Further Standout Becher Gold Results Highlight Encouraging Growth Potential

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ongoing aircore (“AC”) drilling at Novo’s 100%-owned flagship Becher Project continues to deliver promising results, with over 10,000 m of the planned Q2 2023 20,000 m program complete.
• Becher is located in the northern section of the Egina Gold Camp 28 km along trend from De Grey Mining Limited’s 10.6 Moz Au (JORC 2012)¹ Mallina Gold Project.
• Drilling is being completed on intrusion-related and structural gold targets generated from the 2022 program² which identified an initial priority focus area of ~20 sq km at the Heckmair, Irvine and Whillans prospects.
• 423 holes for a total of 10,080 m of AC drilling have been completed on 320 m spaced infill drill lines (previously 640 m spaced) at the highly prospective Heckmair intrusion and Irvine shear corridor prospects. Promising results have been generated from the first 349 holes under shallow cover (10 – 20 m) including:
  • 3m @ 5.23 g/t Au from 9 m in F1474
  • 3m @ 2.93 g/t Au from 9 m in F1739
  • 3 m @ 2.08 g/t Au from 12 m F1427
  • 3 m @ 1.04 g/t Au from 18 m in F1469
  • 1 m @ 1.57 g/t Au from 30 m in F1603
  • 9 m @ 0.77 g/t Au from 6 m (including 3 m @ 2.05 g/t Au from 6 m) in F1631
  • 15 m @ 0.61 g/t Au from 0 m (including 6 m @ 1.16 g/t Au from 0 m) in F1711
  • 9 m @ 0.39 g/t Au from 51 m in F1597
  • 12 m @ 0.28 g/t Au from 6 m (including 6m @ 0.42 g/t Au from 9 m) in F1498
  • 18 m @ 0.24 g/t Au from 21 m (including 6 m @ 0.39 g/t Au from 24 m) in F1582
• Most AC gold intercepts to date have been hosted in hornblende diorite intrusion or sediments. AC drilling is a standard approach of shallow drilling that will be used to guide future deeper drilling.
• Prioritised targets at Heckmair and Irvine will be assessed for deeper RC drilling in Q3 2023, with the remaining ~10,000 m of AC drilling continuing to test additional key areas at Heckmair and Whillans.

Commenting on the drill program, Novo Executive Co-Chairman and Acting CEO Mike Spreadborough said, “We are very excited by further standout assay results from our Becher Project, which is located in the Egina Gold Camp. Our ongoing AC program has highlighted the potential for significant mineralisation throughout the area. Novo has discovered a large broad area of gold anomalism with recent drilling now confirming gold mineralisation extending into the underlying intrusions and sandstone rock units adjacent to De Grey’s Mallina Gold Project. Novo will continue the current drilling program to build on the excellent progress to date at Becher to further define the extent of mineralisation.”

¹ De Grey has reported that its Hemi deposit at the Mallina Gold Project is comprised of Measured Mineral Resources of 4.7 Mt @ 1.7 g/t Au for 265 koz Au, Indicated Mineral Resources of 153.4 Mt @ 1.3 g/t Au for 6,590 koz Au, and Inferred Mineral Resources of 92.6 Mt @ 1.3 g/t Au for 3,779 koz Au, as those categories are defined in the JORC Code (as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Refer to De Grey’s public disclosure record for further details. No assurance can be given that a similar or any mineral resource estimate will be determined at Novo’s Becher Project.
² Refer to the Company’s news release dated March 6, 2023.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (“Novo” or the “Company”) (TSX: NVO, NVO.WT & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) is pleased to report continued outstanding results from the 2023 AC drilling program at Becher. Results referred to in this news release are not necessarily representative of mineralisation throughout the Egina Gold Camp.

The Becher Project is located in the northern section of the Egina Gold Camp 28 km along trend from De Grey Mining Limited’s (“De Grey”) 10.6 Moz Au (JORC 2012)¹ Mallina Gold Project. Novo commenced its 2023 AC program at Becher in mid-April 2023 and has already received gold results for 3,350 (including QAQC) samples of priority drilling, facilitated by a fast-tracked field sampling methodology and Chrysos™ PhotonAssay analysis, currently achieving an assay turnaround time of 5 – 12 days.

