VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX.V: PGE; US OTC: PGEZF; FSE: 5D32) (the “Company” or “Group Ten”) is pleased to announce exploration plans for the 2019 season at the Company’s flagship Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu project in Montana, USA, including planned drilling at the three most advanced target areas where the Company sees potential to rapidly expand known mineralized zones towards resource delineation.  In addition, recently completed advanced 3D modeling of geophysical data highlights the potential that favorable, mineralized magmatic stratigraphy may extend several kilometers in depth starting from surface in these advanced target areas.

Figure 1 – 3D inversion model at Stillwater West reveals kilometer-scale magmatic targets (in pink) continuous with known mineralized zones identified in shallow drilling to date (in yellow), adding substantial size potential to the eight Platreef-style target areas identified along the 25 kilometer length of the project.   HIGHLIGHT DRILL RESULTS OVER GEOPHYSICS SHOWING KNOWN MINERALIZED ZONES IN FIVE PRIORITY TARGET AREAS

The Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu Project stratigraphically brackets Sibanye-Stillwater’s high-grade mines in the magmatic layers of the Stillwater complex, and includes five drill-defined mineralized zones plus nine additional target areas based on surface sampling and geophysical conductors. The Company has prioritized exploration of the lower Stillwater Complex where it sees the potential for much larger mineralized systems than have been previously recognized in the district based on geological similarities with the Platreef deposits on the northern limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex. Over the past decade the Platreef deposits have been shown to host several hundred million ounces of platinum and palladium, along with tens of billions of pounds of nickel and copper, in a number of world-class scale deposits that are amenable to bulk mining methods. The resulting mines - Anglo American’s world-leading Mogalakwena Mine, Ivanhoe’s Platreef mine (now in construction) and Platinum Group Metals’ development-stage Waterberg project are distinct from the narrow Reef-type mines elsewhere in the Bushveld Complex. Results to date at the Stillwater West project demonstrate a similar geologic setting in the lower Stillwater Complex with the potential for multiple Platreef-style deposits, which are the focus of on-going exploration efforts by Group Ten Metals.

2019 Drill Plan & Targets

Recent advanced 3D Magnetic Vector Inversion (MVI) modeling of airborne and ground-based geophysical data indicates significant thickening of the magmatic package under five multi-kilometer-scale advanced target areas relative to other parts of the Stillwater complex.  This modeling highlights the potential that the magmatic horizons that host known mineralization may also extend to several kilometers in depth, starting from surface. MVI modeling has been instrumental in a number of large discoveries in recent years, including the expansion of Ivanhoe’s Platreef mine in similar geology in South Africa.

Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5fca8864-5391-4a74-a508-5f65cd40e049

President and CEO Michael Rowley commented “The scale of these targets is truly impressive, and they are made even more compelling by the fact that they appear to extend from known mineralization at surface - at grades that are comparable to those of the Platreef in a number of drill holes - to several kilometers depth or more in some areas along the magmatic layers of the Stillwater complex. These thickened magmatic packages may indicate proximity to magmatic feeder structures for the Stillwater Igneous Complex, which makes them very compelling targets based on their potential to host multiple world-class PGE-Ni-Cu deposits. We look forward to further announcements in the near future.”

Priority Target Areas – Chrome Mountain, Camp Zone, Iron Mountain

Group Ten’s compilation and modeling work has identified drill-defined mineralized zones at a total of five target areas. Drilling planned for summer 2019 will focus on the three most advanced target areas - Chrome Mountain, Camp Zone, and Iron Mountain - where the Company sees the potential to quickly establish preliminary mineral resource estimates by offsetting higher grade intercepts in areas of existing, drill-defined mineralization. Data from than 28,000 meters of drill data, plus geochemical, geophysical and geological mapping data, compiled by Group Ten and reported in detail in a series of recent news releases, demonstrates the potential to expand mineralization in each of these areas in terms of both scale and grade by targeting untested geophysical and geochemical anomalies, as summarized below and in Figure 2.

As announced on May 7, 2019, results from the HGR target in the Iron Mountain target area returned Platreef-style grade and potential bulk tonnage scale with 21 holes defining an approximate 850 meter strike length to a depth of 200 meters, with an average mineralized interval of 94 meters including:

• 33.5 meters of 0.77% Ni and 0.65% Cu, with no PGE analysis, in drill hole 355-59;
• 26.8 meters of 0.98% Ni and 0.45% Cu within a broader 259 meter interval of 0.25% Ni and 0.20% Cu, with selective assays confirming PGEs up to 2.7 g/t Pd in drill hole 355-64; and
• 8.0 meters of 3.65 g/t 3E (Pt+Pd+Au), 0.14% Ni, 0.03% Cu, and 0.013% Co in drill hole IM2002-07.

Drill-defined mineralization at the HGR target is open for expansion in all directions, including to the east towards a geophysical conductor that has never been drill tested, and to the west following the magmatic layers of the Stillwater Complex towards the Iron Mountain Central target. Rock samples in this area range up to 95.8 g/t platinum, palladium, and rhodium (27.8 g/t Pt, 62.2 g/t Pd, 5.78 g/t Rh).

Known mineralization at the adjacent Camp Zone target area, announced April 11, 2019, is defined by nine holes that delineate a continuous zone of nickel-copper sulphide mineralization in the Basal Series that averages approximately 50 meters in thickness over approximately 1.5 kilometers strike to a depth of approximately 200 meters, with average grades of 0.42% nickel and 0.23% copper. Platinum and palladium assays, completed as composite samples over select intervals only, demonstrate thick intervals of enrichment along with nickel and copper grades comparable to those in the Platreef deposits. Limited sampling was completed for these drill holes for platinum and palladium however select intervals were composited with intercepts of up to 1.4 g/t Pt+Pd. Additional drilling will be needed to better define PGE content in this target area.

At Chrome Mountain, the Hybrid Zone is defined by six drill holes at the Discovery target that delineate a mineralized zone with wide intervals of PGE and base metal enriched mineralization of a type not identified previously in the Stillwater Complex, but known at the Platreef in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa (see December 17, 2018 and February 21, 2019 news releases). These six holes returned composite mineralization of over 200 meters in thickness that has been tested to approximately 250 meters vertical depth and occurs over a strike length of approximately 700 meters. Mineralization remains open in all directions and occurs within a broader approximately two kilometer wide area of highly anomalous metals in soils. Nine separate drill intercept from the Discovery target exceeded 100 meters thickness with continuous highly elevated PGE, Ni, Cu and Co mineralization, starting at surface, including 118 m at 1.73 g/t Total Platinum Equivalent as 0.36 Pt, 0.56 Pd, and 0.09 Au (for 1.0 g/t 3E), along with 0.12% Ni, 0.03% Cu, and 0.01% Co (for 0.17% Nickel Equivalent).

Field work is also planned to advance a number of less developed targets in these areas, including high-grade intrusive dunite targets and others as detailed in the above-referenced news releases.