Roughrider Generates 10 Drill Targets along Empire Mine Multi-Kilometer Trends
Roughrider Generates 10 Drill Targets along
Empire Mine Multi-Kilometer Trends
TSX.V: REL
VANCOUVER, BC
,
Feb. 3, 2021
/CNW/ -
Roughrider Exploration Limited ("Roughrider"
or the
"Company")
(TSXV: REL) is pleased to announce the results from the historical data review of its
road accessible 15,764 hectares Empire Mine Property (the "
Property
") located on northern
Vancouver Island, which can be explored almost all year round. Roughrider has an option to acquire
a 100% interest in the Property by making staged cash and share payments and completing certain
expenditure commitments (as announced
September 24, 2020
).
Roughrider Exploration NR21-03 Figure 1 (CNW Group/Roughrider Exploration Limited)
The Empire Mine consists of a series of former workings (open pit and underground), outcroppings
and anomalies identified by previous exploration including drilling. The footprint of the main
exploration target area covers approximately 400 hectares (2 kilometer ("km") x 2 km) with 10
principal target zones outlined (see Figure 1). Roughrider believes that through a comprehensive
review of historical data and information leading to systematic exploration across the entire Property
using modern techniques it will be able to significantly advance the Property.
Adam Travis
, Roughrider CEO and Director comments:
"We recognized the copper-gold exploration
potential at Empire from our first property examination and our initial review of historical records. It
was clear that historic exploration focused on only two zones: Empire Mines Merry Widow and
Kingfisher open pits and the underground Benson Lake mine operated by Cominco in the 1970s.
Our compilation work is indicating at least 10 principal targets in a 2 km x 2 km area around these
former producing mines. It is also important to note that these targets are concentrated in <5 % of
the overall property, indicating it's a great starting point but we've a much larger area still to
evaluate. Indeed, through analyzing the last significant work programs, we have greatly advanced
our knowledge of the entire Property and generated several significant exploration targets that
were not tested during the last phase of these historical exploration programs which took place
relatively recently between 2006 and 2010."
In November 2008, Grande Portage published a 43-101 technical report on the Merry Widow open
pit of 960,000 tonnes at 2.03 grams/tonne ("g/t") Gold (
"Au"
) and 0.34% Copper (
"Cu"
) ¹
&
². The
historical results published in this news release highlight significant additional areas for potential
discoveries both along strike and down dip, and along the main trends associated with the past
producing Merry Widow open pit mine and Benson Lake underground mine (see Figures 1,2 & 3).
Historical records and maps from 1972, when Cominco Ltd. operated the Benson Lake Mine,
indicate 454,500 tonnes at 0.59 g/t Au and 1.3 % Cu classified as "measured and indicated" and a
further 2,700,000 tonnes at 1.7% Cu ³ (no Au grade estimated) to the 2100 level as of December
31, 1972 classified as "inferred". While Roughrider notes that Cominco's historical results are not NI
43-101 compliant and have not been verified by the Company's QP, these combined historical
resources total nearly 3.154 million tonnes and will help guide Roughrider's exploration programs for
2021.
Roughrider's historical review work has also identified considerable exploration potential along the 1
km "Merry Widow Trend" with at least 10 mineral showings having coincident airborne magnetic
highs and anomalous copper values in soils on trend with the historical 2008 resource; and a 1 km
trend south of the Merry Widow Pit with 5 mineral showings, copper in soil anomalies. In addition, a
newly recognized and never publicly reported IP survey indicates an untested
300 m
x
400 m
chargeability anomaly ³ (see Figure 1).
Please refer to Figures 1, 2 & 3 that show Roughrider's Cu-Au exploration targets at the Empire
Mine Property. Per the Company's news release of December 8, 2020, an initial budget of
$1 million
has already been approved from the existing treasury to advance exploration as soon as permits are
forthcoming and is expected to include up to
5,000 m
of drilling.
Empire Mine Property - 1 km NNE Merry Widow Cu-Au Trend
Target #1: Down Dip of Historical Merry Widow Resource:
Compilation of the 2008 Grande
Portage historical resource in the context of historical underground sampling and geological mapping
has indicated prospective areas down dip and down plunge of the historical resource towards the
Merry Widow Pluton that have not been tested.
