PREMIER PROVIDES MID-YEAR EXPLORATION UPDATE
THUNDER BAY, ON, June 29, 2011 /CNW/ --
NEW DISCOVERY AT HARDROCK
Shares Issued: 104,710,658
THUNDER BAY, ON, June 29, 2011 /CNW/ - PREMIER GOLD MINES LIMITED (TSX:PG) is pleased to provide an update from ongoing exploration activities at
several of the Company's project sites. Drilling is currently underway
at the Hardrock, Rahill-Bonanza, and PQ North Projects in Northwestern
Ontario and the Saddle Project in Nevada. Numerous developments in the
first half of 2011 bode well for future resource growth on several
company projects. Significant highlights so far in 2011 include:
-- Premier announced its intention to acquire Goldstone Resources
Inc.
-- New discoveries have been made at Hardrock including the
recently identified Tenacity South horizon where drilling has
confirmed high-grade mineralization up to 10.89 grams per tonne
gold (g/t Au) across 10.0 metres (m) (0.32 oz/t across 32.8
feet) including 45.40 g/t Au across 2.0 m (1.33 oz/t across 6.6
feet) and 37.49 g/t Au across 2.1 m (1.09 oz/t across 6.9
feet).
-- Drilling at the Rahill-Bonanza joint venture project in Red
Lake continues to define high-grade gold mineralization within
the '2E Horizon' with visible gold seen in recent down-plunge
drilling.
-- Drilling at the PQ North Project has intersected numerous
gold-bearing shear zones in addition to mineralized iron
formation units with alteration and mineralization similar to
the nearby Musselwhite Gold Mine.
-- Premier has three drill rigs active at the Saddle Project in
the Carlin Trend. Several holes have intersected significant
mineralization and a results update will be provided in the
coming weeks.
'With a $25M exploration budget, and four active drill programs, we
expect drilling success to continue throughout 2011,' stated Ewan
Downie, President and CEO of Premier. 'The pending consolidation of the
Geraldton-Beardmore Camp is expected to secure unprecedented growth for
years to come.'
Goldstone Acquisition
On June 22, 2011, Premier announced that it has entered into a
definitive agreement whereby Premier will acquire, by way of a plan of
arrangement (the 'Arrangement'), all of the outstanding common shares
of Goldstone Resources Inc. (TSX:GRC). Under the Arrangement, each
Goldstone shareholder will receive 0.16 of a Premier share plus $0.0001
in cash for each Goldstone share held.
The combination will consolidate 100% ownership of the Hardrock Project
that is host to a multi-million ounce NI 43-101 compliant resource
estimate, increasing Premier's district-wide measured and indicated
gold resource by 1,172,000 ounces and inferred resource by 613,000
ounces. Additionally, this will add extensive property holdings in the
Geraldton-Beardmore Greenstone Belt with a combined strike length of
more than 50 kilometres. New property holdings include the Brookbank
Deposit, that is host to a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource
estimate of 345,600 ounces indicated (at 8.8 g/t gold) and 253,000
ounces inferred (at 7.2 g/t gold) utilizing a 3.4 g/t Au cut-off grade,
the Key Lake project located proximal to Hardrock, and the past
producing Leitch Gold Mine that produced 847,900 ounces of gold at an
average grade of 31.5 g/t Au.
Hardrock Project
The Hardrock Project is currently operated under a joint venture with
Goldstone (Premier holds a 70% interest in the project). Earlier in
2011, the partners released a NI43-101 compliant gold resource estimate
with Measured and Indicated Resources of 2,492,000 ounces and Inferred
Resources of 1,123,000 ounces. Numerous zones remain wide open for expansion and the western-most hole
drilled to-date (MM170) intersected 18.49 g/t Au across 20.5m or 0.54
ounces per ton (oz/t) across 67.2 feet.
