| August 6, 2008 |
| Monroe Minerals Completes Fieldwork at Alexis River Uranium Property in Labrador and Boxey Point and Berry Hill Uranium Properties in Newfoundland |
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Aug. 6, 2008) - Monroe Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:MMX)('Monroe') announced today that preliminary follow-up fieldwork has been completed at the Alexis River uranium property in southwestern Labrador, and at the Boxey Point and Berry Hill uranium properties in Newfoundland. Monroe is the project operator for the Alexis River property and Altius Resources Inc. (TSX:ALS)('Altius') is the project operator for the Boxey Point and Berry Hill properties. Monroe has the option to earn a majority interest in each property by making staged share payments to Altius and incurring defined minimum exploration expenditures.
Exploration commenced at Alexis River on June 24 and was completed on July 16, with the fieldwork being done by a four-person geological crew provided and supervised by Discovery Consultants Ltd. ('Discovery') of Vernon, B.C. The program included: (a) reconnaissance prospecting follow-up, (b) semi-detailed geological mapping, (c) systematic sampling across Anomaly Lake and two other lakes within the property, with a total of 174 lake sediment and 3 water samples being collected, and (d) collection of 14 rock grab samples. All samples have been forwarded to Activation Laboratories Ltd. ('Actlabs') sample preparation facility in Goose Bay, Labrador, with the analyses for uranium and a suite of selected other elements to be performed at its Ancaster, Ontario facility. Results are expected by late summer.
Prospecting in the immediate vicinity of Anomaly Lake identified radioactive spot highs in outcrop and boulders, but these are not considered to be sufficient to explain the highly anomalous lake sediment results, which have ranged from 414 to 2,370 ppm uranium (0.049% to 0.28%, with average being 0.085 wt.% U3O8) and 175 to 1,070 ppm molybdenum (Monroe-April 23, 2008 News Release). Prospecting also discovered off-scale radioactivity (greater than 10,000 cps by Exploranium GR110G scintillometer) and yellow uranium oxides associated with pegmatitic zones in the southeast portion of Licence 10493, located some 3.3 kilometres east-southeast of Anomaly Lake. Although of exploration interest, this is not believed to be the cause of the anomalous uranium-bearing lake sediments in Anomaly Lake.
In addition to its anomalous lake sediment and water geochemistry, the 2008 fieldwork shows Anomaly Lake is also anomalous in that (a) it locally reaches depths of 24 metres versus other larger lakes in the vicinity which are only a few metres deep, and (b) there is a relatively abrupt change in the geology across the lake. These features indicate there may be a fault structure present beneath and along the long-axis of Anomaly Lake. Further work, including drilling to test for uranium-bearing zones beneath Anomaly Lake, is planned for the Alexis River property during fall 2008.
Exploration commenced at the Boxey Point and Berry Hill properties on April 30 and was completed June 28, 2008, with the fieldwork being done by a four- to six-person geological crew provided by Altius. The fieldwork included reconnaissance prospecting using scintillometers and the collection of 24 rock grab samples, 14 till and till concentrate samples, as well as 572 soil samples, with the bulk of the work completed at Boxey Point. All samples have been forwarded to Eastern Analytical Limited in Springdale, NL, with additional analysis performed at Actlabs for INAA/ICP analyses for uranium and additional elements. Partial results have been received and complete results are expected by late summer 2008.
The Boxey Point property is in the Fortune Bay area along the southern coast of Newfoundland. Initial rock grab sampling done by Altius in 2007, with the samples being collected from altered conglomerate exposed in steep sea cliffs along the western margin of Boxey Point, gave results of 738 to 1,498 ppm uranium (0.09 to 0.18% U3O8) (Monroe-January 15, 2008 News Release). Further work, including geological mapping at Boxey Point followed by drilling to test for uranium mineralized zones, is planned for the Boxey Point property during fall 2008. In general, Altius reports that the initial work at Berry Hill does not support further exploration on that property.
In reviewing the latest exploration results, Derek J. Moran, President of Monroe, commented "Monroe is pleased the recent fieldwork results from two of its uranium properties, Alexis River and Boxey Point, are sufficiently encouraging that drill testing is being recommended by their consulting geologists and by Altius. As a result, Monroe plans to drill test both properties during the latter part of 2008, subject only to the permitting approvals required from government and the availability of suitable drilling contractors."
Reg A. Olson, Ph.D., P. Geol. is the designated Qualified Person for Monroe on the Alexis River, Boxey Point and Berry Hill projects.
Monroe also announced that henceforward its main e-mail address would be info@monroeminerals.com.
Monroe is engaged in the assembly of an international portfolio of uranium exploration projects. Its strategy is well defined: enhancing shareholder value by combining technical expertise, corporate development skills and professional management. Monroe's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MMX. For more information please visit www.monroeminerals.com.
Altius Resources Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Altius Minerals Corporation. Altius Minerals Corporation's principal business activities include the generation and acquisition of projects related to natural resource opportunities in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. For more information please visit www.altiusminerals.com.
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Forward-looking statements: Except for statements of historical fact, all statements in this news release, without limitation, regarding new projects, acquisitions, future plans and objectives are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
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