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Vancouver, British Columbia, March 28th, 2011- Copper Ridge
Explorations Inc. (TSX-V:KRX) (the �Company�) is pleased to
announce that it has entered into agreements with Strategic Metals Ltd.
(TSX-V: SMD) (�Strategic�) whereby it can earn 100% interests in the Bolt and
Four Corners properties located in the Finlayson mining district, Yukon. The
Company is also pleased to announce it recently completed staking an
additional 129 quartz mining claims to cover untested geophysical targets to
the southwest of the original Bolt claim group and has recently acquired, by
staking, 100% interests in the Francis Lake, AWB and REC claim groups.
�The
new acquisitions are part of the plan to focus Copper Ridge on base metal
properties with precious metal credits in the
Yukon,� said Chairman William M. Sheriff. �Bolt has one of the strongest soil
copper anomalies identified to date in the Finlayson area and offers an
excellent initial target for the 2011 season.�
Exploration Plans
The Company plans to complete a program of detailed mapping and further
geochemical surveying on the Bolt and Four Corners properties in order to
select specific targets to be tested for drilling later the 2011 season or
early in the 2012 season. The Company is currently compiling all of the
historic data on the newly staked properties in order to plan exploration
programs for the 2011 season. Based on the results of these programs, the
Company anticipates drilling at least one of the new properties late in the
2011 season or early in the 2012 season.
Bolt Property
The Bolt property consists of 69 quartz mining claims located 140 km
southeast of Ross River and 10 km northeast of the Wolverine Mine. The
property is situated in rolling terrain 5 km south of the Robert Campbell
Highway. Based on the lithologies mapped in
the area, the Bolt property has potential to host a Cyprus-type Volcanic
Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit, similar to the Ice
deposit located 82 km to the northwest which contains a resource of
4,561,863 tonnes grading 1.48% copper (the Company
cautions that the Ice deposit has a historical resource and should not be relied
upon).
Work
on the Bolt property by Cominco Ltd. in the mid 1990�s and by Strategic in
2009 and 2010 focused on a strong copper soil anomaly associated with
an iron-rich �kill zone� (a kill zone can occur when natural ground water
flow leaches enough metals from the underlying rock to kill the surrounding
vegetation). The copper anomaly covers a 1,000 by 500 m area that
trends approximately north-northwest sub-parallel to stratigraphy.
Anomalous, values within the anomaly range from 500 to 10,605 ppm copper, 50 to 401 ppm
cobalt and 100 to 667 ppm zinc. One of two drill
holes completed by Cominco in 1998 returned 3.1% copper over 3.0 m from a
fault zone within strongly altered volcanic rocks. Strategic drilled 5
short holes to test the volcanic stratigraphy
down-dip from the soil anomaly in 2010. All of the holes intersected
significantly altered volcanic rocks, but none intersected primary or
secondary copper mineralization sufficient to explain the magnitude of the
copper soil anomaly.
Four Corners Property
The Four Corners Property consists of 141 contiguous quartz mining claims
located 115 km northwest of Watson Lake. The claims cover volcanic stratigraphy that is permissive for both Kuroko and Besshi style copper VMS mineralization. Recent soil
sampling by Strategic has defined a discontinuous 2,500 by 300 m copper
anomaly in the central and eastern parts of the property. A VTEM airborne
geophysical survey commissioned by Strategic in 2005 identified a strong
conductor down-dip from the highest copper values contained within the soil
anomaly. This anomaly is under cover and has not yet been tested by
drilling.
Transaction Terms
As consideration
for the grant of the Bolt option, the Company is paying $15,000 and issuing
50,000 common shares. To exercise the Bolt option and earn a 100% interest in
the Bolt property, the Company will pay an additional $440,000 and issue up
to an additional 950,000 common shares, in stages over a 6 year period, with
value caps of $2.00 and $2.50 per share, respectively, on the third and
fourth year share issuances of 150,000 shares each. Of the payments and
issuances required to exercise the Bolt option, $15,000 and 100,000 shares
are firm commitments.
As consideration for the grant of the Four Corners option, the Company is
paying $15,000 and issuing 50,000 common shares. To exercise the Four Corners
option and earn a 100% interest in the Four Corners property, the Company
will pay an additional $305,000 and issue up to an additional 750,000 common
shares, in stages over a 6 year period, with value caps of $2.00 and $2.50
per share, respectively, on the third and fourth year share issuances of
150,000 shares each. Of the payments and issuances required to exercise
the Four Corners option, $15,000 and 100,000 shares are firm commitments.
Both the Bolt and the Four Corners properties will be subject to a 2% NSR
royalty in favour of Strategic. The agreements are
subject to several conditions precedent, including regulatory approval.
Francis Lake, AWB and REC Claim Groups
The Francis Lake claim group consists of two non-contiguous claim groups
located 155 km north of Watson Lake. The larger claim group covers the
historic Matt Berry lead-zinc-silver VMS deposit, which Yukon Minfile Report 105H 021 states to host a mineralized area
containing 533,434 tonnes grading 6.1% lead, 4.6%
zinc and 102.86 g/t silver (the Company cautions that this is a historic
estimate and should not be relied upon). Geophysical and geochemical work by
previous operators has demonstrated that potential exists to discover
additional zones of VMS mineralization along strike within the same
sedimentary and volcanic rocks that host the Matt Berry deposit.
The
AWB claim group, located 44 km northeast of Faro, Yukon consists of 116
quartz mining claims staked to cover anomalous regional silt geochemistry
results and known skarn style mineralization at the
historic Union mineral occurrence. Grab sampling from the occurrence by
previous operators returned values ranging from 0.02 to 3.5 % copper, from
0.09 to 5.5 % zinc and from less than detection to 149 g/t silver.
The
REC claim group, 65 km east of Pelly Crossing, consists of 320 quartz mining
claims staked to cover 3 separate Yukon Minfile
showings of zinc, lead and silver mineralization which collectively made up
the historic Dromedary property. Work on the Dromedary property in the
1980�s and 1990�s included mapping, geochemical surveys, geophysical surveys
and diamond drilling and was successful in discovering several zones of
significant zinc-lead-silver mineralization over a 7.5 km trend of
sedimentary rocks. No work is recorded to have been completed on the property
since 1998.
Duke Island
In order to focus
efforts on the newly acquired Yukon properties, the Company has terminated
its option on the Duke Island project acquired from Quaterra
Resources Inc.
The
technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by J.
Greg Dawson, P.Geo., the Company�s President and a Qualified Person as
defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Copper Ridge Explorations Inc.
Copper Ridge specializes in identifying, acquiring and developing quality
precious metal enriched copper, lead and zinc mineral deposits in Yukon,
Canada. Copper Ridge has a committed management team with extensive
experience in the Yukon and a proven track record of building shareholder
value in the junior equity market.
For additional information:
Copper Ridge Explorations Inc.
Greg Dawson,
President: (604) 648-4653
No stock exchange, securities commission or other
regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained
herein. This press release contains projections and forward-looking
information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future
events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation
statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and
uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. There are
numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and Copper
Ridge�s plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all
subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on
estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are
expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by
law, Copper Ridge assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information
should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.
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