Ongoing 2011 drilling has realized numerous successes that are expected
to add materially to the current resource. Expansion of the SP and F
Zones, more recently identified horizons including the P and K Zones,
and new discoveries including the high-grade Tenacity South Zone auger
well for the future economics of the project. Highlights from the 2011
drill program include:
-- The recent discovery of the Tenacity South Zone, where drilling
has returned several high-grade intercepts including 10.89 g/t
Au across 10.0 m and 37.49 g/t Au across 2.1 m
-- Expansion drilling in the SP Zone with intercepts up to 11.25
g/t Au across 8.2 m and 6.02 g/t Au across 15.0 m
-- Drilling continues to expand the F-Zone deposit with
intersections of up to 6.97g/t Au across 5.0 m
-- Continued success in the recently discovered K-Zone with new
assays of up to 10.16 g/t Au across 3.1 m
-- Several holes have returned high-grade vein style
mineralization within the main porphyry unit (P Zone) with
intercepts as high as 7.15 g/t Au across 6.0 m
The following tables provide highlights from the 2011 drilling thus far
at Hardrock
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | UTM | Dip/Azimuth | From | To | Interval | Grade | Interval | Grade | |
| Hole-ID | Coordinates | (degrees) | (m) | (m) | (m) | | (ft) |(oz/ton)| Zone |
| | (m) | | | | |(g/tonne) | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM203B | 5502700 N | -65/360 |911.4 |915.0 | 3.6 | 5.35 | 11.8 | 0.16 | F |
| | 501700 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM209C | 5502724 N | |879.0 |894.5 | 15.5 | 2.88 | 50.8 | 0.08 | F |
|___________| 501806 E | -70/360 |______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| including | | |879.0 |884.0 | 5.0 | 6.97 | 16.4 | 0.20 | F |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM222A | 5502770 N | |867.2 |871.3 | 4.1 | 4.13 | 13.4 | 0.12 | F |
|___________| 502148 E | -72/360 |______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| including | | |868.3 |871.3 | 3.0 | 6.79 | 9.8 | 0.20 | F |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| |
|______________________________________________________________________________________________________|
| | UTM | Dip/Azimuth |From | | Interval | Grade | Interval | Grade | |
| Hole-ID | Coordinates | (degrees) | (m) |To (m)| (m) |(g/tonne) | (ft) |(oz/ton)| Zone |
| | (m) | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM203D | 5502700 N | |1005.0|1009.1| 4.1 | 4.46 | 13.4 | 0.13 | |
|___________| 501700 E | -65/360 |______|______|__________|__________|__________|________| K |
| including | | |1007.1|1009.1| 2.0 | 8.60 | 6.6 | 0.25 | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM212 | 5502676 N | -70/360 |1096.9|1104.3| 7.4 | 3.16 | 24.3 | 0.09 | K |
| | 501599 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM221 | 5502900 N | |853.0 |859.0 | 6.0 | 4.99 | 19.7 | 0.15 | |
|___________| 502050 E | -70/360 |______|______|__________|__________|__________|________| K |
| including | | |854.7 |857.7 | 3.0 | 8.67 | 9.8 | 0.25 | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM221E | 5502900 N | -70/360 |679.0 |680.2 | 1.2 | 14.70 | 3.9 | 0.43 | K |
| | 502050 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM225 | 5502875 N | -65/360 |657.5 |660.6 | 3.1 | 10.16 | 10.2 | 0.30 | K |
| | 501846 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|______|______|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
* True widths are estimated at approximately 60-70% of intersection
widths
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | UTM | Dip/Azimuth | From| To | Interval | Grade | Interval | Grade | |
| Hole-ID | Coordinates | (degrees) |(m) |(m) | (m) | | (ft) |(oz/ton)| Zone |
| | (m) | | | | |(g/tonne) | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM189A | 5502941 N | -80/360 |779.5|785.5| 6.0 | 7.15 | 19.68 | 0.21 | P |
| | 501900 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM192B | 5502957 N | |699.5|714.0| 14.5 | 4.89 | 47.6 | 0.14 | |
|___________| 502200 E | -75/360 |_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________| P |
| including | | |748.0|749.0| 1.0 | 93.80 | 3.3 | 2.74 | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM192D | 5502957 N | -75/360 |712.0|717.5| 5.5 | 4.23 | 18.04 | 0.12 | P |
| | 502200 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM222 | 5502770 N | -72/360 |797.0|808.5| 11.5 | 4.36 | 37.72 | 0.13 | P |
| | 502148 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________________|
| | UTM | Dip/Azimuth |From | To | Interval | Grade | Interval | Grade | |
| Hole-ID | Coordinates | (degrees) | (m) | (m) | (m) |(g/tonne) | (ft) |(oz/ton)| Zone |
| | (m) | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM209 | 5502723 N | -70/360 |869.0|873.5| 4.5 | 6.90 | 14.8 | 0.20 | SP |
| | 501806 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM209A | 5502723 N | |836.5|851.5| 15.0 | 6.02 | 49.2 | 0.18 | SP |
