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TORONTO,
ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 16, 2010) - MetalCORP Limited (TSX
VENTURE:MTC) is pleased to provide an update on each of its active
exploration projects in Northwest Ontario - Pickle Lake, Hemlo East and
Big Lake (south east of the Hemlo gold area).
Pickle Lake (Au)
During January and February of this year, MetalCORP re-established and
extended pre-existing cut grids near the northern end of its Pickle
Lake property - the Tarp Lake area - in preparation for ground
geophysical surveys including induced polarization and magnetometer,
which are now underway. Re-establishing the grids, originally cut
between the late 1980s and early 2000s, will save the Company
considerable time, effort and expense in providing access and control
for the geophysical work and for MMI (Mobile Metal Ion) soil
geochemical surveys to follow. It is anticipated that this combination
of geophysical and geochemical surveys, as yet untried on this part of
the property, will assist in targeting mineralization in this area,
which is largely covered by thick overburden.
In late Fall 2009, MetalCORP drilled seven holes in the Tarp Lake area
of the Pickle Lake property. The holes returned sub-economic but
encouraging values of gold, silver and base metals across significant
widths, as did drilling by previous operators (see News Release dated
December 23, 2009). The re-established grid is intended to further test
this very significant mineralizing system, which very limited drilling,
very sparse outcrop, and encouraging airborne geophysical parameters
suggest extends northward. The intent is to provide control in the area
north of the area drilled in 2009 for the more gold-rich
pyrite-dominated disseminated styles of mineralization encountered in
that drill program.
Other parts of the property, which the Company will focus on in a later
exploration phase, show good potential for shear zone hosted
quartz-carbonate vein gold deposits, and for iron-formation-hosted gold
deposits similar to those mined historically at the nearby Pickle-Crow
and Central Patricia deposits.
Hemlo East (Au)
Drilling continues at MetalCORP's Hemlo East project (35 km south east
of the town of Marathon, Ontario, adjacent to the Hemlo gold mines)
where the first of three deep holes planned for the current phase of
the exploration program is underway. "We anticipate drilling to a
depth of at least 1000 metres for each of these three holes to test one
of the highest priority targets on the property," commented
Charles Greig, VP, Exploration.
MetalCORP's Hemlo East property is immediately east-southeast along the
structural and stratigraphic trend from Barrick Gold's Hemlo mine.
"It is clear from the core in the upper part of the first hole,
which was collared in the Cedar Lake pluton, that the same sequence of
stratified rocks which hosts the Hemlo deposit dip northward beneath
the plutonic rocks. Because the initial targets, the Upper Anomalous
Zone (UAZ) and the Egg Lake Horizon (see News Release dated January 28,
2010), dip northerly at moderate angles and can be traced across a
considerable strike length (approximately 2 km) at surface and to
shallower depths (approximately 500 metres vertical), the first three
holes will be deeper (1000 metres to 1500 metres) and will be spaced
widely (at least 500 metres apart) along that trend," commented
Greig.
The Company has planned an additional phase of work later this spring
to test a second high-priority gold target at Hemlo East, the Gouda
Lake zone, which lies farther to the southeast.
Big Lake (Cu-Zn-Ag-Au)
In late December 2009, MetalCORP began a follow-up drill program
focused on its 100% owned Big Lake project, which is located
approximately 25 km southeast of the town of Marathon and 20 km
southwest of the Hemlo gold deposit, in northwestern Ontario. The drilling,
completed in February 2010, was designed to test the three highest
priority targets among the 24 potential targets arising from a largely
geological and geophysical reevaluation of previously-obtained data,
which was completed in late 2009 by geophysical consulting firm Quantec
Geoscience.
This mineralization zone, identified in the results of the BL-14
discovery hole in 2007, returned 7.5% Copper, 2.2% Zinc, 138.0 g/t
Silver and 9.2 g/t Gold over 4.0 metres from an interval of
stringer-style and semi-massive sulphides. "Our focus was on
locating an extension to the known mineralization at the BL-14
mineralization zone, and/or discovery of a new, associated, mineralized
zone nearby," commented Charles Greig, VP, Exploration.
