MANTLE RESOURCES INC.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
(No. 2007-07-21)
info@mantleresources.com
AKIE
PROJECT - EXPLORATION UPDATE
Vancouver, B.C. � July 26, 2007 �
Mantle Resources Inc. (TSX Venture: MTS; Frankfurt: A0F7E1 (�Mantle� or the
�Company�) is pleased
to present a progress report on its exploration activities on the Akie zinc-lead property, and other properties in the
immediate vicinity, located in northeastern British
Columbia, approximately 260
kilometers north-northwest of
the town of Mackenzie.
Diamond Drilling
The third of three drill rigs assigned to the Akie property has commenced drilling and is currently
probing the �South Zinc� anomaly, located approximately 3 kilometers
south-southeast of the Cardiac Creek Zone (CCZ), the primary target area on the
Akie property.�
This previously untested feature is defined by the +2,000 parts per
million zinc-in-soil contour, is some 2 kilometers
long by 200 to 500 meters
wide, and encompasses samples that have also yielded anomalous lead values. The
anomaly is underlain by folded �Gunsteel� rocks that
are proximal to the contact between the shales of the
�Gunsteel� formation and limestone, limestone breccia and siltstone of the Road River Group, which is
identical to the stratigraphic location of the CCZ.
Two other rigs are currently employed on the CCZ to
determine the extent and internal continuity of the high grade zinc-lead
mineralization discovered in 2005.
- The first is drilling a step-out hole (A-07-42), located some 200 meters to the
north of hole A-05-32, which encountered a true width of 8.44 meters
grading 16.16% zinc and 3.95% lead, and is presently at a depth of 501.70 meters
(target: 670 meters).
- A second rig is positioned approximately 600 meters to the
south, between holes A-05-30 and A-05-33, both strongly mineralized, and
has just completed the first (A-07-43) of two in-fill holes planned from
this set-up, intersecting the CCZ at a down-hole depth of 535 meters. The
next hole with this rig (A-07-45) is designed to pierce the CCZ approximately
80 meters
updip from this point. Core from hole A-07-43 is currently being logged and sampled.
Rodren Drilling Ltd. of West St. Paul, Manitoba, is
conducting the 2007 drill campaign which is expected to total approximately 15,000 meters.
Regional Exploration
Regional exploration activities, comprising
prospecting, geologic mapping and sampling, recently commenced within the
southern half of the 180
kilometer long package of
Company controlled mineral holdings in the Kechika
Trough. Initially, these efforts will be focused entirely on the extensive (18,198 hectares),
highly prospective properties held under option from Megastar Development Corp.
The Company can earn an initial 60% interest in these, all of which encompass shales of the �Gunsteel�
formation and a number of zinc-lead showings, by expending $2.25 million on
exploration and development over a three year period.
Other
The construction of a new camp site to replace the
facility established in 2005 is now complete. Discussions and consultations
with the Kwadacha and the Tsay
Keh Dene First Nations,
which were initiated in 2006, are ongoing. Environmental baseline studies related
to permitting for road construction and establishing underground access for
bulk sampling are presently in progress. Samples of mineralized drill core from
holes completed in 2006 have been forwarded to SGS Mineral Services, Lakefield, Ontario, for
metallurgical testing to expand upon that carried out in 2006.
About the Akie
Property
The Akie zinc-lead property
is situated within the southern-most part (Kechika
Trough) of the regionally extensive Paleozoic Selwyn
Basin, one of the most prolific sedimentary basins in the world for the
occurrence of SEDEX zinc-lead-silver and stratiform
barite deposits.
Drilling on the Akie
property by Inmet Mining Corporation during the
period 1994 to 1996 and Mantle in 2005 and 2006 has identified a significant body
of baritic SEDEX mineralization (Cardiac Creek Zone)
with an average thickness of greater than 12 meters and an average zinc+lead content in excess of 10%. The deposit is hosted
by variably siliceous, fine grained clastic rocks of
the Middle to Late Devonian �Gunsteel� formation.
Two similar deposits, Cirque and South Cirque, located
some 20 kilometers northwest of Akie and owned by Teck Cominco
and Korea Zinc, are also hosted by �Gunsteel� rocks
and have a combined geologic inventory in excess of 50 million tonnes averaging
approximately 10% combined zinc+lead.
Qualified Person
John R. Fraser, P.Geo. (BC)
is the Qualified Person for the Company, as defined by NI 43-101, and is
responsible for the technical information contained in this release.
MANTLE RESOURCES INC.
ON BEHALF OF
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
�Peeyush Varshney�
Peeyush Varshney, LL.B
President
and Director
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved
nor disapproved the contents OF THIS PRESS RELEASE.