Target #2: Along Strike to the North of the Merry Widow Resource (Copper Knob/Gossan
Zone)
: This area appears to be the up dip and the northerly projection of the 2008 historical
resource where Roughrider previously reported channel sampling results (as announced October 20,
2020) highlighted by results from Copper Knob returning 9.77 g/t Au and 2.35% Cu across
10.5 m
.
Although a few previous drillholes were collared in this area they were either not sampled and/or not
collared to adequately test the orientation of the mineralization noted in our channel sampling.
Target #3: Subparallel Mineralized Structure Never Drilled (Raven Pit)
: The Raven magnetite
body is located at the southwesterly end of a >
300 m
long northeasterly trending zone of greenstone
associated with a northeasterly trending fault that is approximately
100 m
west of the Merry Widow
trend. The pit was excavated in the 1960's and is now completely covered by surrounding waste
rock piles but reportedly consisted of magnetite with associated sulphides pyrrhotite, pyrite,
sphalerite and chalcopyrite. High sulphide content made the magnetite deposit uneconomic, and
after extracting some 20,000 tonnes, the pit was abandoned ⁵. No exploration drilling appears to
have been undertaken at the Raven Pit or along its northeasterly trending fault structure.
Target #4: Along Strike to the North of the Merry Widow Resource (North Notch-Whiskey):
Channel Sampling by Roughrider of the North Notch Showing (as announced
October 20, 2020
) has
returned values of up to 0.70 g/t Au and 2.43% Cu across
5.1 m
. Seven historical drillholes have
been drilled in this area and have returned values up to 8.57 g/t Au and 0.72% Cu across
5.0 m
in
drillhole DDH89-030 ⁶. At Whiskey Jack, skarn mineralogy consists of diopside, garnet, epidote,
actinolite and chlorite. Diamond drilling has indicated a mineralized zone that measures
90 m
by
45
m
⁷. The zone strikes northeast and dips steeply to the southeast. These historical drillhole
intercepts and mineralized surface outcrops have encouraging results and future exploration is
warranted.
Target #5: Along Strike to the North of the Merry Widow Resource (Summit -Summit North):
Chip sampling by Roughrider in the Summit Showing Area (as announced
October 20, 2020
) of
sulphidized volcanics have returned values of 0.16 g/t Au and 0.11% Cu over
17.0 m
. Elsewhere on
the Property, the contact between the underlying limestones and overlying volcanics or sediments is
a favourable setting for mineralization. Copper in soil anomalies are noted in the underlying
limestones to the east and this, along with the magnetic trend from Merry Widow, suggest the
potential for underlying mineralization beneath the shallow volcanic cap rocks. Two drillholes in the
area were dominated by volcanics with weakly anomalous gold and copper, and better testing of the
favourable horizons and structures is required.
Target #6: Along Strike to the South of the Merry Widow Resource (Marten, Lower Marten
and South Pit):
Two mineral showings and an arm of the Merry Widow Pit (South Pit) occur over a
250 m
strike south of the Merry Widow Pit where the primarily NNE trend warps into a more north-
south trend. The Marten showing was channel sampled by Roughrider (as announced
October 20,
2020
) and returned values of 2.89 g/t Au and 0.32% Cu across
10.0 m
. Substantial amount of drilling
was undertaken on the Marten showing in 2007 which indicates that known mineralization forms a <
5 m
thick zone of massive magnetite and pyrrhotite near the limestone/volcanic contact over a <
50
m
strike. Drillhole MW07-72 intercepted
4.50 m
grading 9.25 g/t Au and 0.702 % cobalt ("
Co
") ⁸.
The Lower Marten showing was the location of five drillholes which were abandoned and failed to
test the target. Mineralization at Lower Marten appears to cut up through limestones unlike the
blanket style mineralization at Marten. This
250 m
area south of the pit remains a high priority where
the projected mineralized trends intersect the Merry Widow Pluton and where substantial albeit
narrow gold, copper and cobalt values have been returned.
