Strongbow Exploration Inc. (SBW: TSXV) is pleased to provide an update on exploration at the Midway gold project and to announce the acquisition of four properties near the Ridgeway gold mine. Highlights include:
- Two drills remain in operation at Midway. Seven holes (1,310 m) have been completed to date in two target areas. Several zones of alteration, including molybdenite +/- chalcopyrite mineralization, have been encountered;
- Five additional option agreements have been signed at Midway, increasing the total project area to over 3,400 acres, including 1,000 contiguous acres between and adjoining the Brewer gold mine and the Buzzard gold prospect;
- Strongbow has acquired four properties (~450 acres) along strike from the past producing Ridgeway gold mine. Historic drilling on two of the properties defined gold mineralization over a 250 m strike length with assays from background levels up to 0.67 ounces gold per ton over five feet.
Exploration drilling continues at Midway where two drills are in operation and seven drill holes (1,310 m) have been completed to date. Two target areas have been tested and variable widths (centimetre scale up to 15 metres) of hydrothermal, sericite-silica-pyrite alteration have been intersected. Molybdenite and chalcopyrite mineralization is locally associated with these alteration zones. Drilling is expected to continue through to the end of July.
The Company has concluded an additional five option agreements in the Midway area, bringing the total project to 30 agreements covering over 3,400 acres. Taking into account approximately 600 acres included in the new agreements announced today, Strongbow now controls approximately 1,000 contiguous acres adjoining the past producing Brewer gold mine to the east and the Buzzard exploration properties of Romarco Minerals and Firebird Resources to the southwest. Initial work adjacent to the Brewer mine has defined a priority target area where overlapping geochemical and geophysical anomalies coincide with a mapped volcanic/sedimentary contact. Mapping and geochemical surveys are underway on the newly acquired 600 acres, the long-time owners of which have never previously signed option or lease agreements with exploration companies. These new properties extend to within 400 m of Firebird's Buzzard gold prospect which has reported drill intercepts including 6.0 m grading 29.97 g/t gold and 44.7 m grading 8.56 g/t gold (Firebird Resources website).
Property acquisition near Ridgeway, SC
The Company is also pleased to announce it has concluded two agreements covering four properties (approximately 425 acres) near Ridgeway, South Carolina. The properties are located between two and five kilometres along strike from Rio Tinto's past producing Ridgeway gold mine. The Ridgeway mine produced approximately 1.5 million ounces of gold during mining in the 1980's and 1990's. Two of the properties have seen past exploration work, with historic drill results that include gold assays ranging from background values up to 0.67 ounces per ton over five feet from a mineralized zone estimated to be at least 250 metres long. The remaining two properties have not been previously explored, however geochemical sampling by Strongbow has returned gold values ranging from background up to 312 ppb gold. Initial exploration of the properties, including detailed geochemical sampling and mapping, is scheduled to begin during the last week of June.
Terms of the agreements announced today are similar to previous agreements at Midway and include certain annual cash payments and, upon exercising an option, Strongbow will either purchase the subject property or enter into a long term mining lease. The properties will be subject to a gross overriding royalty to the current land owners. The total initial payments on the seven agreements were approximately $116,000.
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 Romarco's 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). A preliminary 3,000 m exploration drilling program is currently underway to test a number of high priority exploration targets within 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.
About Strongbow Exploration Inc.
Strongbow is exploring for gold deposits within the Carolina Slate Belt of the southeastern United States, as well as magmatic nickel-copper sulphide deposits along the Snowbird Tectonic Zone in central Canada. The Company presently has exposure to three active drilling programs. In addition to Midway, drilling is underway at the Company's Parker gold mine property in North Carolina and Xstrata Copper Canada is drilling the Company's Inza porphyry copper-gold property in British Columbia (see Strongbow news releases #11-12 and #11-11 dated June 20, 2011 and June 13, 2011, respectively, for details on those programs).
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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