Rainy River Resources Ltd.: 2011 Exploration Program Expanded to 170,000 Metres Deep Exploration Drilling Discovers Significant Gold Mineralization 300 m Down-Plunge of Nearest Hole
Deep Exploration Drilling Discovers Significant Gold Mineralization 300 m Down-Plunge of Nearest Hole
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 03/30/11 -- Rainy River Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: RR) (the 'Company' or 'Rainy') announces further assay results from the Rainy River Gold Project ('RRGP') in Northwestern Ontario and a significant expansion to its 2011 diamond drilling program.
Highlights
-- 17 East Extension returns 4.6 g/t gold over 13.5 metres and 5.0 g/t gold
over 4.5 metres, with blue-sky potential at depth
-- Beaver Pond intersects 11.8 g/t gold over 9.0 metres, including 67.2 g/t
gold over 1.5 metres, 50 metres up- plunge of NR09-446 which returned
352.8 g/t gold over 6.0 metres
-- Western Area intersects 7.1 g/t gold and 23.0 g/t silver over 9.0
metres, 800 m northwest of Beaver Pond Zone
-- Gap Zone returns 24.1 g/t gold and 74.0 g/t silver over 1.5 metres, and
91.8 g/t gold over 1.5 metres inside conceptual pit shell and near
surface
-- Company mobilizing 4 additional drill rigs (3 NQ core size and 1 HQ wide
diameter core), and expands 2011 exploration program to 170,000 metres
17 East Extension
Deep exploration of the 17 Zone indicates that the zone is present at a vertical depth of 700 metres. Current results include 4.6 g/t gold over 13.5 m, including 29.5 g/t gold over 1.5 m in drill hole NR11-653. This hole is the deepest intersection to date within the 17 East Extension and is located 300 metres down plunge of the nearest hole (PE1001 which returned 3.0 g/t Au over 6.0 metres, see press release dated February 28, 2011). The mineralization intersected by this hole lies within the same plane as the mineralization of the ODM-17 Zone and is located approximately 250 metres along strike to the east. Hole NR11-653 is also open to the east and down plunge.
Two other holes were also drilled in the 17 East Extension, with NR11-645 returning 5.0 g/t gold over 4.5 m and NR11-636 returning 1.2 g/t gold and 15.1 g/t silver over 18.0 m. NR11-636 is located within the core of the 17 East Extension, while NR11-645 is located on the eastern edge of the zone and is open down-plunge.
Western Area
The Western Area is a new exploration target located approximately 800 metres northwest of the Beaver Pond ('BP') Zone, lying within a large magnetic low trend that hosts the Rainy River Gold Deposit and stretches over 10 km to the west of the Rainy River deposit. Results from three diamond drill holes are reported, with the most significant being NR11-648 which intersected 7.1 g/t gold and 23.0 g/t silver over 9.0 m, including 37.3 g/t gold and 132.0 g/t Ag over 1.5 m, at a depth of 120 metres below surface. Exploration in the Western Area is very early stage, and the presence of narrow intervals of high-grade gold and electrum in core clearly establishes a link with the Beaver Pond or 433-Zone geology. Exploration in this area will continue throughout 2011 to better define continuous trends.
Beaver Pond Zone - GAP Zone
GAP
Exploration within the GAP Zone has returned encouraging results near surface. Drill hole NR11-654 intersected 21.0 m grading 1.0 g/t gold 40 metres below surface, at the bedrock contact, with a deeper intercept of 3.2 g/t gold over 4.5 m in the HS zone. Deeper in the GAP Zone at 200 metres below surface, several narrow high-grade intercepts were intersected including drill hole NR11-639 with 91.8 g/t gold over 1.5 m, NR11-650 with 24.1 g/t gold and 74.0 g/t silver over 1.5 m, and a deeper intercept within the HS Zone of 22.2 g/t Au and 123.0 g/t silver, over 1.2 m. All of these intervals represent significant intersections that will impact the current resource estimate. Lower-grade mineralization over wider intervals was also encountered, with 0.7 g/t gold over 18.0 m in NR11-657 and 0.7 g/t gold over 21.0 m in NR11-639.
Beaver Pond
NR11-655 intersected 11.8 g/t Au over 9.0 metres, including 67.2 g/t Au over 1.5 metres. This intersection is located entirely within the Beaver Pond Zone and is of significance as it lies 50 metres up-plunge of NR09-446, which returned 352.8 g/t Au over 6.0 metres (see press release dated January 18, 2010).
