(Vancouver, January 19, 2018): Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. (“Mineral Mountain” or the “Company”) (TSX.V: “MMV”) (“OTCQX: MNRLF”) is pleased to report that a 12-hole 3200-meter core drilling program is scheduled to start next week to test the down plunge extension of the 300-meter wide Standby Mine gold structure partially developed from 1891 to 1909 from surface to the 425-foot level. This high priority gold target represents the Company’s flagship in the Rochford District and is believed to have camp-scale potential.
Historical drilling and surficial geological data from the Company’s comprehensive database, integrated with professional geophysical interpretation and analysis of the Fugro HELITEM EM and Magnetic survey flown at tight flight line intervals over the Rochford Project area and compiled and interpreted in 3D, has defined 13 Target Zones (“TZ”) within the survey area with 4 TZ categorized as high priority, very large magnetic bodies that correlate with larger concentrations of mapped iron formation. By far the largest magnetic body within the survey area is coincident with the 300-meter wide Standby Mine gold structure. A 3D Mag model of this high priority target confirms that this magnetic body expands and widens to a depth of at least 1500 meters and may represent thickened Homestake iron formation.
A total of 12 drill holes ranging between 300m and 400m deep are planned to intersect the wide Standby Mine gold zones down plunge below the 425-foot level. The first drill hole is spotted to intersect this gold structure at about 100 m below the 425-foot level proximal to hole S-1 drilled by Getty Oil in 1982. S-1 intercepted altered and locally quartz flooded iron formation with 3 – 10% pyrrhotite and trace to 5% arsenopyrite from 33.83m – 71.32m (111.0’ – 234.0’) for a core interval of 37.5m (near true width). Visible gold was observed in 4 different relatively short intervals. The entire interval was sampled and much of it had been sampled twice. No historical assay results are available for the remaining one-quarter core, but it is a very impressive looking intercept.
Up plunge from hole S-1, an historic underground drill hole, BLG-UG03, designed the test the Standby Mine horizon 75 meters below the 125-foot level, intersected 4.61 grams per tonne across 12.19 meters. A channel sample collected from one of the mineralized gold zones of quartz flooded iron formation on the 425-foot levels assayed 6.22 g/t Au across 10.5m. Between 1986 and 1988, Homestake drilled three separate “widely spaced step out” cross sections down plunge from the Standby Mine shaft. The “step out” cross sections were designed to intersect the major gold bearing fold structure at 750-meter intervals down plunge. Remarkably, in 1987, Homestake SM87-3A, located 1500 meters laterally and about 560 meters vertically and 1500m down plunge from the Standby Mine deposit, intersected a broad interval of gold mineralization within a thick unit of iron formation, including a high grade interval grading 10.29 grams per tonne across 3.1 meters.
Commenting on the program, President and CEO Nelson W. Baker stated that, “After five years of collecting the most comprehensive database ever assembled for the Rochford District including flying the first ever airborne EM and Mag survey, our top priority is to prove that the Homestake-model applies to the Standby Mine synclinal fold structure. We believe this fold structure is analogous to the Ledge 9 deposit at the Homestake Mine”.
The Rochford Gold District is located approximately 26 kilometers south of the world’s largest iron formation hosted gold deposit, the Homestake Mine, which produced over 40,000,000 ounces of gold from ore averaging approximately10.89 g/t Au (0.350 opt) over the life of the mine from 1876 to 2001.
The geology of the Rochford District is remarkably similar to that at the Homestake Mine with gold hosted in multiple deformed Proterozoic carbonate facies and local sulfide-facies iron formation that has typically been metamorphosed to cummingtonite/grunerite phyllites/schists and chlorite schists. There are numerous, relatively shallow, high-grade past producing gold mines and prospects in the Rochford District that were developed in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Mineral Mountain’s property package covers the approximately 9 km long by 5 km wide core of the district, with multiple trends of locally structurally thickened and sheared auriferous iron formation considered to have many geological and mineralogical aspects in common with the Homestake Mine 26 km to the northwest.
The Rochford Gold Belt covers more than 78 square kilometers and has been explored intermittently by a number of major companies including Getty, Cominco, Newmont, Noranda, Western Mining and Homestake Mining in the 20th century. Despite gold prices hitting $1,900 US per ounce in 2011, the last serious drilling exploration in the Rochford District was completed in 1997.
Qualified Persons
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Nelson W. Baker, P.Eng., the President and CEO of Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. and a Qualified Person for this project. All exploration activities at the Rochford Project are carried out under the strict supervision of Kevin Leonard, P.Geo., also a Qualified Person for this project.
About Mineral Mountain Resources and the Rochford Gold Project
Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary Mineral Mountain Resources (SD) Inc., is focused on the exploration of its 100%-owned Rochford Gold Project situated along the highly prospective Homestake Gold Belt in the Black Hills of South Dakota, U.S.A. The Rochford Project covers approximately 7,500 acres and straddles three major trends of structurally thickened auriferous iron formation that host ledge-type gold mineralization.
Since 2013, the Company has continued to expand its land position in the Rochford gold district by professional claim staking and also by purchasing strategically located private properties that fall along two of the major sub-parallel structural trends that host Ledge-type gold mineralization. The Company now owns the largest land position in the Rochford greenstone belt and now possesses by far the largest and most comprehensive database for the district in modern day exploration history! The Rochford Project is vastly under-explored and has the potential to host several district scale gold discoveries.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
MINERAL MOUNTAIN RESOURCES LTD.
“Nelson W. Baker”, President and CEO
For further information, please contact:
Brad Baker, Vice-President Corporate Development & Director | |
(778) 383-3975 | bbaker@mineralmtn.com |
Or visit our website: | www.mineralmtn.com |
Forward looking information
This release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (“Forward-looking information”). Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including such things as future business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, expansion, growth of the Company’s businesses, operations, plans and with respect to exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, permitting time lines, government regulation of exploration and mining operations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, limitations on insurance coverage, timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation and timing and results of future resource estimates or future economic studies.
Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “planning”, “planned”, “expects” or “looking forward”, “does not expect”, “continues”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “potential”, “anticipates”, “does not anticipate” or “belief” or describes a “goal” or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking information is based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including, the result of drilling and exploration activities, that contracted parties provide goods and/or services on the agreed timeframes, that equipment necessary for exploration is available as scheduled and does not incur unforeseen break downs, that no labour shortages or delays are incurred, that plant and equipment function as specified, that no unusual geological or technical problems occur, and that laboratory and other related services are available and perform as contracted. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, prediction, projection, forecast, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of gold; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors disclosed in the company’s publicly filed documents. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information 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 information.