|
QUEENSTON MINING INC. (TSX:QMI - News; FRANKFURT:QMI - News; STUTTGART:QMI - News; "Queenston" or the "Company") is pleased to
provide an update on planned activities for the 2011 exploration campaign on
its projects located in the Kirkland Lake gold camp.
A $25 million budget is planned
and will include 180,000 m of drilling on nine properties employing up to 16
diamond drill rigs. The primary focus is the Kirkland East Project where the
Company is advancing five, 100% owned gold deposits towards production. In
addition to the drilling, new and updated resource studies will be completed
on four deposits, environmental studies and permitting will be completed in
order to initiate advanced underground exploration at Upper Beaver and
approximately $1 million will be allocated for new project development.
Plans for the 2011 program
include:
-- 180,000 m of drilling on 9 properties
-- Updated NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Upper Beaver deposit - late
Q1 2011
-- New NI 43-101 resource estimate for Upper Canada deposit - late Q1 2011
-- New NI 43-101 resource estimate for Bidgood deposit - early Q2 2011
-- New NI 43-101 resource estimate for Amalgamated Kirkland deposit - early
Q2 2011
-- Extend Kirkland Lake Gold's 5300' level drift onto the AK Joint Venture
property targeting the South Mine Complex
-- Base line environmental studies and permitting to initiate advanced
underground development and exploration at Upper Beaver
Charles Page, President and CEO of
Queenston said, "In 2010 the Company
experienced exceptional growth highlighted by strong exploration success and
the recognition by a major gold producer. We anticipate continued strong
results in 2011 as we progress towards the development stage with
historically the largest annual budget ever implemented by the Company. Our
strategy is to advance the 100% owned Kirkland East Project towards
production employing a central mill fed by the Upper Beaver, Upper Canada, Anoki, McBean and Bidgood gold deposits."
Kirkland East Project
In 2010 the Company completed
100,000 m of diamond drilling on the Kirkland East project primarily focussed on the Upper Beaver, Upper Canada and Bidgood gold deposits.
At Upper Beaver, three drills were
successful in extending the gold-copper mineralization below the existing
mineral resource to a depth of 1,300 m. Significant drill hole intersections
announced in news releases dated Feb. 22/10, May 7/10, Aug. 17/10 and Nov.
3/10 include:
-- 90.1 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au") with 0.33% copper ("Cu") over 3.0 m
(hole 10-163)
-- 17.3 g/t Au with 1.2% Cu over 10.5 m (hole 10-161W3)
-- 16.4 g/t Au with 1.9% Cu over 8.5 m (hole 10-163W7)
-- 15.0 g/t Au with 1.1% Cu over 12.0 m (hole 10-148W5)
-- 15.8 g/t Au with trace Cu over 12.0 m (hole 10-156)
-- 14.6 g/t Au with 2.5% Cu over 4.7 m (hole 10-163W1)
-- 10.6 g/t Au with 0.8% Cu over 12.0 m (hole 10-148W3)
At Upper Canada, four drills
extended the potential for an open pit mineral resource at this past
producing mine to a length of over 1,800 m. Highlights from news releases
dated Sept. 7/10 and Nov. 30/10 include:
-- 10.4 g/t Au over 17.3 m (hole 10-158)
-- 9.1 g/t Au over 9.2 m (hole 10-115)
-- 4.0 g/t Au over 19.2 m (hole 10-161)
-- 2.4 g/t Au over 68.0 m (hole 10-50W1)
-- 2.1 g/t Au over 32.0 m (hole 10-97)
-- 2.3 g/t Au over 22.9 m (hole 10-88)
-- 1.7 g/t Au over 60.4 m (hole 10-50W2)
-- 1.3 g/t Au over 55.6 m (hole 10-123)
After the merger with Vault
Minerals, the Company commenced drilling at Bidgood
with two drill rigs targeting both the open pit and underground potential at
this past producing gold property. Highlights from shallow drilling at the Boundary
Zone (see news release dated July 7/10) include:
-- 2.1 g/t Au over 20 m (hole 09-04)
-- 1.7 g/t Au over 17.6 m (hole 09-15)
-- 1.7 g/t Au over 16.6 m (hole 10-23)
-- 1.2 g/t Au over 20.3 m (hole 10-36)
At the Bidgood
- North Zone (see news release dated Sept. 23/10) high-grade intersections
include:
-- 208.2 g/t Au over 1.1 m (hole 10-48)
-- 184.5 g/t Au over 1.3 m (hole 10-86)
-- 19.5 g/t Au over 5.2 m (hole 10-03)
-- 49.9 g/t Au over 2.7 m (hole 10-42)
At the Bidgood
- South Zone, drilling targeted near surface mineralization and key
intersections announced in news releases dated June 10/10, Sept. 23/10 and
Jan. 13/11 include:
-- 12.1 g/t Au over 11.5 m (hole 10-22)
-- 5.0 g/t Au over 21.3 m (hole 10-10)
-- 4.1 g/t Au over 18.7 m (hole 10-15)
-- 2.2 g/t Au over 33.0 m (hole 10-94)
-- 1.9 g/t Au over 59.5 m (hole 10-58)
-- 1.6 g/t Au over 64.3 m (hole 10-14)
In 2011, drilling will continue on
all three of the primary deposits to both expand existing mineral resources
at Upper Beaver and develop new resource studies at Upper Canada and Bidgood. Also during the year drilling will continue to
target new resource potential at each of these deposits. Total drilling
planned on these core properties in 2011 is approximately 120,000 m.