"Because these first three targets returned no significant results
and, as our current focus is on the Company's gold projects in the
Hemlo and Pickle Lake areas, we have made the decision to re-prioritize
the Big Lake project and resume work on it when logistics permit."
Other Projects
MetalCORP has several other properties in northwest Ontario for which
the existing data is being compiled and evaluated to determine project
priority and/or potential joint venture opportunities. MetalCORP's
additional gold properties include:
Dorset (Au), SE of Hemlo Gold Mines
The Dorset gold property is located approximately 70 kilometres
southeast of the Hemlo gold mines in the Mishibishu Greenstone Belt of
Northwestern Ontario. The property covers a 1.0 km long gold-bearing
zone approximately 6.0 km north of the Eagle River Mine of Wesdome Gold
Mines. Trelawney Mining and Exploration Inc. (Trelawney), which holds
the majority interest in the property through a joint venture, has
drilled more than 80 holes targeting the Dorset gold zone. In October
2007, Trelawney released a NI 43-101 resource estimate of 780,000
tonnes grading 1.42 g/t in the Indicated category and 4.76 million
tonnes grading 1.19 g/t in the Inferred category. Trelawney continues
to be the operator in this joint venture.
Black Bear (Au), Red Lake Area
The Black Bear Gold Property is situated approximately 20 km northeast
of the community of Red Lake in northwestern Ontario. This property
covers a part of the northeast extension of the East Bay Deformation
Zone in the historic Red Lake gold camp, which hosts a number of known
gold occurrences including three past producers, of which the
Cochenour-Willans mine with 1.24 million ounces of historical gold
production is the most significant. The East Bay trend is also host to
a number of exciting exploration plays, including the F2 Zone (Phoenix
gold project) of Rubicon Minerals Corp., the GAZ Gold zone (East Bay
property) of Premier Gold Mines Ltd. and Goldcorp Inc., and the Sidace
Lake property of Planet Exploration Inc. and Goldcorp Inc.
In 2005 and 2006, Goldcorp spent $1.4 million on Black Bear under an
option agreement which was terminated in 2006. Goldcorp's work included
some drilling and two new and widely separated gold veins were
intersected in this very prospective geological environment. The
highest-grade intersection yielded 14.9 g/t Au over 0.3 m, while the
second, located nearly 5 km northeast of the first, yielded 1.73 g/t Au
over 1.22 metres.
Because of the highly prospective location of the property, the Company
has plans to reinitiate systematic grid-based exploration on the
property, and is currently considering plans for infill Mobile Metal
Ion (MMI) soil geochemical and ground geophysical surveys.
Keezhik Lake (Au), E of Pickle Lake
The Keezhik Lake property is located approximately 100 km
east-northeast of the town of Pickle Lake, Ontario. During mid-2009,
the Company completed assessment work on part of the property.
MetalCORP's geological team is currently compiling all existing data
for the property in order to fully evaluate its exploration potential
and to plan possible programs for 2010.
Each of MetalCORP's exploration programs is carried out under the
supervision of Charles Greig, P. Geo., who is the Qualified Person for
the information contained in this press release and is a Qualified
Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
MetalCORP is a mineral exploration company based in Thunder Bay,
Ontario with gold and base metal projects in the Canadian Shield of
Northern Ontario, Canada, one of the most prolific mineral districts in
the world. The projects, with a total area of more than 85,000 acres,
include the Hemlo East property, the Big Lake copper-zinc-silver-gold
property, the North Rock copper-nickel-platinum property, and the Dorset,
Pickle Lake, Black Bear and Keezhik Lake gold properties.
MetalCORP has 56,349,471 common shares outstanding and approximately
$1,100,000 in cash and no long-term debt. To find out more about
MetalCORP Limited visit its website at www.metalcorp.ca.
Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the
information in this press release may constitute "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Other
than statements of historical fact, all statements are
"Forward-Looking Statements" that involve such various known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove accurate. Results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Readers of this press release are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these "Forward-Looking Statements". Except
as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation,
the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update
publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. While historical results
mentioned in this press release are not 43-101 compliant and should not
be relied upon, they have been filed in government offices with
assessment reports.
Note: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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