Background

The Becher Project covers an area approximately 20 sq km in the north of the 100% Novo owned E47/3673 exploration tenement. The area is characterised by shallow cover overlaying the highly prospective and under-explored Mallina Basin. Becher is situated adjacent to De Grey’s 10.6 Moz Au (JORC 2012)¹ Mallina Gold Project and 2.5 km south of their Withnell South discovery³ (Figure 1).

During 2022, over 32,000 m of drilling was conducted by Novo on broad regional lines (640 m line spacing), focused on ENE trending gold-fertile, structurally complex corridors at Becher and successfully delineated three standout gold and associated pathfinder element targets at Irvine, Heckmair and Whillans. Analysis of multielement geochemistry from bottom-of-hole samples also identified prospective hornblende-diorite intrusions within and around the targeted structural corridors. These intrusions are commonly associated with gold deposits in the Mallina Basin.

The current 20,000 m AC program is testing multiple, high-priority structural and intrusion-hosted gold targets generated from the 2022 programs, delineated in well-defined and highly anomalous structural corridors. Drilling is being completed at high-priority drill prospects at Heckmair, Irvine and Whillans following significant gold and pathfinder anomalies and “sanukitoid” intrusion-related signatures in the 2022 AC bottom-of-hole drill hole samples.

The current drilling program is on schedule for completion by the end of Q2 2023.

³ While certain aspects of Becher mineralisation seem analogous to that at the Mallina Gold Project as disclosed by De Grey’s Mallina Gold Project, mineralisation is not necessarily representative of mineralisation throughout the Becher Area or the Egina Gold Camp.

Drilling and Results

To date, 423 holes for a total of 10,080 m AC drilling have been completed over the eastern Heckmair and Irvine prospects (Figure 2), with standout gold assay results returned in the first 349 holes. New results show high potential for mineralisation hosted both within the large Heckmair hornblende-diorite intrusion, along and in proximity to large cross-cutting and offset structures and at the margins of the intrusion where they are in contact with the Constantine Sandstone country rocks, all under shallow cover.

Results from the current AC program are located on 320 m lines across the Heckmair prospect and infill the previous 640 m drilling completed during the 2022 program. In addition, an east-west traverse was conducted across both the western and eastern faulted blocks of the Heckmair intrusion, intersecting anomalous gold mineralisation within a demagnetised portion of the intrusion (Figure 2 and Figure 3). Additional infill lines at Irvine are spaced as closely as 160 m in some areas.

Significant intercepts (> 2 g*m in tenor) include:

• 3 m @ 5.23 g/t Au from 9 m in F1474
• 15 m @ 0.61 g/t Au from 0 m including 6 m @ 1.16 g/t Au from 0 m in F1711
• 3 m @ 2.93 g/t Au from 9 m in F1739
• 9 m @ 0.77 g/t Au from 6 m including 3 m @ 2.05 g/t Au from 6 m in F1631 and
  4 m @ 0.4 g/t Au from 27 m including 3 m @ 0.49 g/t Au from 27 m in F1631
• 3 m @ 2.08 g/t Au from 12 m in F1427
• 18 m @ 0.24 g/t Au from 21 m including 6 m @ 0.39 g/t Au from 24 m in F1582
• 9 m @ 0.39 g/t Au from 51 m including 6 m @ 0.45 g/t Au from 51 m in F1597
• 12 m @ 0.28 g/t Au from 6 m including 6 m @ 0.42 g/t Au from 9 m in F1498
• 3 m @ 1.04 g/t Au from 18 m in F1469
• 1 m @ 1.57 g/t Au from 30 m in F1603

Refer to Table 1 in the Appendix below for a complete list of assay results.

Two AC cross-sections examples are shown from the Heckmair intrusion Figure 5 and the Irvine Shear corridor Figure 5 below.

