NEWS RELEASE
SELKIRK METALS CORP.
1255
West Pender Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6E
2V1
Tel:
(604) 687-2038 / Fax: (604) 687-3141
TSX Venture Exchange: SLK
2007 Field Program
Commences at
Ruddock Creek
Property
May 10, 2007 - Vancouver, British Columbia
– Selkirk Metals Corp. (“Selkirk”
or the “Company”) is pleased to provide this
update of operations on the Ruddock Creek Property, which is located 100 km north-northwest of
Revelstoke in the Kamloops and Revelstoke Mining Divisions, British Columbia
(the “Property”).
Road construction equipment has been
mobilized to the property and snow clearing of the access roads to and on the
project area has commenced. The roads have been cleared to within one
kilometre of where the road construction ended in 2006. At the close of
operations in 2006, the access route was within 500 metres of the proposed 2007
exploration camp and core processing facility locations and 1.7 km from the
proposed portal and main mining camp area. The first phase of operations this
season is to complete and install the exploration camp so diamond drilling can
begin. The road construction will then continue to the proposed portal and
main mining camp site in order to mobilize underground mining equipment to the
site. A 30 person trailer camp has been purchased by the Company and will
provide housing, cooking, recreation and office facilities for the workforce.
Three surface diamond drills have been
contracted to complete a minimum of 10,000 m of surface drilling focused on the E Zone, the
Creek Zone, and the Q, R, V and U showings in the Oliver Creek
area. Drilling
operations are expected to commence on the Oliver Creek
area targets by early June, with the drilling on the higher E Zone and Creek
Zone targets when ground conditions are favourable. Snow levels in the Ruddock
– Oliver Creek drainages this winter were
marginally less than historical averages thereby allowing for an earlier start
on the 2007 program.
The 2007 underground work program, of which all
permits have been applied for, on the Ruddock Creek Property will include a 1.1
km decline at the E Zone to undercut the deepest drilling intersections to
date. An additional 600 metres of development is planned sub-parallel to the
mineralized horizon for detailed underground diamond drilling. Over the winter
season, a series of avalanche hazard assessments were completed to determine
the optimal location for the proposed portal site, camps and access routes.
The metallurgical test work, begun in 2006, and
conducted by SGS Lakefield Research, will continue to determine the optimal
process flowchart for the mineralization. To date, the results have proven to
be positive with the Acid Base Accounting of
the host rock of the mineralization shown to be dominantly non acid generating.
The preliminary Heavy Liquid or Dense Media Separation (DMS) testing at a
crush size of 5/8 inch and a specific gravity of 2.7, 34% of the feed mass or
volume was rejected to the tails with only 1% lead loss and 0.3% zinc loss. The
first Flotation testing results have been received and at a grind size of 100
microns 93.4% of the lead and 99.4% of the zinc were floated into rougher
concentrates. Metallurgical results to date indicate that there are
insignificant concentrations of deleterious or environmentally unfriendly
elements.
Baseline environmental studies were ongoing over the 2006-2007
winter season and will continue to accumulate the data necessary for future
permit applications.
…/Cont’d.
As a result of the successful 2006 drilling
program on the Ruddock Property, the Company is very comfortable with the
decision to proceed with the 2007 major surface drilling program, underground
decline including diamond drilling and the camp installation. This work will
enable Selkirk, for the first time, to operate on a year round schedule with no
shut down due to winter conditions. This will facilitate underground diamond
drilling to fully delineate the E Zone mineralization and allow for eventual
bulk sampling. The Company has raised the necessary finances to complete this
work.
Selkirk
holds a 70% interest in the Ruddock Creek Property under the terms of a joint
venture agreement with Doublestar holding the balance. Selkirk and Doublestar
have signed an Arrangement Agreement which sets out the formal terms and
conditions for the acquisition of Doublestar by Selkirk. (Please see news
releases dated March 1, 2007 and April 12, 2007).
Exploration on the Ruddock Creek Property is being
conducted under the supervision of the Company’s Qualified Person (as
defined by NI 43-101), Jim Chapman, P.Geo.
On
Behalf of the Board of Directors:
(signed) “Gordon Keevil”
Gordon Keevil, President
For further information on Selkirk Metals Corp. please
visit our website at www.selkirkmetals.com.
This
release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this release, other
than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve
potential, exploration and development activities and events or
developments that the Company expects, are forward‑looking statements.
Although management believes the expectations expressed in such
forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements
are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments
may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements include market prices, exploration and development
successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general
economic, market or business conditions. Please see our public filings at
www.sedar.com
for further information.