Empire Mine Property -
1 km South Merry Widow Cu-Au Trend
Target #7: Snowline, Bluebird 1, Bluebird 2, Jem and Radio:
These 5 mineral occurrences occur
along a 1 km trend south of the Merry Widow Pit. Channel sampling by Roughrider at Snowline (as
announced
October 20, 2020
) returned 5.37 g/t Au and 0.32% Co across
1.0 m
and at Bluebird 2
returned 3.17 g/t Au and 0.22% Cu across
2.0 m
. Grab samples in the Bluebird 1 showing returned
11.2 g/t Au and 2.13% Cu. Digitization and data input of a 1990 Noranda IP Survey indicates a
200
m
in diameter IP chargeability anomaly at Snowline and a
300 m
x
400 m
chargeability high
downslope of the Bluebird 1 & 2 showings which appears untested ³. Drilling in 1990-1991 at
Bluebird 1 and 2 included 6 drillholes totaling
202.1 m
(4 drillholes from 1990 which totaled
48.9 m
were noted with no assays or geology). Drillhole NMW91-49 intersected
1.67 m
grading 0.367 g/t
Au and 0.17% Cu from
59.84 m
⁹. The Snowline showing was drilled by 2 drillholes in 2007 located
along a road and failed to return significant results but also appear to have not properly tested
underneath the showing or an adjacent Airborne EM Anomaly. The Company is encouraged by the
presence of showings and anomalous rock and drill results which cluster around these untested
geophysical anomalies.
Two other showings (Jem and Radio) occur further to the south where only modest work has noted
skarn style mineralization.
Empire Mine Property - 1 km South Benson Lake Cu-Au –Trend
Target #8: Road Showing and Cominco Resource Block:
The Road Showing was channel
sampled by Roughrider (as announced
October 20, 2020
) and returned 0.19 % Cu across
6.5 m
.
The area was tested with 1 drill hole in 2006 (MW06-24) which intersected
1.04m
of skarn alteration
at the contact zone. Near the Cominco Resource Block drillhole MW07-51 was drilled and
intersected
1.5m
grading 0.11 g/t Au and 0.72% Cu from
327.0 m
⁸. Drillhole MW06-25 drilled from
the same location intersected
2.54 m
grading 0.65 g/t Au and 0.27% Cu from
266.6 m
¹⁰. These
drillholes appear to have not properly tested the historic resource area defined by Cominco, which
had historic underground drill intercepts of
0.76m
grading 6.09% Cu, which were noted in a 1972
plan map ¹¹.
Target #9: Coincident Magnetic and Chargeability High 1 km South of Benson Lake Mine
: A
300 m
diameter IP Chargeability is located within a prominent magnetic high trend 1 km south of the
Benson Lake Mine. Drilling in the area included 4 drill holes (MW06-27, MW07-52, MW07-53, and
MW07-54) that were located along the road and were all vertical holes that were drilled outside of
the coincident chargeability and magnetic anomaly. The holes were dominated by the
Quatsino
limestone with some greenstone dikes and intermittent volcanic units and minor skarn altered
intervals. The best intercept reported was in drillhole MW07-54 which intercepted
0.63 m
grading
1.20 g/t Au and 5.25% Cu from
710.82 m
and
3.49 m
grading 0.38 g/t Au and 0.57% Cu from
732.70 m
⁸. Although these intercepts are deep, they are considered very encouraging at the same
horizon as the Benson Lake Mine nearly 1 km away especially given that they did not even test the
main chargeability anomaly.
Empire Mine Property - Between the Benson Lake and Merry Widow Trend
Target #10: Keystone Intrusion:
This area is located southwest of the Benson Lake Mine in an
area mapped as underlain by the Keystone intrusions which have been noted at other showings and
past producing mines on the property to have a close spatial association with mineralization. The
Ministry of Mines Annual Report in 1960 shows several occurrences of magnetite in the area and
this area is worthy of more prospecting and detailed surveys.
