TORONTO, ONTARIO, April 12, 2017 – Appia Energy Corp. (the “Company or “Appia”) (CSE: API, APAAF.US OTC, Germany: “A0I.F”, “A0I.MU”, “A0I.BE”) today announced the completion of the first seven holes of its diamond drilling program (the “Program”) on its Loranger property (the “Property”), located 28 km southeast of Cameco’s Rabbit Lake mill, Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan. A total of 1,461 metres of the planned 2,000 metre program was completed before the ice road access to the property was declared unsafe.
Four drill holes (LOR-17-004 to LOR-17-007) were targeted to extend radioactivity and low-grade uranium mineralization encountered at surface and to 100 m vertical depth in historical drill holes completed on Royal Canadian Ventures Grid No 2 area (“RCV area”). The drill holes confirmed the presence of multiple lenses of anomalous radioactive pegmatites from near surface (19 m) down to 260 m vertical depth, and extended the limit of known anomalous radioactivity 750 m southwest along strike of historic diamond drilling.
The first three drill holes of the Program (LOR-17-001 to LOR-17-003) targeted a gravity low coincident with an EM-defined very weak conductor. The first two drill holes were completed to their desired depths but the third required abandonment due to drilling complications within intense structural disruption. The gravity low area is interpreted to result from intense brittle faulting represented by strong to intense fracturing, brecciation, and local fault gouge development with associated alteration including local zones of complete clay alteration, remobilized hematite, massive chloritization, silicification, desilicification, and pervasive limonite staining. No anomalous radioactivity was intersected in this area. See Figure 1 for drill hole trace locations. See Table 1 for drill hole scintillometer results which are also posted on the Company’s website
(http://www.appiaenergy.ca/projects/athabasca-basin-properties/loranger/#5).
A handheld RS-125 Gamma-Ray Spectrometer/Scintillometer manufactured by Radiation Solutions was used to measure all natural gamma radiation in counts-per-second (“cps”) in drill core. The reader is cautioned that Appia uses scintillometer readings only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials (uranium, thorium and/or potassium), and that scintillometer results may not be used directly to quantify or qualify uranium concentrations of the rock samples measured. The Company considers all RS-125 readings greater than 300 cps to be considered anomalous radioactivity.
James Sykes, VP Exploration and Development for Appia comments; “The winter drill program successfully delineated a number of parameters important for continued exploration on the Property; 1) the gravity surveys successfully highlighted intense structural zones with a variety of favourable alteration styles, 2) the airborne VTEM survey defined continuous graphite-rich lithological domains with localized structural disruptions, and 3) drilling confirmed the presence of multiple zones of radioactivity. All of these parameters are important for forming high-grade Athabasca-style uranium deposits”.
The Program covered only two of at least 22 previously identified gravity low targets, over 1.2 km of the 94.0 total km of conductive strike length. The Company remains well-funded and intends to continue diamond drilling gravity targets along EM conductors identified on the Property. The drill remains onsite and will be ready for a quick re-start as soon as conditions are favourable.
All rock samples have been sent to Saskatchewan Research Council’s Geoanalytical Laboratory in Saskatoon, SK, for further multi-element analysis, and determination of source(s) and concentrations of radioactive materials. Lab analysis results will be announced when completed and reviewed by the Company.
About Appia
Appia is a Canadian publicly-traded company in the uranium and rare earth sectors. The Company is currently focused on discovering high-grade uranium deposits in the prolific Athabasca Basin on its Loranger and Otherside properties, as well as high-grade REO and uranium surface showings on its Alces Lake joint venture. The company currently holds the surface rights to exploration for about 63,607 hectares (157,177 acres) in Saskatchewan.
The company also has NI 43-101 compliant resources of 8.0 M lbs U3O8 and 47.7 M lbs TREE Indicated and
20.1 M lbs U3O8 and 133.2 M lbs TREE Inferred in the Teasdale Zone plus 27.6 M lbs U3O8 Inferred in the Banana Lake Zone in the historic mining camp of Elliot Lake in Ontario (previously reported in the Company’s news release dated August 14, 2013). The resources are largely unconstrained along strike and down dip Appia currently has 52.3 million common shares outstanding, 65.3 million shares fully diluted.
