Feb 5 2011
Rainy River Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:RR) and Northern Superior Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SUP), announce final assay results from the 2010 Phase I diamond drill program and the commencement of their 2011 diamond drilling and geophysical exploration program.
Three thousand meters of diamond drilling is planned prior to the spring breakup. The TPK Joint Venture project is located 190 km northeast of Pickle Lake in Northern Ontario. The diamond drilling is being conducted with the cooperation of Neskantaga First Nation ("Neskantaga").
2010 Diamond Drilling Program – Target 3To date 10 holes totaling 1,945.0 metres have been drilled on Target 3, with one hole abandoned due to bad ground conditions. Final assays have now been received for the 2 remaining holes on Target 3. TPK-10-008 and 009 were drilled from the same setup approximately 450 metres NW of the discovery hole TPK-10-004. These two holes were designed to test an area up-ice of a strong coincident gold/arsenopyrite reverse circulation till anomaly. Several discrete arsenopyrite/pyrite bearing sericitized shears were intersected throughout the hole with the best assay being returned from TPK-10-009 - 6.9 g/t Au over 0.8 metres. The type of mineralization seen within the core appears to match the reverse circulation anomaly and follow-up drilling is planned.
All reported holes on Target 3 have intersected variably mineralized shears in quartz monzonite, containing disseminated pyrite, arsenopyrite and/or coarse-grained visible gold. Shear thicknesses are variable, ranging from 0.1 metres to 13.5 metres. Continuous down-hole multi element ICP geochemical data coupled with high resolution AEM data suggests a steep north dip in the Target 3 area whereas most of the holes were based on a south dip and thus either overshot the target or did not test its full width. Drilling has now recommenced at Target 3, with initial drilling planned to complete a section of holes to resolve dip and orientation of the mineralized zone prior to stepping out.
2010 Diamond Drilling Program – Target 2Three holes totaling 596.5 meters were completed on Target 2 prior to demobilization for the Christmas break. Target 2 is the largest of four diamond drill targets identified by RC drilling. It is defined by a distinct gold grain in-till anomaly that outlines a dispersion train of at least 3 kilometres trending in a NE-SW direction. The till anomaly is also associated with anomalous arsenic and zinc, and overlies a broad, shear-fractured leucogranite of the "contact stock". The leucogranite contains both spessartine garnet and fluorite alteration. Initial prospecting during the autumn produced 41 mineralized boulders, of which 33 boulders (or 80%) were found to be anomalous in gold. Five of the boulders yielded assays between 5-10 g/t gold, while one boulder yielded an assay of 42 g/t gold. Many additional mineralized boulders were found in follow-up prospecting.
The three drill holes tested only two small areas of the overall target, part of which lies under Crying Boy Lake. Two of the holes intersected narrow intervals of coincident gold and arsenopyrite mineralization in drill core. TPK-10-010 returned 5.1 g/t Au over 0.5 metres, and TPK-10-011 returned 1.0 g/t Au over 2.4 metres, 1.5 g/t Au over 1.5 metres and 1.6 g/t Au over 1.4 metres. As at Target 3, core angles and other data suggest that the holes were drilled along the dip plane of the structure and thus left most of its width untested. Further diamond drilling on Target 2 will await results from the IP geophysical survey to better define drill targets.
Geophysics and LinecuttingLinecutting has now been completed and crews demobilized. Abitibi Geophysics of Val-D'Or, Quebec, has re-mobilized to TPK to complete the 80 line-kilometre Induced Polarization (IP)/Resistivity Geophysical Survey. This survey will cover diamond drill Targets 1–4, with a 100-metre line spacing. Severe winter cold has slowed progress however crews should complete the survey within the next 10 days.
Commentary"The discovery that we had in the initial 7 holes and the fact that 11 of 12 holes drilled intersected at least 1 g/t gold is extremely encouraging," commented Raymond Threlkeld, President and CEO of Rainy River Resources. "The lack of outcrop at TPK hindered drill direction selection and now that we have additional data to guide the exploration, we look forward to our winter drilling program to make further discovery at TPK."
Dr. T.F. Morris, President and CEO of Northern Superior Resources states: "The completion of this first phase diamond drilling not only intersected numerous gold-bearing shear zones, the drilling achieved an important objective in providing invaluable data to direct future drilling. This data, coupled with data derived from the IP survey, reverse circulation drill programs and boulder surveys will provide critical information necessary for a successful winter drill program."
Qualified personsRainy River is the operator of the TPK Joint Venture and the current exploration program is being supervised by Kerry Sparkes, P.Geo. Vice-President Exploration, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Sparkes is the person responsible for the content of this news release. Rainy River has implemented a rigorous QA/QC program to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of drill core. All drill core is marked for sampling and then split in half with a diamond saw blade. Samples are placed in sealed bags with security tags. All samples were assayed using a standard fire assay, 30 gram nominal sample weight with an AA finish. Over-limit samples were re-assayed with a gravimetric finish. Samples with visible gold were automatically analyzed for Ore Grade by 1000g screen fire assay, with coarse and fine fractions being combined proportionately and the fine fraction being assayed twice. Standards, blanks and duplicates are inserted every 25 metres. ALS Canada Ltd. performed primary assaying, with duplicates being analyzed at Activation Laboratories Ltd. ALS Canada Ltd. and Activation Laboratories Ltd. implements independent QA/QC protocols that include the insertion of certified blanks and standards as part of their routine analysis.
Source: Rainy River Resources Ltd.