PREMIER LAUNCHES MAJOR 2009
EXPLORATION PLANS
Shares Issued: 77,565,179
PREMIER GOLD MINES LIMITED (TSX:PG) is pleased to provide an update
of its 2009 exploration plans for its Northwestern Ontario projects. Major
drill programs are planned for the Hardrock, Rahill-Bonanza, and PQ-North
Properties. Key highlights include:
- Approximately $15 Million
in exploration is planned on the company's Northwestern Ontario
projects, making Premier one of the industry's largest explorers.
- Resource definition
drilling at Hardrock and Red Lake gold projects.
Hardrock Project
The Hardrock Project, operated under a joint venture with Roxmark Mines
Limited (TSX-V:RMK) (Premier earning a 70% interest), will be the focal
program with more than 50,000 metres of drilling planned beginning
in early January. The Hardrock Project is host to several past-producing
mines which collectively produced more than 2.0 Million ounces of gold from
the same deposits to relatively shallow depths of approximately 2000 feet (600 metres) from
1938-1968. The mined zones remained wide open at depth at the time mining
ceased and developed historical resources were left in place within the
existing mine workings (a qualified person has not done sufficient work
to verify the historical resource, the company is not treating the
historical resource as a current resource and the historical rescource
should not be relied upon). Importantly, the Hardrock Project has the
potential for defining several styles of mineralization capable of hosting
resources, with grades and widths similar to many of Ontario's major gold
mines including:
- Open pit style
mineralization with grades exceeding 1.5g/t Au (Timmins, Hemlo)
- Broad zones of
mineralization with grades averaging 5.0+g/t Au (Musselwhite)
- Narrow vein zones with
higher gold grades often exceeding 7.0g/t (Red Lake, Pickle Lake)
Initial drilling will focus on
delineating both open pit and underground resources with the goal of
defining a multi-million ounce gold resource that can be moved quickly
towards development (Although existing historical resources have been
used as a basis for confirming target potential, there is been insufficient
exploration data to define a mineral resource and it is not certain that
further exploration will result in discovery of a mineral resource.) The
Project offers development advantages with the Trans-Canada highway,
Trans-Canada pipeline, and major power lines running through the center of
the property. Significant potential exists for developing resources in
several areas including: 1) Open pit-style mineralization at the site of
the original discovery where a resource containing several hundred thousand
ounces of gold was partially drilled off by previous operators; 2) Several
newer high-grade discoveries have been made throughout this large property
package that have received little to no follow-up; 3) Resource blocks
reported to remain within the mine workings; and, 4) The main mined zones
which remain open below the 600m Level.
The Hardrock Project is located in the heart of the Beardmore-Geraldton
Greenstone Belt, a highly prospective high-grade gold district that has
seen relatively little exploration over the past several decades. The
Project area covers some of the most prospective geology in the region and
is host to several past-producing mines and numerous exploration targets in
a district that has seen historic production of more than 4.1 Million
ounces of gold.
Rahill-Bonanza (Red Lake) Project
The Rahill-Bonanza Project is located in the heart of the prolific Red Lake
district and is operated under a joint venture with RED LAKE GOLD MINES
LIMITED ("RLGM"), an affiliate of Goldcorp Inc. The 2009
exploration program will include a delineation drill program proximal to
the workings of the Wilmar Gold Mine, and deep drilling to test the primary
deep targets on the Properties.
The initial focus of the program will be to complete a detailed drill
program in the vicinity of the Wilmar Gold Mine, a relatively near-surface
past-producer on the joint venture property from which, during the final
years of operations at Cochenour, 203,256 Tons at an average grade of 0.3
oz/ton Au (10.3 g/t) was mined. This Phase I Program will provide support
for a previously announced de-watering program that will be part of a
planned advanced-exploration program to be completed on several known
deposits in the vicinity of the workings of the Cochenour-Wilmar Gold
Mines.
At the time of closure in 1971, significant resources were reported to
remain at Wilmar. According to a report completed by Wilmar Mines Limited
in 1973 (authored by D.A. Hutton), the deposit had the potential to host
resources as follows (please note that these potential resources were
completed by previous operators, are historic, and are not NI43-101
compliant):
- 431,500 tons @ 0.21 oz/ton
(7.2 g/t) Au within the mine workings - 1300-2050 (feet) Levels
- 821,700
tons @ 0.24 oz/ton (8.2 g/t) Au - surface to the 1300 foot Level
- 5,700,000
tons @ 0.1-0.15 oz/ton (3.4-5.1 g/t) Au - Wilmar West (Granodiorite)
The Phase I drill program,
slated to begin in January, will test several of the areas noted in 1) and
2) above in addition to potential down-plunge extensions.
A presentation detailing the potential of this area is available on the
Premier Gold Mines Limited website www.premiergoldmines.com.
Further drilling will test a target relating to favourable ultramafic rock
units. This deep drilling is designed to test down-dip from Wilmar where
recent drilling performed by the joint venture has intersected a major zone
of deformation that is interpreted to represent the main "Mine
Horizon", with rock units similar to those at the RLGM complex and the
Bruce Channel Zone.
The Rahill-Bonanza Project is a strategically located property that covers
several kilometres of the main Red Lake "Mine Trend" that is host
to the world class Red Lake Gold Mines to the east, and the "Bruce
Channel" discovery to the west of the Joint Venture Property.
PQ-North Project
Premier's 100%-owned PQ North Property is strategically located on the PQ
limb of the key iron formation that is host to Goldcorp's Musselwhite Gold
Mine. Recently, Goldcorp indicated that gold mineralization has been
extended to the north with intersections on structures trending in close
proximity to Premier's PQ North Property. These results include a drill
intercept of 15.5
grams per tonne (gpt) gold across a true width of 4.5 metres (m) in
hole 07-NSD-005 (see Fig. 1 below). Goldcorp also indicated that gold
mineralization had been intersected as far as 6 kilometres north
along strike of the main mine facilities. To date, the Musselwhite Mine has
produced more than 2.0 million ounces of gold and has reserves and
resources totalling in excess of 3.30 Million ounces at the end of 2007.
The PQ North Property encompasses a major fold structure along strike from
and within the main rock unit (Northern Banded Iron Formation) that hosts
the gold-bearing ore zones at Musselwhite. Previous drilling has returned numerous
significant intersections and has identified structural units similar to
those at the mine. Exploration to date has included an airborne geophysical
survey, which identified major folding and several untested structures
similar to those at the Musselwhite Mine. A grid has been cut and a camp
has been constructed on the property.
Premier previously announced that it had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI)
with the North Caribou Lake First Nation ("NCLFN") that paves the
way for a major exploration program on the PQ North Property in Northwestern Ontario. The LOI forms the basis of a
cooperative relationship between Premier and NCLFN that will guide the
early phase of exploration on the property, including line cutting,
geophysics and diamond drilling, as well as lead to a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) in the near future.
Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo., is the Qualified Person for the information
contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the
meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
Premier Gold Mines Limited is a well financed Canadian-based mineral
exploration and development company with several projects and deposits in
Northwestern Ontario and a joint venture in Mexico. In the Red Lake gold mining camp, two of these
are operated in joint venture with Red Lake Gold Mines. The company also
owns a strategic project located on the main Musselwhite Gold Mine trend
and recently signed an agreement to acquire mineral properties in Geraldton
area from Barrick Gold.
For further information, please contact:
The statements made in
this Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve
a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results could differ
materially from the Company's expectations and projections.
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