|___________| 501806 E | -70/360 |_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| including | | |845.0|851.5| 6.5 | 10.91 | 21.3 | 0.32 | SP |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM209C | 5502723 N | |847.0|851.0| 4.0 | 6.17 | 13.1 | 0.18 | SP |
|___________| 501806 E | -70/360 |_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| including | | |849.0|851.0| 2.0 | 10.30 | 6.6 | 0.30 | SP |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| MM221 | 5502900 N | |676.9|685.1| 8.2 | 11.25 | 26.90 | 0.33 | SP |
|___________| 502050 E | -70/360 |_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| including | | |676.9| 680 | 3.1 | 18.80 | 10.17 | 0.55 | SP |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________________|
| | UTM | Dip/Azimuth |From | To | Interval | Grade | Interval | Grade | |
| Hole-ID | Coordinates | (degrees) | (m) | (m) | (m) |(g/tonne) | (ft) |(oz/ton)| Zone |
| | (m) | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| HR053 | 5502370 N | -55/360 |149.9|152.0| 2.1 | 37.49 | 6.9 | 1.09 | TNS |
| | 504950 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| HR054 | 5502320 N | |275.0|285.0| 10.0 | 10.89 | 32.8 | 0.32 | TNS |
|___________| 504950 E | -55/360 |_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| including | | |276.0|278.0| 2.0 | 45.40 | 6.6 | 1.33 | TNS |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| HR055 | 5502270 N | -55/360 | Assays pending | TNS |
| | 504950 E | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____________________________________________________|______|
| HR056 | 5502270 N | -55/360 |340.1|346.7| 6.6 | 6.43 | 21.6 | 0.19 | TNS |
| | 504950 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________________|
| | UTM | Dip/Azimuth |From | To | Interval | Grade | Interval | Grade | |
| Hole-ID | Coordinates | (degrees) | (m) | (m) | (m) |(g/tonne) | (ft) |(oz/ton)| Zone |
| | (m) | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| HR053 | 5502370 N | -55/360 |416.4|420.3| 3.9 | 4.08 | 12.8 | 0.12 | TN1 |
| | 504950 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| HR054 | 5502320 N | -55/360 |495.3|498.0| 2.7 | 5.53 | 8.9 | 0.16 | TN1 |
| | 504950 E | | | | | | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____|_____|__________|__________|__________|________|______|
| HR056 | 5502270 N | -55/360 | Assays pending | TN1 |
| | 504950 E | | | |
|___________|_____________|_____________|_____________________________________________________|______|
-- True widths are estimated at approximately 50-70% of
intersection widths
Red Lake Projects - Rahill-Bonanza Update
Premier's primary Red Lake projects include the Rahill-Bonanza and East
Bay Joint Ventures, both operated by Red Lake Gold Mines Limited
('RLGM'), a partnership between Goldcorp Inc. and Goldcorp Canada Ltd.
The marquis project is the Rahill-Bonanza Project (PG:49%) that is strategically located in the heart of the prolific Red
Lake 'Mine Trend' between the Red Lake Gold Mines complex to the east,
and the Cochenour (Bruce Channel) complex to the west. Ongoing
drilling at Rahill-Bonanza is focused on further delineation of the 2E
horizon, down-plunge of the historically mined Wilmar Gold Mine that is
located on the Property and produced at an average grade greater than
10 g/t Au between 1967 and 1971 when mining at Cochenour ceased. High-grade mineralization has now been intersected some 350 metres
down-plunge of the historic mine workings and remains wide open for
expansion. The first two holes (PG10082 and PG11090) drilled to test the 2E
structure returned 68.87 g/t Au across 3.5 m (2.01 oz/t across 11.5 feet), including 207.43
g/t across 1.15 m (6.06 oz/t across 3.8 feet) in hole PG10082 and 46.15
g/t Au across 4.5 m (1.35 oz/t across 14.8 feet) in hole PG11092.
Additional drilling (PG11093 and 11094 - assays pending) continues to
extend this horizon farther down-plunge of PG10082 with strong
structure, mineralization and visible gold. Future drilling will continue to test this area that has seen almost no
previous drilling, and will fill-in the large gap between the Wilmar
Mine and the PG70 Zone. The Wilmar Mine is linked to the Cochenour
Mine, that is currently being rehabilitated by Goldcorp, and has been
dewatered to the 1300 foot level where planning is underway for access
and an underground drill program to be undertaken at Wilmar.
The true potential of the Rahill-Bonanza Project is expected to be
unlocked by the high-speed tram that is currently being constructed to
connect the Red Lake Gold Mines complex and the Cochenour (Bruce
Channel) Mine complex. A portion of this tram is expected to pass
through, or come in close proximity to, the joint venture project,
providing an excellent exploration platform. This tram will intersect
several kilometres of some of the highest potential and untested
geology along the main Red Lake 'Mine Trend' and is expected to become
the focus of a substantial multi-year exploration program. The Red Lake
Gold Mine is considered to be one of the world's richest gold mines
with production of more than 18 million ounces of gold and nearly 10
million ounces of resources.
