Strongbow Completes Initial Drill Program at the Midway Gold Project, South Carolina


Strongbow Exploration Inc. (SBW: TSXV) is pleased to provide an exploration update on the Midway gold project, as well as its activities on regional exploration targets within the Carolina slate belt.

Initial drilling at Midway is complete with ten holes (1,949 m) drilled in five of fifteen target areas. Assay results have been received for eight holes, testing three targets where drilling intersected variable widths (centimetre scale up to 15 metres) of hydrothermal, sericite-silica-pyrite alteration. Molybdenite and chalcopyrite mineralization is associated with these alteration zones and gold values are locally elevated (from background up to 177 ppb). Each of the targets is located beneath ten to fifteen metres of unconsolidated sand cover and the identification of hydrothermal alteration and pathfinder elements with this first phase of drilling is positive as it confirms that geochemical surveying techniques used by Strongbow are an effective exploration tool in this area.

Strongbow is currently completing additional infill surface geochemical surveys at Midway and planning is underway for an overburden drilling program in October 2011. The program will rapidly test each target area with multiple, shallow (<200 feet) drill holes in an effort to better define the complex geology and potential mineralization underlying the sand deposits. Results of the overburden drilling and detailed geochemical surveys will be used to prioritize drill targets for a second phase of diamond drilling planned for January 2012.

Midway drilling details

Drilling at the P and PS targets, both located immediately to the east of Romarco's Haile gold mine property, encountered intervals of weak to moderate sericite-silica-pyrite alteration within dacite volcanic rocks. In particular at the PS target, DDH MID-11-005 (drilled at a -60 degree angle) encountered a 32.6 m zone (starting at 247.4 m down hole) of anomalous molybdenum mineralization with locally anomalous concentrations of arsenic. Molybdenum and arsenic are both considered important pathfinder elements at Haile, and this broad zone of mineralization is located only 220 metres east of the adjacent Haile gold mine property, directly along the primary geological trend that hosts Haile's Horseshoe zone. DDH MID-11-003 (drilled at a -51 degree angle), located 225 m to the northeast of MID-11-005, cut a 15 m zone of anomalous gold mineralization, ranging from background values up to 177 ppb, starting at 275.33 m down hole. This zone is associated with locally elevated pathfinder elements and sericite alteration. The mineralization intersected in both of these drill holes is interpreted to occur in proximity to, and stratigraphically below, an important volcanic-sediment geological contact.

The MW target represents one of the highest priority geochemical targets at Midway. The target was tested with four drill holes, two of which were terminated at shallow depths due to challenging drilling conditions. A third hole (MID-11-006), drilled to 225 m depth at a -80 degree angle, ended up testing down the dip of stratigraphy over its entire length. The fourth hole, DDH MID-11-008 (drilled at an angle of -72 degrees) tested a significant stratigraphic section of finely laminated mudstones and siltstones before hitting a contact with dacite volcanic rocks at 253 m down hole. The occurrence of this contact, combined with molybdenite mineralization observed as fracture coatings in mudstones at shallow depths in each of the MW drill holes, is encouraging and confirms that both pathfinder element mineralization and the proper stratigraphic environment are present within this target area. The four drill holes have tested only a very small portion of the 600 m by 350 m MW target and a strongly developed axial planar foliation identified in drill core indicates that significant folding and related structural complexity is present in the area.

Regional exploration work

Strongbow, as part of its regional exploration efforts in the southeastern United States, has to date collected over 6,300 geochemical samples, approximately 4,000 of which have been collected outside of the Midway project. A number of target areas have been defined by this regional work and follow up surveys and property acquisition efforts are underway.

Initial survey results have been received for recently acquired properties located along strike to the east of the past producing Ridgeway gold mine (please see Strongbow news release #11-13 dated June 23, 2011, for details). These surveys define a prominent multi-element geochemical anomaly that coincides with a 250 m long zone of buried mineralization where past drilling by Amselco returned 2.3 g/t gold over 25.9 m. The same survey has defined a second, parallel target having a similar geochemical response. Both of these targets are located under unconsolidated sand cover similar to the Midway area and will be tested as part of the upcoming overburden drilling program. The definition of a prominent, multi-element geochemical response over an area of known gold mineralization provides additional confidence that the geochemical sampling techniques being used by Strongbow are an effective exploration tool within the Carolina slate belt.

About the Midway gold project

The Midway project consists of over 3,400 acres within the prospective, 16 kilometre (10 mile) Haile-Brewer gold trend in South Carolina. All of the Midway properties are located adjacent to either the past producing Brewer gold mine or properties owned by Romarco Minerals Inc. (R-TSX) including the Haile gold mine and Buzzard properties. Current measured and indicated resources reported by Romarco for the Haile gold mine consist of 3.1 million ounces gold with additional inferred resources of 1.1 million ounces gold. Gold mineralization at the Haile and Brewer mines, as well as at the nearby Buzzard prospect, is hosted within volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Carolina slate belt (CSB). In addition to the Midway project, Strongbow is also evaluating the Parker gold mine in North Carolina and is working to identify and acquire additional gold targets within the CSB.

Drill core samples were submitted to Acme Analytical Laboratories in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were analyzed with a 36 element ICP mass spectrometer package, using a 15 gram sample size and an aqua regia digestion. A quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program is in place, with the insertion of standard, blank and field duplicate samples into the sample stream to confirm the accuracy of the reported results. Those rocks returning >100 ppb gold are re-evaluated using a 30 gram fire assay analysis with a gravimetric finish.

Strongbow's exploration programs are conducted under the supervision of David Gale, P.Geo.(BC), Vice-President of Exploration for Strongbow and a qualified person under NI 43-101.

STRONGBOW EXPLORATION INC.

/s/"Kenneth A. Armstrong"
Kenneth A. Armstrong
President and CEO

For further information, please contact:

Ken Armstrong
President and CEO
Tel: 604 668 8355
Email: info@strongbowexploration.com
Website: www.strongbowexploration.com
 

Neither 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

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