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Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Crosshair Begins Winter Drill Campaign On
CMB Uranium Project, Labrador
Crosshair Exploration & Mining
Corp.
(AMEX: CXZ) (TSX-V: CXX) is pleased to announce the start of its 2008 winter
drilling program on its Central Mineral Belt (CMB) Uranium Project in Labrador.
The planned 13,000 m program will include three active drills on the
property, conducting Phase II drilling at the B Zone, Area 3, Area 1, and
targets in the Armstrong area. Crosshair will also continue to define and
expand the C Zone resource, which will include drilling between the C Zone
and Area 1 in an effort to link the zones. Area 1, which has a defined strike
length of 600 m, is located 1.5 km along strike to the southwest of the C
Zone. Linking the two zones could potentially add 2 km strike length to the C
Zone deposit. In addition, Crosshair will test priority gravity and IP
targets along the entire Armstrong -- B Zone corridor for IOCG type
mineralization at depth.
Successful Phase I drill programs at the B Zone, Area 3, Area 1 and Armstrong
targets have demonstrated the potential to host multiple uranium deposits on
the CMB Property. A combination of ground geophysical, geochemical, and
geological mapping surveys carried out in 2007 have helped to better define
each of these zones, as well as identify new areas of mineralization within
them.
B Zone / Area 3
The B Zone, located 3.5 km northeast of the C Zone, contains uranium
mineralization predominantly hosted by strongly altered and hematized
sandstone, particularly where cut by altered mafic dykes. A total of 62 rock
samples from the B Zone produced an average grade of 0.72% U3O8,
to a maximum of 3.97% U3O8. Drilling by Crosshair in
2006 intersected mineralization grading up to 0.27% U3O8
over 7.6 metres.
The B Zone also exhibits many of the geological and geochemical
characteristics of IOCG type mineralization, akin to the world class Olympic
Dam deposit. These characteristics include locally elevated copper, silver
and gold values as well as a spatial association with a large gravity
anomaly. Crosshair plans to drill over 1200 metres at the B Zone and Area 3
in order to test the down dip and along strike extensions of mineralization
intersected by previous drilling.
Armstrong
Armstrong, located approximately 3 km southwest of the C Zone, anchors the
southwest end of the same 4.5 km long trend that hosts the C Zone and Area 1.
Uranium mineralization that is intermittently exposed along a 300 metre
strike length predominantly occurs in sheared, chloritized mafic volcanic
rocks. Follow-up ground work in 2007 resulted in the discovery of two new
zones of mineralization, one located 80 metres northeast, and another located
300 metres southwest, of the original Armstrong discovery. Eight separate
one-metre channel samples from the new showing to the southwest returned an
average grade of 0.14% U3O8, while scintillometer
readings over the new showing to the northeast are off-scale over an exposed
3-4 metre wide by 10 metre long area. Both of these new zones will be drill
tested during the current winter program.
Area 1
At Area 1, located 1.5 km southwest of the C Zone, continuity of
mineralization has been confirmed by drilling along a 600 metre strike
length, returning intercepts up to 0.11% U3O8 over 11.5
metres, including 0.32% U3O8 over 3.0 metres. The
geological setting and style of mineralization strongly resembles that of the
C Zone, and it is believed that Area 1 potentially represents the southwest
extension of the C Zone mineralization. Crosshair's 2007 program successfully
extended the C Zone an additional 300 metres to the southwest, towards Area
1. As part of the current winter program, Crosshair plans to drill over 2200
metres in order to further define the mineralized zone at Area 1, and to test
select targets along the C Zone -- Area 1 corridor. One of the Company's main
goals for 2008 will be to link the two zones with an aggressive diamond
drilling campaign.
C Zone
Drilling at the C Zone in 2007 returned the best intercepts to date from the
CMB Uranium Property and successfully added 400 metres of strike length to
the currently defined resource. Three-dimensional modeling of the existing
drill hole data as well as new structural interpretations of the deposit have
greatly helped to advance Crosshair's understanding of the C Zone geology and
controls on mineralization, allowing Crosshair geologists to more
successfully target and define the zone.