Appendix 1
Table 1: Merry Widow Significant Diamond Drill Intercepts
¹⁰
DDH ID
From (m)
To (m)
Length (m)*
Au (g/t)
Ag (g/t)
Cu (%)
Co (%)
Fe (%)
MW06-08
1.53
75.00
73.47
4.51
6.05
0.31
0.019
15.49
including
6.32
47.85
41.53
7.59
8.65
0.42
0.024
19.29
which includes
10.42
11.67
1.25
12.20
12.00
0.39
0.014
35.90
11.67
12.92
1.25
12.50
14.00
0.69
0.024
35.00
24.17
25.32
1.15
79.40
25.00
0.46
0.097
18.70
37.47
38.59
1.12
16.30
29.00
1.73
0.011
18.25
44.53
45.69
1.16
54.30
27.00
0.87
0.156
21.90
46.85
47.85
1.00
18.85
18.00
1.04
0.019
27.20
MW06-15
19.43
66.75
47.32
5.16
23.53
1.48
0.011
19.06
including
33.90
34.33
0.43
13.55
291.00
18.35
0.071
34.40
60.15
61.34
1.19
47.40
83.00
4.06
0.033
30.90
61.34
62.45
1.11
55.50
51.00
2.28
0.043
40.70
MW06-17
20.02
70.44
50.32
6.51
21.98
1.41
0.059
18.16
including
23.00
24.00
1.00
21.90
77.00
4.83
0.082
34.80
52.52
53.62
1.10
33.70
45.00
2.57
0.069
22.60
53.62
54.48
0.86
47.90
93.00
4.50
0.049
31.20
55.00
56.00
1.00
25.50
81.00
4.20
0.699
25.10
MW06-18
19.33
69.00
49.67
3.27
15.11
1.02
0.015
14.48
including
22.00
23.47
1.47
7.83
47.00
3.76
0.045
16.80
29.08
30.36
1.28
14.75
11.00
0.50
0.018
39.30
51.46
66.31
14.85
6.46
38.62
2.53
0.034
15.37
MW06-22
23.47
63.98
40.51
2.47
8.78
0.52
0.007
18.89
* The intervals reported in this table represent drill intercepts and insufficient data is available at this
time to state the true thickness of the mineralized intervals and all gold values are uncut
Table 2: Benson Lake Mine - Old Sport Horizon Historical Underground Drill Drilling
Significant Intercepts
¹¹
DDH ID*
Hole Type
Reported Length (Feet)
Converted Length (m)
Cu (%)
Comments
C-1970-55
unknown
21.0
6.40
4.5
Previously Mined
C-1970-24
unknown
12.0
3.66
6.9
Previously Mined
C-1970-42
unknown
14.0
4.27
5.1
Previously Mined
C-1970-53
unknown
14.0
4.27
5.1
Previously Mined
C-1970-12
unknown
10.0
3.05
6.0
Previously Mined
C-1970-17
unknown
11.0
3.35
3.8
Previously Mined
C-1970-25
unknown
11.0
3.35
3.4
Previously Mined
C-1970-23
unknown
12.0
3.66
2.9
Previously Mined
C-1970-16
unknown
5.0
1.52
4.8
Not Mined
C-1970-05
unknown
4.5
1.37
2.9
Not Mined
C-1970-10
unknown
10.0
3.05
1.13
Not Mined
DDH68-7
DDH
2.5
0.76
6.09
Not Mined
* Assay results in this table are recorded from private company plan maps of the Benson Lake Mine
underground workings with notes indicating it was completed after
December 31, 1972
. Laboratory
certificates in these examples have not been found in historical data search.
About Roughrider Exploration Limited
Roughrider's current exploration focus is the Empire Mine Property, located on Northern Vancouver
Island, B.C., which covers three historical open pit mines and two past-producing underground mines
that yielded iron, copper, gold and silver. Roughrider's other properties include its 100% owned
Eldorado
, Gin and Bonanza properties located in the Golden Triangle of northern B.C. which are
adjacent to the Red Chris Mine as well as its 100% Sterling property which is located in central B.C.
Roughrider management also continuously reviews strategic precious metals opportunities in
western
North America
.
Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed
and approved by
Wade Barnes
, P.Geo. (
British Columbia
) of Tripoint Geological Services,
Roughrider's Geological Consultant and a Qualified Person ("
QP
") within the context of Canadian
Securities Administrators' NI 43-101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors:
"Adam Travis",
Adam Travis
, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Cautionary Notes Related to this News Release and Figures
1
.
Historical information, maps or figures contained in this release regarding the Roughrider's
Empire Mine Property or adjacent properties cannot be relied upon as the Company's QP, as
defined under NI-43-101 has not prepared nor verified the historical information.