Figure 4 shows a significant zone of pervasive sericite altered and quartz veined intrusion identified in F1498 in the northern portion of the western Heckmair block, with an intercept of 12 m @ 0.28 g/t Au from 6 m, including 6 m @ 0.42 g/t Au from 9 m. The intrusion is characteristic of the medium to coarse grained hornblende-diorite intercepted in other holes within the Heckmair prospect.

An intercept of 3 m @ 5.23 g/t Au from 9 m in F1474 was associated with quartz veining hosted within the Heckmair intrusive in proximity to the southern contact with the Constantine Sandstone country sediments. Anomalous mineralisation occurs both within the sediments to the south and within the intrusion to the north.

An intercept of 9 m @0.77 g/t Au from 9 m including 3m @ 2.05 g/t Au was identified in F1631 and is associated with quartz veining and shearing within the Constantine Sandstone country rocks (Figure 5). F1631 is located at the boundary of the Irvine and Heckmair prospects, with the inferred contact of the intrusion with the sediments approximately 36m to the north-west of the hole collar.

Refer to Table 1 in the Appendix below for a complete list of assay results. True widths from AC drilling cannot be estimated at this time.

Next Steps

Latest results from infill AC drilling highlight the need to continue prioritising these targets, including both structurally controlled and intrusion related gold which appear similar to mineralisation at De Greys’ Mallina Gold Project³. Drilling of the remaining ~10,000 m AC drilling continues at Heckmair and Whillans, and targets at Heckmair and Irvine will be considered for follow-up deeper RC drilling in Q3 2023.

Given ongoing gold and multielement results, AC drilling will continue past the 20,000 m Q2 2023 program completing the regional reconnaissance 640 m spaced drill lines at Bonatti, and follow up any new targets at closer spacing.

Analytical methodology

One-metre samples are collected from the drill rig and placed on the ground in piles for geological quantitative and qualitative logging. These piles are then speared at three-meter composites into a 500-gram Chrysos™ PhotonAssay jar. Some of the end of hole intervals are shorter than three meters depending on final hole depths. Jars are dispatched weekly to Intertek Genalysis (“Intertek”) in Perth, Western Australia and analysed for gold using Chrysos™ PhotonAssay (PHXR/AU01).

QAQC procedures for the program include insertion of a certified blank approximately every 25 samples (4 per hundred), a Chrysos™ PhotonAssay certified standard approximately every 50 samples (2 per 100) and duplicate sampling (split of 3 m composite) at the rate of 4 per hundred. In addition, Intertek inserts Chrysos™ PhotonAssay certified standards at the rate of 2 per hundred.

QP STATEMENT

Mr. Alwin Van Roij (MAIG), is the qualified person, as defined under NI 43-101, responsible for, and having reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release other than information concerning De Grey’s Mallina Gold Project. Mr. Van Roij is Novo’s Exploration Manger – East Pilbara.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo explores and develops its prospective land package covering approximately 10,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper Project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia. In addition to the Company’s primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its stakeholders.

For more information, please contact Michael Spreadborough at +61-419-329-687 or mike.spreadborough@novoresources.com, or Leo Karabelas at +1-416-543-3120 or leo@novoresources.com. 

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Novo Resources Corp.

“Michael Spreadborough”

Michael Spreadborough

Executive Co-Chairman and Acting CEO

Forward-looking information

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) including, without limitation, that 2023 AC program will test multiple, high-priority structural and intrusion-hosted gold targets generated from the 2022 programs, that Heckmair and Irvine will be assessed for follow-up deeper RC drilling in Q3 2023, whilst the remaining approx. 10,000 m AC drilling continues to further test Heckmair and Whillans, and that AC drilling will continue past the 20,000 m Q2 2023 program completing the regional reconnaissance 640 m spaced drill lines at Bonatti, and also follow up any new targets at closer spacing. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, customary risks of the resource industry and the risk factors identified in Novo’s annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is available under Novo’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, Novo assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If Novo updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

APPENDIX

Table 1: Becher Area – location data for 2023 AC drill holes

Table 2: Becher Area – Aircore drilling Intercepts > 0.1 g/t Au with up to 2 m internal dilution