Rathdowney Resources Limited Starts Drilling on Its Olza Zinc-Lead Project in Southern Poland

VANCOUVER, June 16, 2011 /CNW/ - Rathdowney Resources Ltd. (TSXV: RTH) announces that it has started drilling on its OLZA zinc-lead project in southern Poland. On June 14, two diamond drill rigs were mobilized to site and commenced drilling in the northern part of the Zawiercie exploration concession, one of two concessions held by Rathdowney in the world class Silesian zinc-lead district, located about 90 kilometres northwest of Krakow, Poland.

Project OLZA, comprising the Zawiercie and Rokitno exploration concessions, is situated along strike from the operating State-owned Pomorzany zinc-lead mine and the Olkusz and Boleslaw mines which, historically, have produced some 125 million tonnes of ore averaging 4 per cent zinc and 2 per cent lead. The project is also located 30 kilometres away from a railway spur that connects to the ZGHB zinc smelter at Boleslaw.

Historical drilling totaling 180,000 metres by the Polish State Survey on the Project OLZA concessions indicates the presence of substantial deposits of zinc and lead, including significant zones of higher-grade zinc mineralization. The current drill program is a multi-phase campaign of resource verification and exploration drilling. Drill hole spacing at 50 and 100 metres is designed to better define the known mineralization. Over 30,000 metres of drilling is planned for this year, including deployment of up to six additional rigs by early this fall.

President and CEO John Barry said: “This is an important milestone for Project OLZA. I would like to congratulate the whole team in Poland, as well as in the corporate offices in Ireland and Vancouver, for all their hard work over the past months. Globally, there are relatively few zinc-lead explorers, and we believe that Rathdowney is distinct in both the quality and scale of its zinc-lead projects, and their location near to established infrastructure in the heart of Europe. We plan a regular flow of drill results from this project, as well as our other major drill program that is focused on compelling targets in the Irish zinc-lead district (see Rathdowney's April 11, 2011 release), over the coming months as we work to find and develop new zinc-lead mines in Poland and Ireland.“


About Rathdowney

Rathdowney Resources Ltd. is a mineral exploration company associated with Hunter Dickinson Inc. (“HDI“). Rathdowney is focused on finding and developing the next generation of base metal deposits in the ore fields of Poland and Ireland.


About HDI

HDI is a diversified, global mine development company with a 25-year history of mineral development success. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral properties that provide consistently superior returns to shareholders.

The technical information in this release has been reviewed by Mark Rebagliati, P.Eng, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.


John Barry
President & CEO



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provide (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements“. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the company expects are forward looking statements. 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 or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, other continued ability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings as they come available at www.sedar.com.



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For further details on the Company and its projects, please visit www.rathdowneyresources.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114