Commentary
'Over the last year the Company has enjoyed significant discovery success with the infill drill program and more recently, with the step-out regional exploration drill program to the west and in the deep 17 East Extension Zone,' commented Raymond Threlkeld, President and CEO. 'Consequently, we have decided to intensify our exploration program by adding 4 drill rigs in the coming weeks, which will increase our total number of rigs to 10. The current plan is to conduct approximately 170,000 metres of drilling in 2011. The revised exploration program will dedicate 60% of the drilling towards regional exploration, 20% to define potential underground resources and 20% for further infill. We are continuing with pit optimization and drilling to convert Inferred resources into Indicated mineralization, to define a potential pit bottom and ultimately focus infill drilling on expanding the underground potential at depth. We are currently preparing a scoping study based on our current resource estimate which includes defining an optimized pit shell. As a result of the potential for an open pit to extend below the planned Advanced Exploration development ramp access, we will be re-evaluating the program. In the meantime, we are continuing with the permitting process, which is in its final stages of completion according to plan. We plan to defer the decision to proceed with the advanced exploration ramp until we have concluded this study.'
Qualified persons
Rainy River's exploration program in Richardson Township is being supervised by Kerry Sparkes, P.Geo. Vice-President Exploration, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Garett Macdonald, P.Eng., Vice President Operations and Kerry Sparkes P.Geo. are the persons responsible for the content of this news release. The Company continues to implement a rigorous QA/QC program to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of drill core. All drill core is marked for sampling and then split in half with a diamond saw blade. Samples are placed in sealed bags with security tags. All samples were assayed using a standard fire assay, 30 gram nominal sample weight with an AA finish. Over-limit samples were re-assayed with a gravimetric finish. Samples with visible gold were automatically analyzed for Ore Grade by 1000g screen fire assay, with coarse and fine fractions being combined proportionately and the fine fraction being assayed twice. Standards, blanks and duplicates are inserted every 25 metres. ALS Canada Ltd. performed primary assaying, with duplicates being analyzed at Activation Laboratories Ltd. ALS Canada Ltd. and Activation Laboratories Ltd. implement independent QA/QC protocols that include the insertion of certified blanks and standards as part of their routine analysis.
About Rainy River Resources Ltd.
Rainy River Resources is a Canadian precious metals exploration company whose key asset is the Rainy River Gold Project. With over CAN$130 million in its treasury, the Company is well funded to conduct a dual-focused drilling program consisting of: 1) definition diamond drilling of the main gold resources in preparation for scoping and pre-feasibility studies, and 2) selective diamond drill testing of high-priority gold targets defined primarily by RC drilling within the large gold system centered in Richardson Township. The Company's property is extremely well located in the southwestern corner of northern Ontario near the U.S. border. It is accessed by a network of roads and is close to hydro-electric infrastructure. The Rainy River district has a skilled labour force and is one of the lowest-cost areas for mineral exploration and development. The Company is also working to advance the early-stage discoveries at its TPK Joint Venture Property, also in Ontario, where it can earn a 51% interest in the property from Northern Superior Resources Inc. Ontario has low political risk and, according to the annual Fraser Institute global survey of the mining industry, has consistently ranked as one of the top jurisdictions embracing mineral development.
RAINY RIVER RESOURCES LTD.
