Ring of Fire Resources Inc. Announces Vanadium Results on the McNugget JV Ground
Toronto, Ontario – May 13, 2011: Ring of Fire Resources Inc. (the "Company" or “ROF”) (TSX-V:ROF, FRANKFURT: RG5, OTC.PK:HWKPF) is pleased to announce that it has received Vanadium drill hole results from its JV partner, MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd (TSX.V-BMK) (“MacDonald Mines”). As reported by MacDonald Mines in their news release of May 11, 2011, regarding the McNugget JV ground (which is situated within MacDonald’s larger Butler Lake Property and is held under a joint venture with ROF) in the McFauld’s Lake Area, James Bay Lowlands, Northern Ontario. MacDonald Mines believes that there are in excess of 20 linear kilometres of potential Vanadium-bearing titano-magnetite bodies on the Butler Lake Property. Approximately 8.0 linear kilometres of these bodies occur on the McNugget JV ground in two separate areas, namely Anomaly N-30 and the Anomalies N-25,N-26,N-29,N-42 & N-43 trend (see map).
MacDonald Mines has announced that all drill holes intersected vanadium mineralization with values as high as 1.58% V2O5, and composited intervals ranging from 0.42% V2O5 to 1.17% V2O5 – the weighted average of all vanadium mineralization intersected on the property in this current drilling program was 0.644% V2O5. It should be noted that these values are comparable to currently producing Vanadium mines internationally.
The Vanadium targets were intersected in 8 diamond drill holes (BP11-V01 to V08) totalling 1060.4 metres, of which 4 diamond drill holes (BP11-V01, V06, V07 & V08) were collared on Anomaly N-30 on the McNugget JV ground for a total of 732.5 metres.
| Assay Intervals Including | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drill Hole | From | To | V O 2 5 | Ti0 2 | Fe | Interval** | From To VO TiO Fe Interval* 2 5 2 | |
| (m) | (m) | (%) | (%) | (%) | (m) | (m) (m) (%) (%) (%) (m) | ||
| BP11-V01 | 8.5 | 20.5 | 0.57 | 4.58 | 22.79 | 12 | ||
| BP11-V01 | 40 | 58 | 0.54 | 4.43 | 23.65 | 18 | 48 50.5 0.94 7.49 36.18 2.5 | |
| BP11-V01 | 63.9 | 66.4 | 0.65 | 5.20 | 25.04 | 2.5 | ||
| BP11-V06 | 170.5 | 173 | 1.04 | 7.83 | 39.27 | 2.5 | ||
| BP11-V07 | 44 | 52 | 0.83 | 5.88 | 29.97 | 8 | 44 48.2 1.17 7.97 40.73 4.2 | |
| BP11-V07 | 77.7 | 83 | 0.95 | 9.75 | 36.44 | 5.3 | 77.7 81 1.12 11.08 41.59 3.3 | |
| BP11-V08 | 40 | 42 | 0.47 | 5.05 | 21.70 | 2 |
*lntervals represent the length of the down-hole intersection only, and therefore do not represent true width.
The additional holes drilled on the McNugget JV ground was confined to VTEM Anomaly N-30. Both MN05-04 and MN07-49 were drilled on this anomaly in earlier campaigns in 2005 and 2007 respectively. The following are results from Whole Rock Analysis that were previously released.
Drill Hole Depth (m) V2O5 (%)
| MN07-49 | 37.6 | 1.57 |
| MN07-49 | 62.1 | 1.39 |
| MN07-49 | 66.5 | 1.14 |
The logs for drill hole MN05-04 indicate that it intersected 3 magnetite zones totalling 54.1m from 39.4m to 107.0m down-hole, but unfortunately the drill core cannot be located for re-sampling.
MacDonald Mines reported that the Vanadium grades intersected in drill core are high relative to other national and international Vanadium bearing titano-magnetite projects, with mineralization extending to surface. Based upon the grades, widths and postulated linear extent of mineralization, MacDonald Mines believes that the McNugget Property has the potential to host a volumetrically significant amount of Vanadium mineralization.
Ring of Fire Emerging as 'Area of Interest’ for Steel Companies:
Vanadium-bearing titano-magnetites are the primary ore for producing ferro-vanadium which is used to strengthen and harden steel. There is currently no operating North American mine extracting Vanadium-bearing titanomagnetites for the steel industry. The primary sources for this material are South Africa and China.
The steel industry requires chromite, and the Butler Lake Property is only 40 km from Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s Black Thor and Big Daddy chromite projects (the largest known North American chromite deposits), and 35 km from Noront Resources' Blackbird chromite project. The recent acquisition of a 9.9% interest in Noront Resources Ltd. by China's Baosteel Resources signals that manufacturers are interested in the vertical integration of the constituent minerals required for steel. MacDonald Mines believes that vanadium mineralization at Butler Lake is therefore strategically located within the Ring of Fire, as it is in an area targeted for development.
About Vanadium:
Vanadium is a strategic metal that is essential for engineering as well as for the automotive, shipping, and construction industries. It is irreplaceable for its role in aerospace as vanadium-titanium alloys have the best strength-to-weight ratio of any engineered material.
With increased global demand for infrastructure development, steel consumption is driving the market for Vanadium. The steel industry currently uses 90 to 97% of the 60,000 tonnes of Vanadium produced annually. Emerging largescale energy (battery) storage markets, which require Vanadium in their Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), have the potential for accelerating demand for Vanadium.
The McNugget JV Property and map:
The McNugget JV Property lies within the larger Butler Property held by MacDonald Mines under a joint venture with ROF. The property covers 6 contiguous claims (approximately 1,554 hectares), in the James Bay Lowlands, Ring of Fire Area of Northern Ontario. ROF has a 36.75 % interest in this joint venture property, with the remaining interest held by MacDonald Mines, who also acts as operator on the project.
About Ring of Fire Resources Inc.:
Ring of Fire Resources Inc. is a Canadian based junior exploration company with a portfolio of diversified exploration projects at various stages of exploration and drilling for Nickel/Copper/Chromium/PGM in the ‘Ring of Fire’ McFauld’s Lake Area of Northern Ontario, Gold in Northern Ontario, and Uranium in Northern Saskatchewan and Quebec.
Michael Newbury, P. Eng (ON), a "qualified person" as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101 and a director of ROF has verified the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of ROF.
More detailed information is available on the website at www.ringoffireresources.com
Cautionary Statement:
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
The foregoing information may contain forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of Ring of Fire Resources Inc. Forward-looking statements, specifically those concerning future performance, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the Company’s plans and expectations. These plans, expectations, risks and uncertainties are detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with the TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators. Ring of Fire Resources Inc. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts:
Ring of Fire Resources Inc.
H. Vance White, President Phone: 416-214-2250 Fax: 416-367-1954
Corinna de Beer, Investor Relations Phone: 416-792-0343 eMail: [email protected]