2
.
NI 43-101 Technical Report: Giroux, G.H., & Raven, W. (
November 30, 2008
). Technical Report
on the Copper Gold Resources for the Merry Widow Property. Filed on SEDAR
January 22,
2009
. The 2008 Grand Portage resource estimate was completed by
Gary H. Giroux
, P.Eng,
MASc, of Giroux Consulting Ltd. in
Vancouver, B.C.
The estimate was based on a 3D
geological model integrating 4,448 metres of diamond drilling of 43 drill holes, 2,290 assays,
with 104 down-hole surveys collected between June and
December 2006
. The resource was
reported utilizing gold cut-off grades ranging from 0.10 g/t to 3.00 g/t gold, as more particularly
set out in the report. A complete copy of the report is available on Grand Portage's public filings
on SEDAR (
www.sedar.com
). A gold cut-off grade of 0.50 g/t gold was selected as
representing one possible mining scenario. For the purposes of the calculations, lognormal
cumulative frequency plots were used to assess grade distribution to see if capping of high
values was required and if so at what levels. For all elements, capping levels were established
based on the individual grade distributions as follows: Gold -- a total of 18 gold assays were
capped at 32.0 g/t gold, Silver --a total of 9 silver assays were capped at 165 g/t silver, Copper
-- a total of 7 assays were capped at 11.7% copper, Cobalt -- a total of 5 assays were capped
at 0.48% cobalt, Iron -- all iron assays were capped at 50% iron (the analytical detection limit).
3
.
Province of British Columbia Property File, Statement of Material Facts: VSE 22/09/75,
Quatsino Copper-Gold Mines Limited
4
.
CuEq Equation: Assumptions used in USD for the copper equivalent calculation were metal
prices of
$3.50
/lb. Copper,
$1,800
/oz Gold,
$25
/oz Silver, and recovery is assumed to be
100% as no metallurgical test data is available. The following equation was used to calculate
copper equivalence: CuEq = Copper (%) + (Gold (g/t) x 0.75) + (Silver (g/t) x 0.0104)
5
.
British Columbia Assessment Report 19,178, Equinox Resources Ltd,
September 1989
6
.
Province of British Columbia Property File, Diamond Drilling Report On Merry Widow Property,
PF012364, Taywin Resources Ltd
7
.
British Columbia Minfile Record Summary, Minfile No. 092L047, Whiskey Jack
8
.
British Columbia Assessment Report 30,002, Grande Portage Resources Ltd,
April 2008
9
.
Noranda Exploration Company, Drill Section Maps,
February 1991
, Private Files
10
.
British Columbia Assessment Report 28,863, Grande Portage Resources Ltd,
December 2006
11
.
Cominco Resources, Drill Section Maps "Plan of Cominco's Benson Lake Operations on Empire
Claims Showing Ore Reserves & Proposed Exploration Program", 1970, Private Files
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.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release, including any
information
regarding the proposed Transaction, private placement, board and management
changes,
as to
our strategy, projects, plans or future financial or operating performance, constitutes
"forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are to be
considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a
number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Roughrider, are
inherently subject to significant business, economic, geological and competitive uncertainties and
contingencies. Although Roughrider believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to: fluctuations
in market prices, exploration and exploitation successes, continued availability of capital and
financing, changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations,
expropriation or nationalization of property and general political, economic, market or business
conditions. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking
statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements
are not guarantees of future performance and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own
evaluation of such uncertainties. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release,
or incorporated by reference, are qualified by these cautionary statements. We do not assume any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Roughrider Exploration NR21-03 Figure 2 (CNW Group/Roughrider Exploration Limited)
Roughrider Exploration NR21-03 Figure 3 (CNW Group/Roughrider Exploration Limited)
SOURCE
Roughrider Exploration Limited
View original content to download multimedia:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2021/03/c0541.html
%SEDAR: 00032945E
For further information:
Adam Travis, CEO, Roughrider Exploration Limited, 625 Howe Street,
Suite 420, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2T6, Canada, P: 250-878-7554, E:
CO: Roughrider Exploration Limited
CNW 08:05e 03-FEB-21