Raymond W. Threlkeld, President & CEO
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be 'forward-looking statements'. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words 'expects', 'plans', 'anticipates', 'believes', 'intends', 'estimates', 'projects', 'potential' and similar expressions, or that events or conditions 'will', 'would', 'may', 'could' or 'should' occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include gold prices, results of exploration and development activities, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of materials and equipment, timeliness of government approvals, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and others who base themselves on the Company's forward-looking statements should carefully consider the above factors as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
Table 1: Summary of Results
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Vertical From To LEN- Au Ag
HOLE-ID Section Depth (m) (m) (m) GTH g/t g/t Zone
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NR11636 426290 517 630.0 648.0 18.0 1.2 15.1 17 EAST
EXTENSION
426293 533 658.5 660.0 1.5 2.9 17 EAST
EXTENSION
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NR11637 424177 43 63.5 65.0 1.5 1.0 WESTERN AREA
424177 74 105.5 107.0 1.5 1.4 WESTERN AREA
424183 184 261.5 263.0 1.5 1.4 WESTERN AREA
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NR11639 425094 228 276.0 277.5 1.5 91.8 THE GAP
425095 253 297.0 318.0 21.0 0.7 THE GAP
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NR11640 425373 74 69.5 111.5 42.0 0.8 ODM
425375 181 228.5 230.0 1.5 1.5 HS
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NR11641 425193 230 290.0 291.5 1.5 3.2 THE GAP
425199 376 483.5 485.0 1.5 1.1 HS
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NR11642 425068 168 201.0 202.5 1.5 1.2 THE GAP
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NR11643 425128 179 220.5 222.0 1.5 1.2 THE GAP
425125 236 292.5 297.0 4.5 2.3 THE GAP
425123 315 396.0 400.5 4.5 0.8 HS
425123 334 423.0 424.5 1.5 1.1 HS
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NR11644 425174 288 362.0 365.0 3.0 2.3 HS
425175 298 377.0 378.5 1.5 5.7 HS
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NR11645 426333 575 723.0 724.5 1.5 1.9 17 EAST
EXTENSION
426342 606 763.5 768.0 4.5 5.0 17 EAST
EXTENSION
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NR11646 425105 87 106.6 108.0 1.4 3.8 THE GAP
425100 322 423.0 424.5 1.5 1.9 HS
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NR11647 425325 94 113.0 114.5 1.5 1.7 ODM
425325 268 333.5 335.0 1.5 1.3 HS
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NR11648 424141 35 47.0 50.0 3.0 1.0 WESTERN AREA
424141 109 138.5 147.5 9.0 7.1 23.0 WESTERN AREA
INCL 424141 106 138.5 140.0 1.5 37.3 132.0 WESTERN AREA
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NR11649 425090 259 327.0 333.0 6.0 1.1 HS
425092 307 393.0 394.5 1.5 2.5 HS
425092 313 402.0 403.5 1.5 2.5 HS
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NR11650 425046 208 257.0 258.5 1.5 24.1 74.0 THE GAP
425052 326 408.5 410.0 1.5 1.8 21.7 HS
425053 349 438.0 439.2 1.2 22.2 123.0 HS
425055 373 470.0 471.5 1.5 2.2 HS
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NR11651 425089 109 135.0 136.5 1.5 3.6 THE GAP
425092 186 235.5 237.0 1.5 1.2 HS
425094 229 291.0 295.5 4.5 0.7 HS
425099 320 417.0 418.5 1.5 1.7 HS
425100 339 442.5 444.0 1.5 2.0 HS
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NR11653 426093 698 780.0 793.5 13.5 4.6 17 EAST
EXTENSION
INCL 426094 708 792.0 793.5 1.5 29.5 17 EAST
EXTENSION
426096 717 802.5 804.0 1.5 1.2 17 EAST
EXTENSION
426097 723 810.0 811.5 1.5 1.4 17 EAST
EXTENSION
426098 729 817.5 819.0 1.5 2.7 17 EAST
EXTENSION
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NR11654 425103 42 40.5 61.5 21.0 1.0 THE GAP
425098 205 259.5 264.0 4.5 3.2 HS
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NR11655 424936 98 123.4 125.0 1.6 1.1 BP HW
424936 123 155.0 156.5 1.5 4.3 BP HW
424936 204 254.0 263.0 9.0 11.8 BP
INCL 424936 202 255.5 257.0 1.5 67.2 BP
424937 249 315.5 317.0 1.5 1.1 HS
424938 283 360.5 362.0 1.5 5.0 HS
424945 393 506.0 507.5 1.5 1.6 HS
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NR11657 425136 138 170.2 172.2 2.0 2.4 THE GAP
425136 155 183.0 201.0 18.0 0.7 THE GAP
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NR11658 NSA
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NR11660 424060 25 33.5 35.0 1.5 2.0 WESTERN AREA
424060 28 38.0 39.5 1.5 1.9 WESTERN AREA
424060 50 66.5 68.0 1.5 1.9 WESTERN AREA
424062 107 144.5 146.0 1.5 2.8 WESTERN AREA
424071 214 293.0 294.5 1.5 1.2 WESTERN AREA
424076 260 357.5 359.0 1.5 1.0 WESTERN AREA
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NR11662 425172 62 73.5 76.5 3.0 1.4 THE GAP
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To view the maps accompanying this press release please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/RRmap330.pdf
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept the responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Contacts:
Rainy River Resources Ltd.
Liz Caridi
Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Governance
(604) 639-4497
lcaridi@rainyriverresources.com