Drills 309 m of 0.42% CuEQ, within 557 m of 0.36% CuEQ Vancouver, BC – Amarc Resources Ltd. (“Amarc” or the “Company”) (TSXV: AHR; OTCQB: AXREF) is pleased to announce that the ongoing drilling program continues to expand the DUKE Deposit, located within its 100%-owned DUKE porphyry Cu-Au district (“DUKE District” or “DUKE”) in central British Columbia (“BC”). Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. (“Boliden”) is earning up to a 70% interest in the DUKE District by funding CDN$90 million of staged earn-in expenditures (see November 22, 2022 news release). Amarc is the operator of the project. “The consistently positive results we’ve received from our initial drill program underscore the tremendous potential of the mineralized system at the DUKE Deposit,” said Amarc President and CEO Dr. Diane Nicolson. “We have just returned from site where it was agreed with partner Boliden to expand the drill program to include a third rig: two rigs are focused on delineating the DUKE Deposit laterally and at depth, and the third will step out to continue to drill test the surrounding 4.7 km2 DUKE target. We strongly believe the untapped potential of the sizeable mineralized system at the DUKE target will continue to emerge, as will its development opportunities.” Hole DK22010 is the second of two holes completed in December 2022 in the DUKE Deposit area as part of a first phase drill program to test the geometry and depth potential of the mineralization, which from previous drilling is known to extend over at least 400 m x 600 m at surface and notably remains open for expansion laterally and to depth. Highlights from DK22010 include: 309 m of 0.42% CuEQ*(0.31% Cu, 0.017% Mo, 0.08 g/t Au and 1.8 g/t Ag) from 8.6 m Including 57 m of 0.68% CuEQ (0.50% Cu, 0.027% Mo, 0.13 g/t Au and 2.0 g/t Ag) from 243 m Within 557 m of 0.36% CuEQ (0.25% Cu, 0.018% Mo, 0.06 g/t Au and 1.4 g/t Ag) from 8.6 m * Copper equivalent (CuEQ) calculations use metal prices of: Cu US$4.00/lb, Mo US$15.00/lb, Au US$1,800.00/oz, Ag US$24.00/oz and and conceptual recoveries of: Cu 85%, Mo 82%, Au 72% and 67% Ag. Hole DK22010 was collared 200 m east of DK22009, which intercepted 126 m of 0.52% CuEQ* (0.38% Cu, 0.024% Mo, 0.08 g/t Au and 1.8 g/t Ag) within 542 m of 0.33% CuEQ (0.24% Cu, 0.016% Mo, 0.04 g/t Au and 1.2 g/t Ag) (see January 26, 2023 news release). It also encountered significant Cu-Mo-Au-Ag mineralization from the bedrock surface to the bottom of hole including several sub-intervals of higher grade (Table 1). Importantly, DK22010 continues to extend the deposit to the east and to depth. Figures 1 and 2 show the location of hole DK22010 in relation to previous Amarc drill holes, including DK17001 and DK17002 to the west, and DK18006 and DK18007 to the east, listed as “1”, “2”, “6” and “7”, respectively, on the figures. The latter holes are further described in Amarc’s December 19, 2017 and June 12, 2018 news releases. Figure 1: DUKE Deposit DK22010: Confirms Scale and Depth Potential with Mineralization Open in All Directions Figure 2: DUKE Deposit IP Chargeability Anomaly Indicates a Significant Mineralized System  1. DK22010 is collared at UTM NAD83, Zone 9, Easting 679888, Northing 6125597.2. Widths reported are drill widths, such that true thicknesses are unknown. 3. All assay intervals represent length-weighted averages. 4. Some figures may not sum exactly due to rounding. 5. Copper equivalent (CuEQ) calculations use metal prices of: Cu US$4.00/lb, Mo US$15.00/lb, Au US$1,800.00/oz, Ag US$24.00/oz and and conceptual recoveries of: Cu 85%, Mo 82%, Au 72% and 67% Ag. Conversion of metals to an equivalent copper grade based on these metal prices is relative to the copper price per unit mass factored by conceptual recoveries for those metals normalized to the conceptualized copper recovery. The metal equivalencies for each metal are added to the copper grade. The general formula for this is: CuEQ % = Cu% + (Au g/t * (Au recovery / Cu recovery) * (Au $ per oz/ 31.1034768) / (Cu $ per lb* 22.04623)) + (Ag g/t * (Ag recovery / Cu recovery) * (Ag $ per oz/ 31.1034768) / (Cu $ per lb* 22.04623)+ (Mo% * (Mo recovery / Cu recovery) * (Mo $ per lb / Cu $ per lb)). About the DUKE District Amarc’s DUKE District is located 80 km northeast of Smithers within the Babine Region, one of BC’s most prolific porphyry Cu-Au belts. The Babine Region hosts the former Bell and Granisle Cu-Au mines that were operated by Noranda Mines, and the advanced stage Morrison Cu-Au deposit. Significant infrastructure exists in the region servicing the former mines and the very active forestry and exploration industries. Central to Amarc’s extensive mineral tenure is the DUKE Deposit discovery, located 30 km north of the former Bell Mine. Although explored historically, the extensive porphyry Cu system at the DUKE discovery has not been delineated or drilled off. Many of the 21 historical shallow and closely-spaced core holes intersected and ended in significant Cu-Mo-Au-Ag mineralization. These holes were restricted to a small portion of a robust, 4.7 km2 IP chargeability anomaly indicating a large sulphide mineralized system. Amarc completed initial drilling at the DUKE Deposit in 2017 and 2018. Seven of the eight core holes drilled over an area measuring approximately 400 m north-south by 600 m east-west (see December 19, 2017 and June 12, 2018 news releases) successfully intersected porphyry copper-style mineralization to a vertical depth of 360 m. This mineralization remains wide open to expansion. The eighth hole was drilled off a road one kilometre to the north and within the sulphide mineral system; it intersected similar copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry mineralization. Amarc has also completed a comprehensive compilation of government and historical data over the entire DUKE District. This detailed scientific work provided a new interpretation of the geological, geochemical and geophysical characteristics of the Babine belt, and identified 12 previously unrecognized porphyry Cu deposit targets with exciting potential (see May 6, 2020 news release). Drilling and additional surface programs testing these compelling deposit targets across the DUKE District are planned for later in 2023. In November 2022, Amarc entered into a Mineral Property Earn-In Agreement (the “EIA”) with Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. (“Boliden”), an entity within the Boliden Group of companies (see Amarc release November 22, 2022). Under the terms of the Agreement, Boliden has a two-staged option to earn up to a 70% interest in the DUKE District by funding $90 million exploration and development expenditures. Boliden has committed to invest $5 million, with an expected investment of a further $5 million (total $10 million) during 2023. Further information on the historical and Amarc’s modern exploration activities in the DUKE District, are described in the Company’s DUKE Project 2020 Technical Report available on its website at https://amarcresources.com/projects/duke-project/technical-report/. |
