Solstice Gold Corp. announced the commencement of the Phase 2 drill program at its 100% owned and royalty-free, Red Lake Extension project, located in the northwest corner of the prolific Red Lake Gold Camp. The 4,000m program (10-12 drill holes) will test two main target areas at an average depth of approximately 200m below surface.

These areas are complementary to those drilled in Phase 1 last summer and include targets with more of a structural emphasis or a follow up on historical drilling described below. This winter program includes ice drilling to optimize access to targets. RLX hosts a road-accessible, 18km-long largely unexplored extension of the Red Lake Greenstone Belt, located ~27 km north of the community of Red Lake.

It lies in the vicinity of a major deep-tapping fault inferred by government geologists and researchers from seismic data1,2. Mapping by the Ontario Geological Survey 3 has identified a regional scale deformation zone, the Nungesser Shear Zone which parallels the property to the west. In the western part of the RLX project, a distinctive intrusive rock type known as ‘Sanukitoid' has also been mapped by government geologists. Such intrusions are derived from deep (mantle) sources and are typically associated with major crustal-scale faults.

The Ontario Geological Survey1 has noted from seismic data that, elsewhere in Red Lake, important gold deposits are associated with these deep fluid pathways. We consider the geological and structural setting at RLX to be highly prospective for gold mineralization. Many large and prospective areas of RLX, are best accessed in the winter due to the presence of lake and/or swamp.

Winter targets have some of the strongest electro-magnetic response and structural complexity at RLX. Drilling has commenced at the South Fold target area. A mapped fold in the South Fold Target within altered mafic volcanics and iron formation with strong EM response.

Folding post-dates regional folding in the area and is associated with large-scale NE-trending faults. Solstice interprets this area to be the northeastern extension of the East Bay Fault . In the core of the Red Lake camp, the EBF is a fundamental regional structure with associated gold mineralization along much of its length.

Follow up of elevated gold and alteration in Phase 1 areas (South Nungesser target); Areas where shallow drilling using small, 18mm diameter core by Dome exploration in 1980 documented elevated gold (Dome B6 and B7 targets). Additional target areas as shown in guided by observations from current drilling, gold in humus soils and geophysical modeling. In addition to newly identified gold in volcanic rocks, previous drilling in 1980 by Dome Exploration reported elevated intrusive-hosted gold in two shallow holes drilled on Nungesser Lake.

One drill hole (B6) reported 0.62g/t gold over 1.5m at 57.3m down hole, plus a separate interval of 0.62g/t over 1.5m at 62.0m. A second drill hole (B7) located approximately 1.8km further east, reported 0.62g/t gold over 1.3m at a down-hole depth of 59m. These areas will be tested in Phase 2. This area is defined by a NE trending fold cut by regional-scale NE-faults.

Mapping in this area has identified epidote and carbonate altered mafic volcanic flows and flow breccias with local intercalated exhalite units. These are likely correlated to mafic volcanics in the main RLGB. The area exhibits strong Bi-Pb-Mo and Au-Ag-Sb soil anomalies.

EM inversion modeling identifies three main target areas which display increasing conductivity with depth. Drilling in this area is designed to test all three attributes, geological, geochemical, and geophysical. The main limb of the RLX greenstone belt, which occupies the western half, forms a flexure related to extensive F2 faults cut by later F3 faults.

Solstice drill hole 22-07, which returned 1.96g/t Au over 1.5m, lies at the southern end of this area. Four holes are planned to drill test this area. An additional four holes will test remaining targets in the eastern part.

These include areas of EM associated with magnetic depletion which are related to a NE-trending F3 fault (Peanut Target), strong EM response with associated magnetic response (NE Target) and previous gold documented by Dome Exploration (B7 Target).