Dolly Varden Signs Earn-in on Nearby Big Bulk Copper-Gold Porphyry Property

Dolly Varden Silver Corporation (TSXV: DV) (OTCQX: DOLLF) has entered into an assignment and assumption agreement (the “Assignment Agreement”) with Libero Copper & Gold Corporation (“Libero”) pursuant to which Dolly Varden has acquired (the “Acquisition”) from Libero an option agreement (the “Option Agreement”) entitling Dolly Varden, subject to certain conditions, to earn-in a 100% undivided interest in the southern portion of the Big Bulk Project from Libero thus consolidating the entire copper-gold porphyry system.

The Libero property, also known as the Big Bulk Property (the “Big Bulk Property”), is comprised of seven mineral claims making up 3,025Ha in the Golden Triangle, British Columbia. Pursuant to the Assignment Agreement, as consideration, the Company has agreed to issue Libero 275,000 common shares of the Company (the “Consideration Shares”).

Agreement Highlights

  • Consolidation of the Big Bulk copper-gold mineralized calc-alkali porphyry system of the Texas Creek plutonic suite (“Big Bulk”).
  • Historic data sets will be incorporated into a complete geologic model.
  • Existing Land Use Agreement and Exploration Permit in place.
We have been continuing to seek accretive consolidation opportunities in the area and the amalgamation of the southern portion of the Big Bulk copper gold porphyry with Dolly Varden’s portion is our latest step. In the Golden Triangle, porphyry systems can represent metallogenic feeders to high-grade vein systems, such as the KSM Deposit that occurs adjacent to the Brucejack Mine. Big Bulk may represent a causative mineralized porphyry to the high-grade silver and gold deposits 10 kilometres to the west at the Kitsault Valley Trend.Shawn Khunkhun, President & CEO, Dolly Varden Silver

About The Big Bulk Porphyry System

Big Bulk is located 20 kilometres north of the town of Kitsault, BC, and is surrounded by Hecla Mining’s Kinskuch project (Figure 1). The Big Bulk porphyry copper-gold system hosts multiple phases of intrusive rocks, hosted in Lower Jurassic-age Hazelton and Triassic-age Stuhini volcanic and sedimentary rocks analogous (Figure 2). Recent work by the British Columbia Geological Survey (“BCGS”) and University of British Columbia (“UBC”) Mineral Deposits Research Unit (“MDRU”) indicate that Big Bulk is the northernmost porphyry of a string of several porphyry mineralized systems of multiple geologic ages that extend 30km south to the New Moly LLC’s Eocene-age Kitsault molybdenum deposit.

The southern portion of the Big Bulk Property was initially explored by Teck and Canadian Empire Minerals from 2001 to 2003. The northern half of the system was drilled by AngloGold in 2009, encountering porphyry-style alteration with copper and gold mineralization associated with quartz chalcopyrite/pyrite stockwork veins.

A new interpretation of the geology based on recent geologic mapping by the BCGS indicates that the target is a much larger calc-alkaline porphyry system tilted on its side with similarities in age and structural setting to the Kerr-Sulpherets-Mitchell (KSM) deposits. The work by UBC-MDRU (2018) places the Big Bulk intrusive along a regional structural trend that hosts numerous porphyry and epigenetic deposits. Within the Big Bulk porphyry system, higher grade mineralization occurs in a discreet mineralized phases that had not been targeted by previous operators.

Libero’s 2021 drill program at Big Bulk tested the new geological model focusing on a quartz-chalcopyrite veined hornblende diorite intrusive phase of the Texas Creek plutonic Suite that was intersected in multiple holes.

The Acquisition

The Acquisition is being completed pursuant to the Assignment Agreement. Dolly Varden has agreed to issue the Consideration Shares to Libero at a deemed value of $0.78 per Consideration Share (being the closing price of the Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”) on December 15, 2023) for an aggregate consideration of $214,500.

Issuance of the Common Shares remains subject to TSXV approval and other customary conditions and is currently expected to occur on or about December 22, 2023. The Company has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly make all filings and take all necessary actions required to effect the Acquisition, including the issuances of the Consideration Shares. The Company intends to file a prospectus supplement to its base shelf prospectus dated April 25, 2023 to qualify the distribution of the Consideration Shares to Libero.

The Option Agreement

In connection with the Acquisition, Dolly Varden also entered into an amending agreement with LCT Holdings Inc., the owner of the Big Bulk Property and optionor under the Option Agreement. The amended Option Agreement provides that Dolly Varden may earn-in a 100% undivided interest in the Big Bulk Property by completing the following payments:

a) $50,000 in cash on or before December 31, 2023;

b) $150,000 in cash on or before December 31, 2024;

c) $250,000 in cash or common shares on or before December 31, 2025;

d) $500,000 in cash or common shares on or before December 31, 2026; and

e) $500,000 in cash or common shares on or before December 31, 2027.

Any common shares issued by Dolly Varden under the Option Agreement, as amended, will be issued at a deemed price equal to the ten day volume weighted average price of the Dolly Varden common shares on the TSXV, subject to minimum pricing rules on the TSXV. The Option Agreement gives Dolly Varden the option to accelerate the payments described above.

Figure 1. Dolly Varden Silver’s Consolidated Big Bulk Project Location, Kitsault Valley, Northwest BC

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Qualified Person

Rob van Egmond, P.Geo., Vice-President Exploration for Dolly Varden Silver, the “Qualified Person” as defined by NI43-101 has reviewed, validated and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release and supervises the ongoing exploration program for Dolly Varden on the Kitsault Valley Project and the Big Bulk Project.

Dolly Varden Silver is a market awareness client of Capital 10X. For more information, including potential conflicts of interest please see our Content Disclaimer.

Duane Hope is a Partner at Capital 10X, he brings over 15 years of communications and research experience to the firm. His research and writing have appeared in publications for North American, European and Asian audiences.

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