MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. – Newly Staked Claims are Promising

Figure 1. Showing location of Newly Staked Claims (in red).

Feb 28, 2017 @ 09:09

MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. announces that it has begun a core sampling program at its Wawa-Holdsworth Project. The Company is also solidifying its position in the Wawa Gold District and has staked 84 hectares, approximately 10 kilometers southwest of the Wawa-Holdsworth Project (Figure 1).

Details of the Core Sampling Program

The Company has begun a systematic analysis of core from the 2008 Drill Program. It is developing a database of the lithological and geochemical signatures associated with high grade gold assays by utilizing XRF, magnetic susceptibility and SWIR measurements.

Initial observations found that the highest grades of gold are associated with deformed quartz-iron-carbonate veins, with additional sericite, chlorite and tourmaline alteration, hosted in mafic metavolcanic rocks. These veins locally contain visible gold, accompanied by chalcopyrite, galena and pyrite mineralization.

The Company will be assaying any previously un-sampled prospective zones, particularly those containing significant shearing and quartz-iron-carbonate veining, and re-sampling any significant quartz veins and analyzing them using metallic screening.

Highlights from the 2008 Drill Program include:

28.35 g/t gold over 1.07 m
17.9 g/t gold over 0.54 m
13.5 g/t gold over 0.66 m
4.07 g/t gold over 0.95 m
4.03 g/t gold over 0.90 m

Wawa-Holdsworth Oxide Sands

The Oxide Sands are one of the main gold targets on the property. Gold mineralization occurs in black sands composed of fine quartz, non-magnetic iron oxides (likely oxidized pyrite) and free gold. The Oxide Sands are interpreted to be derived from the weathering of an auriferous and pyritized Algoma-type iron formation.

The pyritized iron formation is, so far, traced on the property over a 2 km-long strike length.

In 2002, a detailed and systematic sampling of the Oxide Sands was conducted over a strike length of 332.5 metres (Blocks A and B). The mineralized sands reached 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.

Results from the 2002 Sampling Program:

BLOCK A	Length (m)	Average Width (m)	Average Depth (m)	Gold Grade (g/t)	Silver Grade (g/t)
A-1	30.0	6.9	4.65	4.92	25.22
A-2	13.5	5.3	3.00	5.76	42.65
A-3	31.0	4.7	3.35	5.95	47.09
A-4	10.0	3.5	3.74	5.94	50.78
A-5	24.0	2.9	3.66	5.10	50.14
A-6	8.0	5.3	5.49	2.99	36.01
A-7	11.5	7.5	5.03	1.74	21.29
A-8	20.0	6.3	3.65	0.85	9.91

BLOCK B
B-1	21.0	6.4	1.92	1.17	17.43
B-2	53.0	3.8	1.14	1.20	17.94
B-3	17.5	2.8	1.60	3.04	44.06
B-4	17.5	5.5	3.20	3.88	50.56
B-5	10.0	5.5	3.20	3.51	41.28
B-6	45.5	3.6	2.28	1.84	16.83
B-7	20.0	3.0	1.83	1.54	18.60

Preliminary metallurgical testing on Oxide Sands composite samples recovered, without crushing, between 69% and 98.7 % gold. The Company has identified the Oxide Sands as a short-term target for gold production and is anticipating that additional Oxide Sands zones can be discovered along the 2 km strike length of the pyritized iron formation defined so far on the property.

MacDonald Mines will be conducting a geophysical EM survey to map the lateral extents of the oxide sands which will then be used for a more extensive sampling program.

New Land Position in the Wawa Gold District

Figure 2. Land Position of MacDonald Mines in the Wawa Gold District.

MacDonald Mines is solidifying its position in the Wawa Gold District (Figure 2.). The newly staked claims host a pyritized iron formation showing similar to the gold targets identified at the Wawa-Holdsworth Project. The staked claims encompass the MILE 12 OCCURRENCE in which the carbonate iron formation is partially pyritized. The Company believes these are the indicators of the circulation of sulfur-rich fluids that can also transport and deposit gold (similar to Wawa-Holdsworth). The geological environment, rich in iron is highly favourable to trap and concentrate gold.

About MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. - MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Previously focused on Copper and Zinc (VMS), and Nickel exploration in the Ring of Fire area of the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario, the company recently acquired the Charlevoix Silica Property in Quebec and entered into an option and joint venture agreement with Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. to advance exploration on Noble's Wawa-Holdsworth Gold and Silver Project in Ontario. Highlights of the Wawa-Holdsworth Project:

Approximately 285 hectares, 20 kilometres northeast of the town of Wawa
Neighbouring Argonaut's >6Moz gold Magino Deposit & Richmont's >1Moz gold Island Gold Mine
Numerous gold showings with diversified mineralization styles occurring in a 500 metre-wide deformation corridor
Year-long road access and easy access to rail, road, electrical power, labour force and suppliers.

The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BMK".