Great Pacific Gold Announces 2025 Work Plans for Wild Dog Project

December 6, 2024, Vancouver, BC Canada.  Great Pacific Gold Corp. (“Great Pacific Gold,” “GPAC,” or the “Company”) (TSXV: GPAC) (OTCQX: FSXLF) (Germany: V3H) announces that it has developed an extensive exploration program for its Wild Dog Project (“Wild Dog” or the “Project”) located on the island of New Britian, Papua New Guinea (Figure 1).

As outlined in our October 28, 2024 news release, the Company has been actively preparing an extensive exploration program for its flagship Wild Dog Project, set to commence in 2025. Preparations have included a detailed site visit to the Project in late November, as well as a comprehensive planning session held in the nearby town of Rabaul. 

Highlights

• Engaged RSC Mining and Mineral Exploration (“RSC”) to consolidate historical data from the Project into a Leapfrog and GIS workspace
• Developed a plan with Expert Geophysics to fly the Wild Dog property with MobileMT geoelectrical mapping
• Completed base line environmental studies with Tetra Tech, documenting the footprint from historical mining operations
• Continued access road improvements to support further infrastructure development at site including an exploration camp
• Hired a full time Project site geologist
• Initiated dialogue with Quest Exploration Drilling (“QED”) to mobilize a track mounted diamond drill rig to the Project in Q2 2025
• Developed a plan for trenching and mapping work to begin in the Gorocha area (Figure 1) in Q1 2025

“As highlighted in our recent corporate update, the team came away from our site visit with an even stronger appreciation for the tremendous potential of the Wild Dog Project,” stated Greg McCunn, CEO of Great Pacific Gold.  “Over the past several weeks, we have made substantial progress in designing a systematic approach to our initial exploration activities, setting the stage for an exciting year ahead in 2025. 

Our current focus is on consolidating historical drilling data, mapping, surface sampling, geophysics, preliminary wireframes, technical reports, and non-compliant resource estimates. This information will be used to develop a preliminary 3D geological model of the Project. This model, combined with modern geophysics and detailed trenching and mapping, will guide our diamond drill targeting planned for Q2 2025.

We anticipate a milestone-rich year in 2025, with significant news flow driven by our Wild Dog exploration program and our ongoing commitment to drilling at the Kesar Project, strategically located along strike from K92’s mining operations.”

About Wild Dog

The Wild Dog Project is 100% owned by the Company and located ~50 km south-southeast of Rabaul township, East New Britain province, PNG. Access to the project is via a paved highway from the deep-water port at Rabaul to a refurbished gravel road for the last 12 km.

The Project is a district-scale land package that covers ~1,424 km² over two Exploration Licenses (EL2516 Wild Dog and EL2716 Gunsap, Figure 1) which contains a >26-km long NNE-trending structural corridor with several occurrences of intrusion-related/porphyry/skarn Cu-Au-Mo and epithermal-style Au-Ag mineralization. The epithermal component is open along strike and at depth. 

The Wild Dog Project is a mid-stage exploration project with a history of small-scale open pit mining. Sporadic grassroots to resource definition exploration was undertaken from 1965–2002.  The primary target area for the Wild Dog Project consists of an 11km structure within the broader 26km long Wild Dog Structural corridor.  In the Gorocha area (Figure 2), approximately 3km of the Wild Dog Structure outcrop at surface (from the South Oxide pit area to the Kavursuki area) with a central 900m strike length exposed by small scale open pit mining operations (Sinivit Mine) which operated from 2008 to 2011 mining and processed oxide materials in a VAT/Heap leach operation.

The historical mining operations have revealed a high-grade gold copper system associated with intense alteration and brecciation.  The degree of alteration and brecciation suggests a large-scale hydrothermal system that extends well beyond the historic open pit footprint, as indicated by mineralization as far north as Kavursuki.  In addition to the main North-South trending epithermal-style oxide structures that were the primary focus of previous mining, there are multiple perpendicular sets of structures and breccia zones that contain abundant copper mineralization (copper oxides, bornite and chalcopyrite).

Historical drilling¹ below the shallow open pit was less than 100m depth for “grade control” in the open pit mine.  Some deeper holes were drilled below the open pit and indicated mineralization continues at depth.  Virtually all the historic drilling was carried out in west-to-east orientation to delineate the target north-south trending oxide structure. No significant drilling has been undertaken to test the perpendicular sets of structures which contain abundant copper mineralization visually.

