| April 20, 2010 |
| Rainy River Identifies Strong New Gold Targets by RC Drilling |
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 20, 2010) -
Highlights:
- Recent Phase 6 RC program identifies two prime targets with 6.17 and 3.03 g/t gold in bedrock and strong supporting gold-in-till anomalies
- Coincident RC gold-in-till and gold-in-bedrock anomalies deliver new gold zones for Rainy year after year
- Phase 7 RC program underway to refine six additional anomalies for Diamond drilling
Rainy River Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:RR) (the "Company" or "Rainy") has commenced a new, Phase 7, reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign on its Rainy River gold project in northwestern Ontario and is pleased to announce results from the recently completed Phase 6 program.
Phase 6 RC Results
Reverse Circulation Rotary (RC) drilling north of the ODM17 Zone (RC Hole 214) intersected the highest value gold-in-till anomaly recorded on the Rainy River Project. A second RC hole, drilled 100 metres east of RC-214, returned a bedrock sample value of 6.17 g/t gold; the second highest value ever obtained from a RC hole on the property.
The second anomalous area was discovered and is a new discovery on the Project. The area lies 700 metres west along strike from the new South Zone. The four lowermost till samples from RC Hole 216 yielded a normalized average of 282 gold grains, one of the strongest gold grain anomalies ever obtained from the project (see gold photo at www.rainyriverresources.com). Furthermore, the bedrock sample from Hole 244, drilled 100 m up-ice, returned 3.03 g/t gold, the third highest value obtained from a RC hole on the property.
Phase 7 RC Program Commences
Building on the major success of the Phase 6 program, a 34-hole Phase 7 RC program began on April 12, 2010. This program is designed to confirm and refine six coincident gold-in-till and gold-in-bedrock anomalies indicated by widely spaced RC holes from earlier drilling campaigns. Most of these targets are in the little-tested northern part of the caldera, stratigraphically below the 433 Zone. Based on the consistent success of previous RC drilling campaigns in discovering significant gold zones from similar till + bedrock gold anomalies, it is expected that some of the targeted anomalies will lead to new gold zones.
"Our success in discovery of near surface gold mineralization is a direct result of the RC technique employed by our Vice President of Exploration, Stu Averill. The new zones discovered enhance our belief that the Rainy River Project has the potential to be a world class gold system and that we are merely scratching the surface in our current exploration and development," commented Raymond Threlkeld, President and CEO.
RC Drilling Ideal for Exploring Rainy River Property
The gold-bearing dacites of the Richardson caldera on Rainy's property are covered by 20 to 40 metres of glacial overburden. This overburden consists of lower and upper till horizons deposited during meltdown of the 1 to 2 km thick continental ice sheet 12,000 years ago. The lower till is stony and contains glacially liberated gold and gold-bearing pyrite grains that were scraped off the tops of mineralized zones in the underlying bedrock. High concentrations of these grains are used to pinpoint new mineralized zones. The upper till is thicker and consists mostly of clay scraped from the bed of Glacial Lake Agassiz. It contains no gold or pyrite grains.
Despite the presence of significant pyrite in the gold zones, geophysical methods are ineffective for locating the zones due to the thickness and very clayey (conductive) character of the upper till. Nearly all of the gold discoveries have been made by RC drilling. The RC drills are highly specialized and perform efficiently on dry or wet terrain in all seasons. They are not susceptible to the sample loss and inter-sample contamination problems associated with "standard" RC rigs. They efficiently deliver high-quality 10 kilogram till samples from every 1 to 1.5 m sample interval whether the till is clayey or stony. The holes are drilled vertically and typically advanced 1.5 m into bedrock where a sample of clean cuttings is collected for the assay. Samples of lower till unit are processed in the laboratory to extract a heavy mineral concentration (HMC) containing any glacially liberated gold and pyrite grains. Most of the gold grains are finer than human hair and up to 90% are still hidden in the pyrite grains. Total liberated + pyrite-encased gold is determined by assaying the HMC and the liberated component is calculated from the gold grain dimensions.
The existence of the Richardson caldera and its associated 600 hectare bedrock gold anomaly beneath the glacial overburden was unknown until RC drilling was performed at 300 to 400 m centers. This initial drilling also delineated a gold dispersal anomaly extending 15 kilometres to the southwest (glacially down-ice) in the lower till. Contouring the till and bedrock gold results within the caldera area showed that the best-mineralized sectors are those where the strongest gold assays in the till HMCs, normalized for variations in pyrite abundance, coincide with the highest gold assays in the bedrock. Matching anomalies of this type have led to the discovery of all of the known gold zones except the Cap Zone which tops out below the overburden-bedrock contact and thus was not glaciated. Additional deep, unglaciated zones will undoubtedly be discovered in the future but shallow, glaciated zones are the main current target because the most recent RC drilling has shown that more zones of this type remain to be discovered.
About Rainy River Resources Ltd.
Rainy River Resources is a Canadian precious metals exploration company whose key asset is the Rainy River gold project. With over CAN$65 MM million in its treasury, the Company is well funded to conduct a dual-focused drilling program consisting of: 1) definition Diamond drilling of the main gold resources in preparation for scoping and pre-feasibility studies, and 2) selective Diamond drill testing of high-priority gold targets defined primarily by RC drilling within the large gold system centered in Richardson Township. The Company's property is extremely well located in the southwestern corner of northern Ontario near the U.S. border. It is accessed by a network of roads and is close to hydro-electric infrastructure. The Rainy River district has a skilled labour force and is one of the lowest-cost areas for mineral exploration and development. Ontario has low political risk and, according to the annual Fraser Institute global survey of the mining industry, has consistently ranked as one of the top jurisdictions embracing mineral development.
RAINY RIVER RESOURCES LTD.
Raymond W. Threlkeld, President & CEO
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company 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 may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include gold prices, results of exploration and development activities, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of materials and equipment, timeliness of government approvals, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and others who base themselves on the Company's forward-looking statements should carefully consider the above factors as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
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