David Caulfield, President and CEO of Rimfire Minerals Corporation (TSX VENTURE:RFM - News), is pleased to announce that a C$6 million exploration program has commenced on the Wernecke Mountains Project in north central Yukon. Partner Fronteer Development Group Inc. is building on the success of last year's exploration program, focusing on the discovery of Olympic Dam-style copper-gold-uranium deposits in this exciting mineral district. This 10,000 metre drilling program will be operated by Fronteer, and funded pro-rata by Fronteer (80%) and Rimfire Minerals Corporation (20%).
"We are delighted to have Rimfire as a participating joint venture partner in this year's exploration program," says Dr. Mark O'Dea, President and CEO of Fronteer. "It is a strong endorsement from a well-respected company with a wealth of experience in this mineral district. We are optimistic that collectively we have created a new road map to discovery in this emerging Canadian mineral belt."
A series of high priority drill targets have now been identified on Fronteer/Rimfire's 400 square kilometre land package, all of which are characterized by coincident geophysical, geological and geochemical anomalies. Most of these targets were newly defined in 2006, while Hoover and Auks are historical targets that received limited previous work and have been reinterpreted in light of new data.
Thunder Mountain
Thunder Mountain was discovered in 2006. It is characterized by gold-uranium-copper mineralization over an area measuring at least 550 metres by 400 metres. Surface sampling highlights include 99.2 grams per tonne gold (2.9 oz/ton), 0.57% U3O8 and 5.1 grams per tonne silver taken from locally derived frost-heaved blocks.
Fireweed
Fireweed is a new uranium target that was also discovered in 2006. Eighty-eight locally derived frost-heaved blocks were sampled and returned an average grade of 0.23% U3O8 with anomalous gold and copper. These boulders were collected over an area measuring 400 metres by 200 metres on a gently sloping plateau, and are interpreted to occur immediately above or slightly down slope from the bedrock source.
Hail
Hail is a uranium target where seventeen boulders were sampled in 2006 over an area measuring 160 metres by 60 metres, returning an average grade of 0.15% U3O8. The source of these locally derived boulders is interpreted to be immediately up slope.
Hail West
Hail West is a copper-gold-silver target characterized by impressive zones of intermittently outcropping copper-gold-silver mineralization over a strike length of at least 200 metres. One grab sample, taken from an outcropping massive chalcopyrite-bearing vein 25 centimetres wide, returned 24.5% copper, 2.45 grams per tonne gold and 62.50 grams per tonne silver.
Pagisteel Fault
The Pagisteel Fault is a regional scale structure that follows a broad valley with extensive overburden cover. It has never been drilled before but is characterized by uranium-gold-copper soil geochemical anomalies over a 2.5 kilometre length. Float samples collected within the soil grid area returned maximum values of 5.75% copper, 1.24 grams per tonne gold and 5.75 grams per tonne silver.
Hoover and Auks
The Hoover and Auks are large bulk-tonnage copper-gold targets that have only been tested by 17 holes drilled by the previous operator in the mid 1990s, all of which intersected copper mineralization. These targets have never been assayed for uranium; they remain open in all directions and will be further drill tested this summer. Significant historical intervals include 0.24% copper over 282 metres and 0.41% copper and 0.31 grams per tonne gold over 75 metres.
Exploration of the Wernecke Project is being conducted by Fronteer, as operator of the Wernecke Joint Venture. Mark Baknes, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, will review Fronteer's data and program on behalf of Rimfire.
Source : biz.yahoo.com
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