The technical content concerning the Property in this news release was reviewed and approved by Darcy Hirsekorn, P.Geo and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward- looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information, please contact:
Tom Drivas, President, CEO and Director: (tel) 416-546-2707 or (email) appia@appiaenergy.ca
James Sykes, VP Exploration & Development, (tel) 306-221-8717 or (email) jsykes@uraniumgeologist.com
Darcy Hirsekorn, P.Geo, Independent Consultant, (tel) 306-384-8084 or (email) dhirsek@sasktel.net
TABLE 1: LORANGER PROJECT – WINTER 2017 DRILL HOLE SUMMARIES
| Hole ID | Target Area | Az | Dip | EOH (m) | RS-125 Handheld Scintillometer Results From (m)* To (m)* Width (m)* Min (cps) Max (cps) | Approx. Vertical Depth (m)** | ||||
| LOR-17-001 | Gravity Low | 135 | -60 | 234 | No Significant Radioactivity | |||||
| LOR-17-002 | Gravity Low | 135 | -60 | 146.8 | No Significant Radioactivity | |||||
| LOR-17-003 | Gravity Low | 135 | -60 | 129 | No Significant Radioactivity | |||||
| LOR-17-004 | RCV Trend | 150 | -60 | 240 | 22.35 29.3 40.95 64.8 87.2 108.8 118.9 126.9 155.9 187.1 | 22.5 29.5 43.55 66.7 101.15 109 122.8 133.75 172.7 187.5 | 0.15 0.2 2.6 1.9 13.95 0.2 3.9 6.85 16.8 0.4 | <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 | 350 400 400 600 1100 600 600 550 750 300 | 19.36 25.37 35.46 56.12 75.52 94.22 102.97 109.90 135.01 162.03 |
| DDH TOTAL | 46.95 | |||||||||
| LOR-17-005 | RCV Trend | 155 | -60 | 303 | 94.7 102 142.15 158.8 175.7 205.85 235.35 243.9 274.15 283.55 297.1 300.25 | 95.05 102.4 142.4 158.9 177.9 207.6 235.8 246 274.45 292.75 297.6 300.45 | 0.35 0.4 0.25 0.1 2.2 1.75 0.45 2.1 0.3 9.2 0.5 0.2 | <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 | 300 300 300 300 700 450 300 370 350 515 450 300 | 82.01 88.33 123.11 137.52 152.16 178.27 203.82 211.22 237.42 245.56 257.30 260.02 |
| DDH TOTAL | 17.8 | |||||||||
| LOR-17-006 | RCV Trend | 150 | -60 | 240 | 38.8 39 45.5 45.7 50.55 53.15 58 58.1 66.3 67.5 76.65 77 82.65 82.8 90.9 94.25 100.65 100.75 106.3 110.15 139.5 142.7 156.5 163.9 168.1 176.65 183.65 184.9 | 0.2 0.2 2.6 0.1 1.2 0.35 0.15 3.35 0.1 3.85 3.2 7.4 8.55 1.25 | <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 | 325 350 340 420 310 510 310 300 300 400 420 500 600 500 | 33.60 39.40 43.78 50.23 57.42 66.38 71.58 78.72 87.17 92.06 120.81 135.53 145.58 159.05 | |
| DDH TOTAL | 32.5 | |||||||||
| LOR-17-007 | RCV Trend | 150 | -60 | 168 | 22.5 23.2 27.4 27.75 35.3 35.4 87.9 88.15 96.4 96.7 103.25 104.85 | 0.7 0.35 0.1 0.25 0.3 1.6 | <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 <300 | 350 500 310 320 300 500 | 19.49 23.73 30.57 76.12 83.48 89.42 | |
| DDH TOTAL | 3.3 | |||||||||
| TOTAL | 1460.8 | DDH TOTALS | 100.55 | |||||||
* The “From” and “To” depths are downhole measurements and collectively incorporate no greater than 4.0 m of continuous interval not exceeding 300 cps. Width is calculated as downhole measurement. Approximate horizontal thickness can be estimated as half of “Width (m)”
** “Approx. vertical depth (m)” was calculated using simple trigonometry of a purely vertical dipping pegmatite system, however the true dip of the mineralized pegmatite system at RCV areas ranges between 80 to 85 degrees to the horizontal.
