Equinox Gold announces new East Ridge discovery at Castle Mountain Mine

An aerial view of the Castle Mountain Mine in California. — Photo courtesy northernminer.com

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX-V:EQX) (OTC:LWLCF) (“Equinox Gold” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the discovery of significant gold mineralization at the East Ridge target, peripheral to the current resource pit at the Company’s 100%-owned Castle Mountain Gold Mine (“Castle Mountain”) in California. A channel sampling program covering a portion of the East Ridge target identified extensive, previously unrecognized gold mineralization on surface that is corroborated by three of the best drill results from the Q4-2017 exploration program.

East Ridge Drill Highlights

• 1.60 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) over 32.3 metres (“m”) and 1.08 g/t Au over 17.7 m in hole 261C
• 0.65 g/t Au over 34.6 m in hole 282C
• 1.27 g/t Au over 62.3 m in hole 284C

The Company completed 27 holes totalling 9,230 m during the fourth quarter of 2017 and obtained additional positive results from drilling designed to test the margins of the current modelled resource pit and below the historical open pits (JSLA, Jumbo and Oro Belle).

Additional Drilling Highlights

• 0.39 g/t Au over 32.6 m in hole 260C
• 0.51 g/t Au over 35.1 m in hole 262C
• 0.63 g/t Au over 18.6 m in hole 265C
• 0.35 g/t Au over 32.0 m in hole 268C
• 1.40 g/t Au over 9.30 m and 0.35 g/t Au over 35.2 m in hole 271C
• 0.33 g/t Au over 73.5 m in hole 274C
• 0.60 g/t Au over 64.0 m, 0.70 g/t Au over 27.9 m, and 0.35 g/t Au over 65.7 m in hole 275C
• 1.10 g/t Au over 31.9 m in hole 276C
• 1.01 g/t Au over 44.4 m and 1.49 g/t Au over 21.6 m in hole 283C
• 0.45 g/t Au over 24.7 m, 0.56 g/t Au over 58.3 m, and 0.75 g/t Au over 15.2 m in hole 285C
• 0.74 g/t Au over 14.9 m in hole 286C

“Drilling continues to confirm the potential for significant resource growth at Castle Mountain,” said Scott Heffernan, EVP Exploration of Equinox Gold. “The 2017 Phase 2 drilling program focused on testing new geological concepts, under-drilled regions below the resource pit, and potential extensions of mineralization along strike to the north of the Oro Belle pit and east of the Oro Belle and Jumbo pits, in particular at the East Ridge target. Results to date have been excellent, encountering ore-grade mineralization over significant widths near the margins and outside of the current resource pit.”

The Company drilled 58,100 m at Castle Mountain in 2017 (see previous Castle Mountain press releases on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under NewCastle Gold’s profile). The Castle Mountain exploration team is currently integrating the results of the 2017 program with detailed geological mapping and updating the existing 3D geological model of the deposit to gain an improved understanding of the controls on mineralization. Additionally, a regional geological mapping and prospecting program is underway and the Company intends to drill more than 30,000 m later in 2018.

On behalf of the Board of Equinox Gold Corp.

“Christian Milau”

CEO & Director

About Equinox Gold

Equinox Gold is a Canadian mining company with a multi-million-ounce gold resource base, near-term and growing gold production from two past-producing mines in Brazil and California, and a long-term growth platform with a diverse portfolio of gold and copper assets in North and South America. Construction is underway at the Company’s Aurizona project in Brazil with the objective of pouring gold by year-end 2018, and a prefeasibility study is underway at the Company’s Castle Mountain project in California with the objective of restarting production. Further information about Equinox Gold’s current portfolio of assets and long-term growth strategy is available at www.equinoxgold.com.