,000
Total Inferred   OP+UG
 
4,530,000
5.69
829,000

Notes:

  1. A total of 17 domains utilized in grade estimation of the 0.50g/t wireframes and 16 domains for the 1.00 g/t wireframes. Au capping by domain from 75 g/t Au to 30 g/t Au, 16 domains utilized in grade estimation of 1.00 g/t wireframes, Au capping by domain from 75 g/t Au to 30 Au g/t.
  2. Block grade estimation of 0.50 g/t and 1.00 g/t wireframes utilizing ID3 interpolation.
  3. Block grade estimation for 0.50 g/t and 1.00 g/t wireframes performed by successive search ellipsoids with first pass of 15m x 15m x 5m, second pass 30m x 30m x 10m and third pass 75m x 75m x 20m.
  4. Open pit resources (inside whittle) are estimated at a pit discard grade of 1.35 g/t Au with 93% Au recovery utilizing a long term gold price of US$1,500 per ounce, Whittle pit optimization of 0.50 g/t block model was utilized to constrain the open-pittable resources.
  5. Underground resources constrained from 1.00 g/t wireframe block model below the optimized Whittle pit using a 2.50 g/t block cut-off.
  6. Numbers may not add-up due to rounding.

Resource Methodology

The 2012 Three Bluffs Resource estimate has been prepared by Dave Rennie, P.Eng. with independent resource consultants Roscoe Postle Associates Inc., in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and CIM resource definitions.

The Three Bluffs resource is based on 52,000 metres of drilling on the project completed between 1994 and 2011, with drill hole spacing at 50m x 60m to 30m x 30m in denser drilled portions of the deposit. Wireframes were constructed of correlatable mineralized envelopes utilizing a 0.50 g/t Au and 1.00g/t Au drill hole assay composites. Seventeen individual wireframes were constructed for the 0.50 g/t model and sixteen individual wireframes were constructed for the 1.00 g/t model. Grade capping levels were determined separately for each domain.

Inverse distance cubed (ID3) interpolation using three progressive search volumes (15m x 15m x 5m, 30m x 30m x 10m and 75m x 75m x 20m) on 1.5 metre down hole composites were utilized to assign gold grades to 10m x 10m x 2m blocks. Resource classification was applied using a combination of distance to nearest composite, number of holes used in the estimate, and manual adjustment based on inspection of the blocks.  Inferred was provisionally assigned to any block within 75m of the nearest composite.  Blocks within 30m of the nearest composite (generally within the 30m x 30m drill pattern), for which at least two drill holes contributed composites, were provisionally assigned to the Indicated category.  These provisional assignments were reviewed in section and plan and manually adjusted to eliminate isolated small groups of unrealistically classified blocks.  

To determine the open-pit resources Whittle pit optimization was performed on the 0.50 g/t Au model. The optimization utilized a long-term gold price of US$1,500 per ounce, process gold recovery of 93%, a calculated discard grade of 1.35 g/t Au, and pit batter angles of 50 degrees. The pit discard grade is based on break-even costs of mining, milling and G&A per tonne converted to grams/tonne Au at the gold price used for the optimization.

The underground portion of the resource was estimated from the 1.00 g/t Au model on that portion of the resource which lies below the optimize pit limits, utilizing a block cut-off grade of 2.50 g/t. Underground block cut-off grades are based on third party recommendations of similar size and working operations.

Three Bluffs Gold Deposit

The Three Bluffs gold project is a structurally controlled lode gold system hosted within oxide facies iron formation and greywackes. To date gold mineralization has been drill tested at shallow levels along a strike length of 4.1 kilometres. The deposit has been most extensively drilled over the eastern 1.3 kilometres of the trend where drilling has reached depths of 300 metres below surface with mineralization remaining strong and open to depth. The three deepest holes on the deposit have all returned significant high-grade intercepts. Geological modeling of the Three Bluffs gold system has identified several controls on high-grade mineralization including steep east plunging shoots and shallow east plunging fold hinges within iron formation. In 2010, North Country Gold completed a Quantec Titan 24 geophysical survey over the Three Bluffs project which indicated that known gold zones at shallow to intermediate depths displays an excellent correlation with DC-resistivity lows. These resistivity lows extend to least 500 metres depth over much of the surveyed area, further supporting the potential to extend significant gold mineralization to depths beyond those drilled to date.

 

About North Country Gold Corp.

North Country Gold Corp. controls one of the largest under-explored greenstone belts in Canada with numerous drill-ready high-grade gold targets. The gold-rich Committee Bay Greenstone Belt is located 180km northeast of the of Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank gold mine. The Three Bluffs deposit is geologically comparable, with similar grades, type of mineralization and age as Meadowbank and Meliadine Gold Deposits. The Company holds 100% interest in 530,630 acres along the 300km long belt and has identified 5 distinct mineral development centers, focusing in on the Three Bluffs deposit.  North Country Gold Corp. maintains an extensive quality control program in the preparation, shipping and checking of all samples from the property.  The program is supervised by Peter Kleespies, M.Sc., P.Geol. who is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.  A detailed description of North Country Gold Corp.’s QA/QC program is provided on the Company’s website at www.northcountrygold.com.

On behalf of the Board

North Country Gold Corp.
/s/"John Williamson"

For more information on North Country Gold, please visit the company’s website: www.northcountrygold.com or contact:

Brian Budd
Corporate Secretary & Vice President of Corporate Development
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 604-697-2861

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

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com