Amarc Resources Ltd.

Newton Joint Venture

Overview



Newton - Bulk Tonnage Gold Discovery
The Newton property lies within BC's exciting new gold belt, which includes New Gold Inc's seven million ounce-plus bulk tonnage Blackwater gold deposit. The age and geological characteristics of the gold mineralization at Newton demonstrate striking similarities to the mineralization at Blackwater.

In 2010, Amarc made an important new bulk-tonnage gold discovery at Newton within an eight square kilometre mineralized system. The Company's 2011 drill program confirmed the Newton discovery zone extends under shallow cover.

An 18,000 metre delineation drill program is underway at Newton in 2012, and will continue to determine the full extent of the gold mineralization. Drill holes are returning long intercepts of bulk tonnage-style gold mineralization with continuity and grade. Important gold results have now been returned from drill intersections in 46 holes located throughout an area which measures 900 by 600 metres and is open to expansion in several directions.

A $4.9 million budget was approved for drilling at Newton in late 2011. More recently, the Newton Joint Venture approved an additional $4.4 million for the ongoing delineation drilling program.

In addition, four porphyry-style copper-molybdenum drill targets have been identified some 28 kilometres south of the Newton discovery for drill testing.

Amarc has acquired an 80% interest in the Newton property within an accelerated timeframe by expending $5 million on the project, and is the operator of the Newton Joint Venture. Newton Gold Corp. has a 20% participating interest. The claims defined in the underlying option agreement to the Newton Joint Venture agreement are subject to a 2% net smelter returns (NSR) royalty, which may be purchased for $2 million. Advance annual royalty payments of $25,000 commenced in 2011.

Development/History



Newton - Wide-spaced Exploration Drilling of Major Sulphide System
A series of modern exploration programs were undertaken at Newton between 1972 and 2006, including geological mapping, grid soil sampling, trenching, magnetometer and Induced Polarization (IP) ground geophysical surveys and the drilling of 39 holes. These programs tested for porphyry-style copper-gold mineralization, which was encountered over an extensive area but with low grade results.

From this previous work, Amarc's team identified a two square kilometre area at Newton with significant concentrations of gold, accompanied by anomalous concentrations of silver, copper and zinc from this previous work. Four holes positioned on the eastern side of the area of historical drilling intersected 0.5 to 2.5 g/t gold over lengths of 40 to 105 metres, and two of the holes bottomed in significant gold grades.

Newton Project Historical Drilling

These results, coupled with observations from Amarc's re-logging of historical drill core, indicated a compelling, open-ended drill target and set the stage for Amarc's 2010 discovery drill program.

The 2010 discovery drilling at Newton identified high potential for bulk tonnage-style gold mineralization, with potentially ore grade gold intercepts over broad intervals - for example:
  • Hole 9001: 69 metres grading 1.41 g/t gold
  • Hole 9003: 128 metres grading 0.84 g/t gold
  • Hole 9004: 189 metres of 1.56 g/t gold, including 141 metres grading 2.01 g/t gold.
A subsequent ground IP geophysical survey outlined an eight square kilometre mineralized system, which extends outward under shallow cover for several kilometres from areas of previously defined gold mineralization. In 2011, Amarc executed a series of widely spaced, exploration-style drill holes to further probe the extensive mineralized system and the Newton discovery zone. One of the highlights from the 2011 drilling was hole 11040, which reported important intercepts of:
  • 155 metres of 0.58 g/t gold, including 26 metres of 1.12 g/t gold, and 39 metres of 0.71 g/t gold
This hole established that the discovery zone extends eastward under shallow cover and remains open.

Geology



Newton and Blackwater - Comparison of Mineralized Host Rocks


Newton - Cross section, Looking North

At the Newton discovery, the window of older Mesozoic-age intrusive and volcanic rocks that host the mineralization, are surrounded by overlying younger Cenozoic volcanic rocks as well as glacial till sequences.

The most intensively developed mineralization at Newton occurs as disseminated sulphides, predominantly pyrite and marcasite with lesser sphalerite and chalcopyrite. The sulphides appear to be localized within pervasively quartz-sericite ± minor siderite-altered felsic volcanic rock units. It is the high primary permeability of the host rocks, combined with their expanding geographic distribution, which presents a permissive environment for the development of a significant bulk tonnage-style gold deposit at Newton. The age and described geological characteristics of the gold mineralization at Newton demonstrate striking similarities to mineralization at the Blackwater gold deposit.

Quartz feldspar porphyry intrusions have a close spatial relationship to higher grade mineralized zones and may also be mineralized. Locally, mineralization within these intrusive bodies may be associated with stockworks of quartz sulphide veins.

Programs



Newton - Drill Hole Plan of Important Intersections


Newton - Select Gold Intersections

The current Newton drill program has been designed to delineate the grade and continuity of the known gold mineralization. Drilling is progressively stepping out from the discovery drill holes and has intersected, from surface, increased thicknesses of the pervasively altered felsic volcanic rocks that host disseminated sulphides and associated gold mineralization.

Initial delineation drill holes completed at the end of 2011 returned long intercepts of bulk tonnage-style gold mineralization, with continuity and grade, for example:
  • 162 metres of 1.05 g/t gold
  • 60 metres of 1.21 g/t gold
  • 408 metres of 0.60 g/t gold, including
    108 metres of 0.84 g/t gold
Important gold intercepts have now been returned from 46 drill holes throughout an area that currently measures 900 by 600 metres, and is open to expansion in several directions.

Important Gold Intersections

An 18,000 metre delineation drill program is ongoing in 2012 to determine the full extent of the gold mineralization at Newton. A $4.9 million budget was approved for drilling in late 2011. More recently, the Newton Joint Venture approved an additional $4.4 million for the ongoing delineation drilling program.