Kirkland West Project
In 2010 the Company completed
30,000 m of diamond drilling on the Kirkland West project primarily focussed on the Amalgamated Kirkland and Kirkland Lake
Gold Joint Venture properties.
On the Amalgamated Kirkland
property drilling primarily targeted AK gold deposit discovered by Battle
Mountain in 1989. In 1993 Cyprus Canada completed further drilling and
outlined a mineral resource of 1.8 million tonnes
grading 5.5 g/t Au. This historic resource calculation should not be relied
upon as it was not prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and has not been
verified by a Qualified Person ("QP") under the Instrument. The
purpose of the 2010 program was to both to provide additional information to
calculate a NI 43-101 mineral resource and further explore the property.
Significant drill hole
intersections from the 2010 drilling (see news release dated Oct. 7/10)
include:
-- 17.9 g/t Au over 11.9 m (hole 10-04)
-- 5.4 g/t Au over 14.5 m (hole 10-52C)
-- 3.0 g/t Au over 25.1 m (hole 10-13)
-- 5.8 g/t Au over 5.4 m (hole 10-12)
-- 4.6 g/t Au over 6.4 m (hole 10-11)
In 2011 the Company will complete
a NI 43-101 mineral resource on the AK deposit and continue to explore the
mineralization to depth. A total of 16,000 m of drilling is planned for this
program.
On the Kirkland Lake Gold Joint
Venture properties exploration during 2010 focussed
on resource development on the South Claims property and exploration drilling
on the HM property. In 2010 Kirkland Lake Gold completed an updated mineral
resource of the South Mine Complex ("SMC") orebody
on the South Claims property increasing the indicated resources by 21,900 t
grading 60.7 g/t Au (42,000 oz) to 88,000 t grading
47.0 g/t Au (132,000 oz) and the inferred resources
by 6,820 t grading 47.7 g/t (11,000 oz) to 120,000
t grading 42.5 g/t Au (165,000 oz) (see news
release dated July 16, 2010). Queenston's share of
the resource is 50%. Exploration drilling on the South Claims property
announced in a news release dated Sept. 20/10 included intersections of:
-- 113.8 g/t Au over 3.3 m (hole 53-1634)
-- 28.1 g/t Au over 0.8 m (hole 53-1612)
-- 22.6 g/t Au over 0.8 m (hole 53-1610)
On the HM property surface drill
holes intersected gold mineralization that is interpreted to form part of the
SMC. Significant intersections announced in news release dated Sept. 20/10
include:
-- 51.8 g/t Au over 2.2 m (hole 10-10W3)
-- 60.2 g/t Au over 1.0 m (hole 10-10W3)
-- 22.1 g/t Au over 0.6 m (hole 10-10W2)
During 2010 strategic additions to
the joint venture were announced with Queenston
contributing a portion of the AK property and the Kirkland Hudson property.
To compensate the Company for their contribution Kirkland Lake Gold has
committed to the first $400,000 of exploration expenditures on the AK
property.
In 2011, the joint venture plans
to extend the 5300' level drift onto the AK property and establish a drilling
station to target the SMC on the AK, South Claims and HM properties. It is
anticipated Queenston's share of exploration
expenditures will amount to $500,000.
The Company is also planning
exploration in 2011 on the Anoki, McBean, Pawnee, Gauthier, Casan
and Rand properties.
This news release was reviewed by Queenston's Vice President Exploration, William McGuinty, P. Geo.
About Queenston
Queenston is a Canadian mineral exploration and
development company with a primary focus on its holdings in the historic
Kirkland Lake gold camp that comprises 200 km2. The Company has recently
entered into a strategic alliance with Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited with the
objective of advancing its key, 100% owned gold projects (Upper Beaver, Upper
Canada, McBean, Anoki and
Bidgood) at the Kirkland East project towards
feasibility and ultimately production. The Company had working capital of $80
million as of December 31, 2010, no debt and a 2011 exploration budget of $25
million.
Queenston's Cautionary Note Regarding NI 43-101 and
Forward Looking Statements
Except for historical information
this News Release may contain certain "forward looking statements".
These statements may involve a number of known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of
activity and performance to be materially different from the Company's
expectations and projections. A more detailed discussion of the risks is
available in the "Annual Information Form" filed by the Company on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Contact:
Charles E. Page, P. Geo.,
Queenston Mining Inc.
President and CEO
(416) 364-0001 (ext. 224)
|