VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 11, 2015) -Otis Gold Corp. ("Otis" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:OOO)(OTC PINK:OGLDF) is pleased to provide the following review of its accomplishments over the past year. While the mining sector remained challenging for all participants, Otis was successful in transitioning from a pure explorer into a development company and made significant strides in three main areas: people, financing and project development.
People
As Otis continues to evolve from an exploration to a development phase at its Kilgore Gold Project, the Company has recognized the need to continually enhance its team. To this end, Otis made the following two appointments:
In July, Dr. Roger Norwich joined its Board of Directors, bringing a broad range of technical, financial and operating expertise to the Otis team; and
In October, Mr. Eric Klepfer joined a newly established Advisory Board, bringing a broad range of US mine permitting expertise to the Company.
The Company expects to continue enhancing its technical and management expertise in 2016 at all levels.
Financings
Otis successfully raised $2,600,000 over the past year in three separate private placement financings. All three financings were completed at above market prices, and two of the three financings (representing 79% of the capital raised) contained no dilutive warrants. The capital raised in these three financings allowed Otis to fund a combination of permitting, drilling, baseline environmental work and general operating expenses. The Company is closing the year with a positive cash balance and continues to maintain strong controls on expenditures at both the capital and operating levels.
Project Development
As in prior years, Otis' project development activities were focused on the Kilgore Gold Project (or "Kilgore"), located in Clark County, Idaho. The Company achieved a number of milestones at Kilgore in 2015 as follows:
In January, Otis announced the approval of an Environmental Assessment (or "EA") and approval of a Plan of Operation to construct a new road network into the Crab Claw and North Target areas (which are contiguous to the existing Kilgore Deposit and are areas where Otis geologists consider there to be potential for expansion of gold mineralization and an enhancement in grade);
In September, following the completion of the first two financings, Otis initiated new road construction and a planned 15 to 20 hole drill program at Kilgore; and
In December, Otis announced the completion of the 2015 drill program, totaling 19 holes comprising 3,200 metres of reverse circulation drilling. Assays are currently pending, and the Company expects to be in a position to announce the drill results in early January 2016.
In addition to progress at Kilgore, in February the Company announced drill results from a 2014 drill program conducted by a joint venture partner at the Blue Hill Creek target at Otis' Oakley Project (see News Release dated February 5, 2015). The drill program, which comprised 1,308 metres of core drilling over 5 holes, included intercepts of 0.691 gpt Au over 123 metres (BHC14-01), 0.705 gpt Au over 41.1 metres (BHC14-03) and 0.405 gpt Au over 113.9 metres (BHC14-04). These drill results are currently being analyzed for previously unreported silver content and revised results will be issued in the future. While the Blue Hill Creek joint venture was not renewed, it successfully confirmed the presence of bulk tonnage mineralization at Blue Hill Creek and, with these drill results and the promising gold and silver mineralization discovered in 2014 at the adjacent Matrix Creek target (where 14 chip samples contained up to 306 g/t Ag and up to 1.34 g/t Au, with all 14 samples averaging 70.4 g/t Ag and 0.55 g/t Au - see News Release dated September 18, 2014), the Oakley Project remains a very exciting exploration target. The Company is currently seeking a joint venture partner to progress development at Oakley.
In summary, the Company made excellent progress throughout 2015. Our ability to raise capital and conduct drilling in the face of low valuations and a difficult capital markets landscape significantly differentiated Otis from its peers. The Company is now well-positioned to aggressively continue the development of Kilgore. Specific plans for 2016 will be announced after all results from its 2015 Kilgore drill program have been received and analyzed, but Otis expects these plans to focus on development activities, including further expansion and resource definition drilling and the commencement of mine permitting activities.
Stated President & CEO Craig Lindsay: "As the year comes to a close, on behalf of the Board of Directors of Otis I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all our stakeholders, including our geological team, support staff, service providers, the US Forest Service and, most importantly, our shareholders, for their support as we continue to grow our company."
About the Company
Otis is a resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal deposits in Idaho, USA. Otis is currently developing its flagship property, the Kilgore Gold Project, located in Clark County, Idaho.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Craig T. Lindsay, President and CEO
Neither the 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.
The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and Otis undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