Historical Drilling in the Central Oxide Pit area targeted low-copper, high-grade gold near surface for open pit mining.  Drilling highlights include:

• 10 meters @ 7.44 g/t gold from 6 meters (Hole 86-WDP-004)
• 11.25 meters @16.22 g/t gold and 0.3% copper from 18.45 meters (Hole 90-WDD-086)

A few deeper holes were drilling in the Central Oxide Pit area which show continuity at depth of high-grade material.  Drilling Highlights include:

• 2.85 meters @ 16.94 g/t gold and 3.2% copper from 201 meters (Hole 87-WDD-045)
• 6.05 meters @ 7.29 g/t gold and 0.2% copper from 254 meters (Hole 87-WDD-051)

Approximately 700m further north in the Northern Oxide Zone, high-grade gold outcrops at surface with increasing copper at depth.  Drill highlights include:

• 8 meters @21.07 g/t gold from surface (Hole NGC-0100)
• 12 meters @ 16.85 g/t gold from 12 meters (Hole NGC-0051)
• 2 meters @ 34.2 g/t gold and 0.8% copper from 12 meters (Hole NGC-0130)

Historic exploration work extends a further 1.5km north along the structure to the Kavursuki Zone with high-grade gold intercepts near surface including:

• 8.15 meters at 18.77 g/t gold and 0.3% copper from 22.9 meters (Hole 11-KVD-025)
• 5.1 meters at 14.7 g/t gold from 33.8 meters (Hole 11-KVD-026)
• 5.25 meters at 9.45 g/t gold from 11.1 meters (Hole 11-KVD-019)
• 8.1 meters at 4.06 g/t gold from 43.5 meters (Hole 11-KVD-20)

The Company’s 2025 exploration focus will be on the Garocha area along with the perpendicular copper-rich structures.  However, there is a highly prospective gold-copper porphyry target approximately 750m west of the epithermal target structure, Magiabe, which will also be investigated to some degree during 2025.

Magiabe is an equigranular quartz diorite, locally porphyritic and altered.  Several small (300 m x 200 m) bodies of intrusive have been mapped comprising micro-monzodiorite and monzonite, typically with potassic alteration. An intensely phyllic altered pebble breccia body of circular shape (250 m diameter) has also been mapped and there is extensive occurrence of dykes. The Magiabe porphyry target has not been previously drill tested.

On behalf of Great Pacific Gold:

Greg McCunn

Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information visit gpacgold.com or contact: 

Investor Relations

Direct: (604) 229-9445

Toll Free: 1(833) 923-3334

Email: [email protected] 

Notes:

1. Additional information on historical drilling is contained in the Company’s news release dated July 5, 2023 and National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report dated August 8, 2023 and filed on SEDAR+.

Figure 1 Wild Dog Project Location

Figure 2 Gorocha Area – Historic Oxide Mining and Select Historic Drill Results

About Great Pacific Gold

Great Pacific Gold has a portfolio of exploration stage projects in Papua New Guinea (“PNG”) and Australia.  The Company is focused on developing gold-copper resources from its highly prospective land packages.  Its core projects include:

• Kesar – located in the Eastern Highlands province of PNG and contiguous with K92 Mining’s mine tenements, Kesar is a greenfield exploration project with several high priority targets in close proximity to the property boundary with K92. Multiple epithermal veins at Kesar are on strike and have the same orientation of key K92 deposits such as Kora. Exploration work to date by GPAC at Kesar has shown that these veins have high grades of gold present in outcrop and very elevated gold in soil grades, coincident with aeromagnetic highs. 
• Arau – located in Eastern Highlands province of PNG, the Arau Project contains the highly prospective Mt. Victor exploration target with potential for a high sulphidation epithermal gold-base metal deposit.  A Phase 1 Reverse Circulation drilling program was completed at Mt. Victor in August 2024, with results pending.  The Arau project includes the Elandora licence which also contains various epithermal and copper-gold porphyry targets.
• Wild Dog – located in the East New Britain province of PNG, Wild Dog is a brownfield exploration project with a history of small-scale gold mining.  The project contains numerous epithermal and porphyry hydrothermal-magmatic targets evidenced by previous exploration and operations.  The Company completed a road refurbishment in August 2024 and access to the project has been established for baseline environmental and exploration work.
• Lauriston – located in the state of Victoria, Australia, the Lauriston project is located on the southern extension of the Fosterville Goldfield Belt and is adjacent to Agnico Eagle’s extensive Fosterville tenements and mine operations.  Lauriston contains the Comet-Trojan target, a 4.5km long epizonal orogenic system.  The discovery hole at Comet intersected 8m at 105 g/t gold and a follow-up drilling program was completed in Q3 2024.  The Company is consolidating its information on the Lauriston project and expects to publish an NI 43-101 compliant technical report.
• Walhalla – located in the state of Victoria, Australia, the Walhalla project consists of over 1,400km² of concessions including the numerous historical mining operations and the recently acquired Woods Point land package.  The Company is consolidating its information on the Walhalla project and expects to publish an NI 43-101 compliant technical report.  Walhalla contains a high-priority greenfield target called Pinnacles.  Extensive soil geochemistry has highlighted a 400m x 1,100m gold mineralized aplitic dyke which contains disseminated sulphides and outcrops at surface.  The Pinnacles target is fully permitted and ready for drilling.

The Company also holds a number of other exploration projects including the Tinga Valley Project in Papua New Guinea.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Callum Spink, the Company’s Vice President, Exploration, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, MAIG, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.  Mr. Spink is responsible for the technical content of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management’s current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Great Pacific Gold cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by many material factors, many of which are beyond their respective control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Great Pacific Gold’s limited operating history, its anticipated exploration and development activities on its mineral properties and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Great Pacific Gold does not undertake to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. 

Neither 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.