Expedition Mining's Soil Geochemical Survey Outlines 7 Km Multi-Element Anomaly on Joy Property
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/17/11 -- Expedition Mining Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EXU) (the 'Company') wishes to announce the results from the 2011 work program on the Joy Property, located between the Kathleen Lakes fault and the Dawson thrust, along the Rackla Gold Belt in the Yukon. This work consisted of mapping, prospecting, stream and rock sampling from a helicopter supported camp.
The work program was guided by an airborne geophysical survey which had been flown in the spring. In the region of the Joy property the survey demonstrated that the strongest geophysical anomalies are east-west trending and appear to coincide with the projected locations of the Kathleen Lakes fault, the Dawson thrust and an ultramafic unit. The initial stream sediment sampling program (NR11-13, August 18, 2011) resulted in numerous multi-element geochemical anomalies associated with the northerly trending secondary drainages throughout the property. These anomalies are believed to be significant as they include the important pathfinder elements of As, Sb, Hg and Tl, which have been associated with gold mineralization at the Rau and Nadaleen Trends of ATAC Resources.
The follow-up program to the stream sediment sampling consisted of systematic soil sampling along contour lines within the anomalous drainages. A total of 1882 soil samples were collected and analyzed for gold and a 51 element ICP package at AGAT Laboratories in Mississauga, Ontario.
Mapping has shown the property to be underlain by fault bounded slices of limestones, clastic sedimentary units and ultramafic rocks. These units appear to have a southerly dip which is significant as the soil geochemical anomalies occur along the northern edge of the property. Extensive, and locally intense, quartz-carbonate alteration is associated with structural breaks in all of the rock types identified.
Table 1 shows the anomalous threshold values for the elements of interest along with the maximum values obtained from the soil sampling program. Plots of the soil data for all of these elements are available on the Company's website (www.expeditionmining.com). To go directly to the maps, click here. The significance of the soil survey results is that the anomalies form coherent zones which in most cases can be traced across several lines.
Table 1 Joy Project Soil Data
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Au Ag As Cd Hg Pb Sb Tl Zn
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ppb ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm
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Ave 4.01 0.61 45.7 1.16 0.31 54 2.45 0.25 197
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Min 0 0 0.7 0.02 0.01 0.9 0.05 0.02 9.9
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Max 185 34.0 2580.0 60.9 22.0 2690.0 141.0 3.84 5570
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95th %ile 10.2 2.4 147 3.9 0.9 145 7.7 0.7 560
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Prospecting during the course of the soil sampling program resulted in the discovery of 2 showings associated with the lower contact of the ultramafic rocks. These are located in the northwest corner of the property and were named the Virga and Kermoda showings. Silver, lead-zinc mineralization is associated with quartz carbonate veining in these rocks. The showings are also highly anomalous in As, Cd, Hg, Sb and Tl along with elevated gold. Sampling of the ultramafic rocks indicates that they are significantly depleted in these elements. Rock sampling in area of the showings has exposed strong mineralization as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Virga - Kermoda Rock Sample Results
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Au Ag As Cd Hg Pb Sb Tl Zn
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Sample Width ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm
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5267336 grab 0 5.11 3670 595.0 82.5 5.24% 89.5 0.61 8.51%
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5267433 0.9m chip 0 0.03 1470 0.04 6.3 10.2 29.7 1.6 33
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5267438 1.7m chip 0 0.02 324 0.03 7.04 17.6 13.5 0.42 23
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5267439 1.0m chip 0 0.06 463 0.01 6.4 6.8 31.7 0.6 14.2
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5267440 0.23m chip 0 0.03 402 0.02 8.78 5.7 24.3 0.39 3.8
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5267445 0.6m chip 23 8.05 2390 365.0 50.0 4.00% 89.8 0.6 5.87%
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5267447 1.2m chip 11 5.72 523 1.28 0.34 7220 9.74 0.07 121
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5267448 0.5m chip 6 35.9 712 2.53 0.67 3.93% 38.1 0.07 145
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5267449 2.1m chip 0 1.64 372 0.94 0.27 1480 5.39 0.05 124
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5267450 1.1m chip 0 2.82 449 1.02 0.29 3330 9.71 0.18 175
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5267451 0.5m chip 2 4.37 968 1.31 0.46 4610 16.3 0.08 110
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5267457 0.8m chip 0 0.22 491 1.08 0.31 171 19.3 0.05 183
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The multi-element soil geochemical anomaly can be traced across the entire 7 km east-west width of the Joy property, where it is generally co-incident with the lower contact of the ultramafic unit. The strongest portion of the anomaly is located over the 4 easternmost drainages, which also contain the highest soil gold value of 185 ppb. In this area the rock units underlying the ultramafic are dominantly composed of mudstones as opposed to the phyllitic units to the west. The greatest concentration of soil geochemical anomalies is clustered around the intersection of the lower bounding fault of the ultramafic unit with a major north trending fault zone in the central portion of the property.
The mineralization identified to date is associated with extensive, and locally intense, quartz-carbonate alteration zones. These zones show a strong correlation to the east-west trending thrust slices of the Dawson Thrust, particularly in the vicinity of cross-cutting northerly trending faulting.
The Company is very pleased with the quality of the anomalies generated by the reconnaissance level exploration completed during the 2011 field season. The program has provided drill targets for the 2012 exploration program. Prior to drilling the Company will conduct additional soil sampling, trenching and ground geophysical surveys to better define the drill targets. Geological and logistical support for the program is being provided by Aurora Geosciences.
The Company has also completed field work on the Mt. Mervyn property and results are expected shortly.
Mr. James Chapman, P.Geo, is the Qualified Person as required under the National Instrument 43-101. He is responsible for the design of the program, and all exploration work on the Joy Property will be done under his supervision. Mr. Chapman has read and approved the technical content of this news release.
Expedition is a publicly held Canadian exploration company focused on acquiring, exploring and developing gold properties located in favourable geo-political climates. The company is led by a highly skilled, experienced board and management team with significant successes in managing early stage mineral exploration companies. For additional information concerning Expedition Mining Inc. or its various exploration projects please visit Expedition's website at www.expeditionmining.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:
Ronald Atlas, President & Chairman of the Board
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'plans', 'expects' or 'does not expect', 'is expected', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates' or 'does not anticipate', or 'believes', or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'can', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will be taken', 'occur' or 'be achieved'. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Expedition Mining to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the exploration and potential development of its properties, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future prices of gold. Although Expedition Mining has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Expedition Mining does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Issued Share Capital: 56,710,318
Standard & Poor's Listed
NR-11-15
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Contacts:
Expedition Mining Inc.
William Galine
(604) 662-3903
(604) 662-3904 (FAX)
bgaline@expeditionmining.com
www.expeditionmining.com