Business & Finance
Mon, January 12, 2009Sun, January 11, 2009Fri, January 9, 2009Thu, January 8, 2009Wed, January 7, 2009Tue, January 6, 2009Mon, January 5, 2009Fri, January 2, 2009Wed, December 31, 2008Tue, December 30, 2008Mon, December 29, 2008Champion Minerals Inc.: Champion Minerals Commences Diamond Drilling to Test New Combined Gravity-Magnetic Anomalies at Gullbri
Published in Business and Finance on Wednesday, January 7th 2009 at 6:37 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-07 06:39:18 by Market Wire
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 7, 2009) - CHAMPION MINERALS INC. ("Champion" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CHM) is pleased to announce that a diamond drill rig has been mobilized to the Company's Gullbridge and Powderhorn Base Metals Properties (the "Properties") in the Buchans Mining Camp of central Newfoundland. Drilling will consist of a three hole 1,600m program. The planned drill holes are targeting three of the five higher priority targets identified from a 2008 ground gravity survey. The gravity anomalies coincide with airborne magnetic anomalies identified from a 2006 Newfoundland government survey. The work is being partially funded by a 2008 Government of Newfoundland Ministry of Natural Resources grant under the Junior Exploration Assistance Program.
The Gullbridge and Powderhorn Base Metals Properties are contiguous covering 58.5 km2 and 28.75 km2, respectively, of prospective Roberts Arm Formation volcanic rocks that host the Buchans VMS deposits. The historical Buchans Mine, located 50 km SW of the Properties, produced 16.2 million tonnes of ore with an average mill head grade of 1.33% copper, 14.51% zinc, 7.56% lead, 126 g/t silver and 1.37 g/t gold from 1929 to 1984 (as reported in NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Buchans River Limited Properties, Newfoundland, Canada, May 2008, under Buchans River Ltd., on [ www.sedar.com ]). Teck Cominco Limited is currently mining the Duck Pond Deposit, located 50 km south of the Properties, which has reserves of 3.298 million tonnes at an average grade of 3.25% copper and 4.90% zinc with silver and gold credits (2007 year-end proven and probable reserves; [ www.teckcominco.com ]).
The Gullbridge Property hosts several historic base metal occurrences including the past producing Gullbridge Mine where "ore reserves" reported in 1953 stood at 4.35 million tonnes grading 1.24% copper, based on a Newfoundland assessment file report titled "Geological Synthesis and Interpretation of the Gullbridge Property" by Dr. J.H. Akkerman, Ph.D. The reader is cautioned that the reserves are historic in nature, are non-compliant to current National Instrument 43-101 reporting standards, and cannot be relied upon. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Gullbridge Mines Ltd., processed 3 million tonnes of "ore" grading 1.1% copper that also contained credits in zinc, gold and silver. Historic drill holes on the Gullbridge Property have outlined a zinc mineralized zone over 250m in length with grades up to 1.5% zinc over 6.4m.
At the Powderhorn Property, seven diamond drill holes completed by the Company to-date have intersected stringer-style copper-gold-zinc-silver mineralization similar to the Gullbridge Mine mineralization.
Diamond Drilling Targets
DDH-09-01 of the current drilling program is targeting a 1.5 km by 1 km gravity high anomaly located on the NW flank of the Powderhorn Felsic Dome. The gravity high is coincident with an airborne magnetic and ground InfiniTEMTM deep-EM anomaly. Previous drilling by the Company in the vicinity terminated in black shales with sulphide disseminations overlying felsic tuffs and cherts also containing sulphides. The proposed hole will be drilled to a depth of 500m to investigate the possibility of massive sulphides with base metals some 200m to 300m below the black shales contact.
DDH-09-02 is targeting a near circular 750m wide gravity high anomaly with a coincident intense magnetic anomaly located on the western flank of the Powderhorn Felsic Dome near the contact with the Dawes Pond Intrusive Complex. The proposed hole will be drilled to a depth of 400m to test for possible massive sulphides within the down-dip flank of the felsic tuffs and/or possible magmatic nickel-copper sulphide mineralization associated with mafic intrusive rocks. Nickel-copper sulphides occur in surface outcrops of narrow mafic dikes on Powderhorn.
DDH-09-03 is targeting the largest and most intense of the five gravity high anomalies grouped in an area covering 1.5 km by 1 km SE of the historic Baker Brook Zinc occurrence and east of the main regional thrust fault known as the Red Indian Line. A recent re-interpretation of the regional geology suggests that the prolific Roberts Arm Formation lay beneath the sedimentary rock cover east of the thrust. The proposed hole will be drilled to a depth of 600m to test for massive sulphides beneath the sedimentary cover rocks.
The Gullbridge and Powderhorn Properties
Champion is in the first year of its option to acquire a 51% interest in the Gullbridge Property by paying C$30,000, completing C$800,000 in exploration work on the Property and issuing a total of 300,000 common shares of the Company by April 2011. Champion will have a further option to increase its interest to 75% by funding an additional C$700,000 in exploration and issuing an additional 150,000 common shares of the Company within a further two year period. Champion could then increase its interest to 85% by funding all necessary expenditures to completion of a positive bankable feasibility study.
Champion is in the second year of its option to acquire a 70% interest in the Powderhorn Property by paying C$50,000, completing C$1,000,000 in exploration work on the Property and issuing a total of 500,000 common shares of the Company by June 2010. Champion could increase its interest to 80% by funding 100% of a positive bankable feasibility study.
About Champion Minerals
Champion is a junior exploration Company focused on discovering and developing significant metal resources in eastern Canada, particularly in Labrador and Newfoundland and northeastern Quebec. The Company's projects include the Powderhorn and Gullbridge Base Metal Projects located in central Newfoundland, the Attikamagen Iron Property, located in western Labrador and northeastern Quebec, and the Fermont Iron Property in northeastern Quebec.
The technical content of this press release has been prepared, reviewed and approved by Mr. Alex S. Horvath, P. Eng., Champion's Executive Vice President, and Mr. Jean Lafleur, P. Geo., a Director of the Company and Technical Advisor to the President and CEO. Both individuals are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101 standards.
Statements in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" and readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results, may vary materially from those in these "forward-looking statements.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