As part of the winter program, Crosshair will continue to test the down dip
and along strike extensions of several mineralized intercepts at the C Zone
in order to further upgrade and expand the current resource. The C Zone
currently contains a NI 43-101 compliant indicated resource of 3.19 million
pounds of U3O8 (3.75 million tonnes at 0.04%) and an additional NI 43-101
inferred resource of 4.59 million pounds of U3O8 (6.32
million tonnes at 0.03%). Crosshair plans to update this resource estimate in
2008.
The complete resource estimate can be found in the NI 43-101 report entitled
Technical Report on the Central Mineral Belt Uranium Project, Labrador,
Canada dated September 9, 2007, as filed on SEDAR on September 10, 2007, as
well as on the Company's website.
IOCG Targets
In late January, Crosshair will activate a third rig on the CMB Uranium
Property capable of deep drilling in order to test several targets for IOCG
type mineralization associated with a large gravity anomaly along the
Armstrong -- B Zone corridor. In 2007, Crosshair carried out additional
ground geophysics, including gravity and IP/resistivity surveys, in order to
better define the IOCG targets. A number of targets have been identified and
are currently being prioritized for drill testing.
Additional information and maps for priority target areas on
the CMB Uranium Property can be found on the Company website at: http://www.crosshairexploration.com/s/CentralMineralBelt.asp.
About Crosshair
Crosshair is a dominant player in the exploration for uranium in the Central
Mineral Belt of Labrador---Canada's most promising emerging uranium district.
The 755 sq km Central Mineral Belt Uranium Project is host to potentially
three types of uranium mineralization - Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG -
Olympic Dam), structurally controlled/shear zone and unconformity types of
mineralization.
The Company's exploration work on the Central Mineral Belt Uranium Project is
supervised by J. Wayne Pickett, P.Geo., a member of the Professional
Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Vice President
Exploration of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.
Mr. Pickett has verified that the results presented above have been
accurately summarized from the official assay certificates provided to the
Company. A QA/QC program has been implemented consisting of standard, blank
and duplicate samples.
Split drill core samples are being sent to Activation Laboratories in
Ancaster, ON for analyses. Uranium analysis is performed by the delayed
neutron counting (DNC) method, while multi-element analysis is performed
using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Samples that
exceed the upper limit for uranium are re-assayed using X-ray fluorescence
(XRF).
For more information on the Company and its properties, please visit the
website at www.crosshairexploration.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE
BOARD
"Mark J Morabito" President and
CEO
Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corp. -- Vancouver
T: 604-681-8030
F: 604-681-8039
E: dan@crosshairexploration.com
www.crosshairexploration.com
Cautionary
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Information set
forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this
context, forward-looking statements often address a company's expected future
business and financial performance, and often contain words such as
"anticipate", "believe", "plan",
"estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements
that an action or event "may", "might",
"could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur,
or other similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our
actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be
materially different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors
include, among others, the following risks: the risks associated with
outstanding litigation, if any; risks associated with project development;
the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mining
and mineral processing; fluctuations in uranium, gold and other commodity
prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance
on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain
officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of
dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price
and volume; and tax consequences to U.S. Shareholders. Forward-looking statements
are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date
that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other
circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing
undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
Cautionary Note Concerning Reserve and Resource
Estimates
This press release uses the terms "reserves",
"resources", "proven reserves", "probable reserves",
"measured resources", "indicated resources" and
"inferred resources". United States investors are advised that,
while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian securities laws, the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") does
not recognize them. Under United States standards, mineralization may not be
classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made
that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or
extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. Mineral resources
that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of
measured or indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. Inferred
Resources are in addition to Measured and Indicated Resources. Further,
inferred resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence
and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be
assumed that all or any part of the inferred resources will ever be upgraded
to a higher category. Therefore, United States investors are also cautioned
not to assume that all or any part of the inferred resources exist, or that
they can be mined legally or economically. Disclosure of "contained
ounces" is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however, the
SEC normally only permits issuers to report "resources" as in place
tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, information
concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this
release may not be comparable to information made public by United States
companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.
National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects ("NI 43 101") is a rule developed by the Canadian
Securities Administrators, which established standards for all public
disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning
mineral projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all reserve and resource
estimates referred to in this press release or released by the Company in the
future have been or will be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the
Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Classification System.
The requirements of NI 43 101 are not the same as those of the SEC and any
reserves reported by the Company in compliance with NI 43 101 may not qualify
as reserves under the SEC's standards.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of the content of this News Release.
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