PQ North Project
Premier's 100%-owned PQ North Property is strategically located on the
PQ limb of the key Northern Iron Formation (NIF) that is host to
Goldcorp's Musselwhite Gold Mine that has produced more than 2.0
million ounces of gold (average grade of approximately 5.6 g/t Au) and
has reserves and resources totalling in excess of 3 million ounces.
The majority of the ore being mined at Musselwhite occurs within the PQ
Limb of the Northern iron formation which passes onto the PQ North
Property as it trends north.
Two drills are active at PQ North, aimed at further delineating existing
zones in addition to providing a full geological picture as the
favourable horizon trends northward, particularly the deeper portions
of the host iron formation. Previous drilling performed by Premier at
PQ North has identified gold mineralization in a geological setting
nearly identical to that at Musselwhite but did not test the deeper
portions of the host iron formation where the more significant gold
deposits, including the recently discovered Lynx Zone, are located.
The current program has confirmed the existence of gold-bearing shear zones, that locally contain high-grade gold
mineralization with assays as high as 21.4 g/t Au and 11.3 g/t Au
across one metre sample lengths - the projected intersection of these shear zones with the NIF remain
key targets for identifying potentially significant gold zones.
Additionally, mineralization and extensive alteration has been intersected within the
NIF similar to the main gold zones at the Musselwhite Mine. These zones have returned assays of 11.33 g/t over 1.0 m in PQ11038 from
1107m to 1108 m as well as 8.63 g/t over 1.5 m in PQ11038 from 1199.0 m
to 1200.5 m. PQ11037 returned 8.04 g/t over 2.0 m from 824 m to 826 m
and PQ11035B returned 21.40 g/t over 1.0 m from 396 m to 397 m. More recent drilling has intersected broad zones of similar
mineralization, suggesting increased structure at depth, consistent
with Premier's exploration model. Follow-up drilling is underway with
two rigs.
Saddle Project
The Saddle Project is located in the heart of the Carlin Trend in
Nevada, one of the world's most endowed gold districts. Saddle is
located immediately adjacent to Newmont Mining Corporation's past
producing Rain Gold Mine, which was previously mined by open pit and
underground methods, and in close proximity to the Emigrant Springs
deposit (where Premier holds a 1.5% production royalty). Emigrant
Springs is an advanced-stage open pit project host to 1.5 million
ounces of gold that is in the process of being built by Newmont.
Three drills are currently active at Saddle confirming and further
delineating the Saddle Gold Deposit that was previously partially
delineated by Newmont. The first hole in the current program that
successfully intersected the Saddle Deposit, SA003, returned 0.25 ounce per ton gold (oz/t Au) across 40.0 feet (8.46 grams per tonne
Au across 12.2 metres) including 0.31 oz/t Au across 22.9 feet (10.70
g/t Au across 6.98 m). Several additional holes have now intersected the target horizon and
assays will be released in the near future.
Premier Gold Mines Limited cordially invites all shareholders to its
Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, today at 4:00pm, at the Toronto
Board of Trade. Following the formal meeting, a presentation will be
given at 4:30pm by President and CEO Ewan Downie, VP-Exploration Tim
Twomey and Executive Vice-President Stephen McGibbon, providing a
comprehensive corporate exploration and development update. This
presentation will highlight your Company's substantial recent
successes, and will provide guidance on Premier's future plans and
initiatives. For those that are not able to attend in person, the
presentation portion of the event will be webcasted live from the
homepage of the Company's website (www.premiergoldmines.com).
Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo., is the Qualified Person for the information
contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the
meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Assay results are from core
samples sent to Activation Laboratories, an accredited mineral analysis
laboratory in Ancaster, Ontario, or to Accurassay Laboratories, an
accredited mineral analysis laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario, for
preparation and analysis utilizing both fire assay and screen metallic
methods.
Premier Gold Mines Limited is a well-financed Canadian-based mineral exploration and development
company with several projects and deposits in Northwestern Ontario and
Nevada. In the Red Lake gold mining camp, two of these are operated in
joint venture with Red Lake Gold Mines.
The statements made in this Press Release may contain forward-looking
statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's
expectations and projections.
To view this news release in HTML formatting, please use the following URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2011/29/c2289.html
Ewan Downie, President & CEO Phone: 807-346-1390 Fax: 807-346-0100
e-mail: Info@premiergoldmines.com Web Site: www.premiergoldmines.com