Crocodile Gold Initiates Drill
Program at Union Reefs Project Area Targeting High Grade Zones Below Historical Open Pits Adjacent to the Operating Mill
-- Crocodile
Gold Corp. (TSX: CRK)(OTCQX: CROCF)(FRANKFURT:
XGC) ("Crocodile Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce that it has initiated a drill program at the Crosscourse
and Prospect Claim historical open pit targets located within the Union Reefs
project area in the Northern Territory of Australia
(refer to Figure 1 below for property location map and Figure 2 below for Union
Reefs project area map). The targets are adjacent to the Union Reefs
Mill and are identified extensions of mineralization of the
historical open pits mined in the 1990s.
Crocodile Gold has ranked the Union Reefs
project area as one of the Company's highest priority areas for the growth of
mineral reserves and resources and near term production within the Company's
portfolio of assets for the following reasons:
-- The Union Reefs project area is located immediately adjacent to the
Company's Union Reefs mill.
-- Historical production in the Union Reefs area has yielded over 800,000
ounces of gold from 12 open pit operations. The potential exists for
both higher grade underground targets and lower grade open pit targets.
-- Most deposits in the Union Reefs area sit within an approved Mining
Lease and as a result the permitting process is expedited compared with
an exploration license should the decision be made to advance a deposit
to production.
-- Significant exploration upside exists as past exploration in the area
has been limited in depth with only oxide material drilled to any extent
except for the Crosscourse target.
Prospect Claim Open Pit
Within the Union Reefs
project area, the only project currently with a mineral resource estimate is
the Prospect Claim deposit.. This mineral resource
estimate is currently being reviewed and optimized.
A number of higher grade
historic intercepts over significant widths have been intersected below the pit
shell at the Prospect Claim open pit.
Highlights include:
-- 19.8 g/t Au over 8.9 metres
-- 12.2 g/t Au over 12 metres
-- 10.6 g/t Au over 19 metres
-- 8.4 g/t Au over 11 metres
-- 7.4 g/t Au over 9 metres
-- 7.1 g/t Au over 7 metres
-- 5.4 g/t Au over 11.9 metres
(Note: Widths above are not
known with certainty and the intervals are intercepted widths and not true
widths.)
Crocodile Gold's planned drill program at
Prospect Claim is to target higher grade mineralization below the existing pit
shell as only limited drilling extends past 100 vertical metres
below the pit. The new drilling will target the down plunge component of the
higher grade zones within the drilled structure (refer to Figure 3 below). The
higher grade zones within Prospect Claim are steeply dipping zones associated
with quartz stockwork veining with occasional steeply
plunging quartz veins. These veins are most likely associated with cross
structures to the main mineralized zone; these zones
are being targeted with the drilling beneath the pit.
Previous mining of the
Prospect Claim deposit extracted 444,000 tonnes at
1.6 g/t Au from the pit before mining ceased in 2003.
Crosscourse Open Pit
Over 700,000 ounces of gold
have been historically mined at the Crosscourse open
pit from 13.9 million tonnes at a grade of 1.63 g/t
Au, which represents more than 80% of gold ounces produced from the Union Reefs
project area. Crocodile Gold
believes potential exists for extensions of the Crosscourse
mineralization in the area between Crosscourse and
Prospect Claim (refer to Figure 4 below).
The mineralization at Crosscourse is contained within two lenses - the E Lens and
Ping Que Lens. Historic drilling indicates the orebody continues down plunge below the existing Crosscourse open pit. The E Lens is located on the Union
North mineralized line which contains the Prospect Claim deposit (refer to
Figure 2 below). Historic records indicated the E Lens mineralization was up to
40 metres wide at an average grade of approximately 4
g/t Au (refer to photo of pit bottom in Figure 4 below). As can be seen, the
E-Lens mineralization consists of a steeply plunging zone of sheeted quartz
veins. These veins were traced through grade control and made up a large
portion of the ore mined at the bottom of the Crosscourse
Pit. Only limited drilling exists down plunge of this zone.
Highlights of historic
intersections on the E Lens, which plunges north into the wall of the pit, and
is a high priority target area include:
-- 10.6 g/t Au over 19 meters
-- 4..7 g/t Au over 15 metres
-- 16.9 g/t Au over 13.9 metres
Highlights of historic
intersections on the Ping Que Lens, which cuts below
the main ramp of the pit, include:
-- 10.62 g/t Au over 19 metres
-- 24.40 g/t Au over 9 metres
-- 4.00 g/t Au over 9 metres
(Note: Widths above are not
known with certainty and the intervals are intercepted widths and not true
widths.)
In releasing this
information, Mark Edwards, General Manager Geology and
Exploration for Crocodile Gold,
commented, "We are encouraged by the potential for expanding higher grade
target areas we have identified at Prospect Claim and Crosscourse
as minimal exploration has been completed on these targets. This phase of
drilling will be the start of an expanded exploration program in the Union
Reefs project area in which we plan to add to our resource base and identify
additional near term production sources in close proximity to the Union Reefs
mill."
About Crocodile
Gold
Crocodile Gold is a Canadian company with
operating gold mines in the Northern Territory of Australia
and a land package of over 2,500 km2. Crocodile
Gold is currently mining from the Howley,
North Point and Princess Louise open pit
mines and the Brocks Creek underground mine. Crocodile
Gold commenced mining in November 2009 and announced its
first gold pour in December 2009 at its Union Reefs
Mill. The Company is currently developing the Cosmo
underground mine. Ore is currently processed at the 2.4 million tonne per year Union Reefs Mill. Crocodile
Gold has 3.5 million ounces of NI 43-101 compliant measured and indicated
resources (57 million tonnes at an average grade of
1.9 g/t gold) and 2.2 million ounces of inferred resources (38 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.8 g/t gold) (see the
Amended Annual Information Form dated November 5, 2010 and Crocodile
Gold press releases dated September 8, 2009, January
25, 2010, October 14, 2010 and December 2, 2010).
Qualified Person
Mark Edwards,
General Manager Geology and Exploration for Crocodile Gold Australia Operations
is a "qualified person" as such term is defined in National
Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and confirmed the technical information and
data included in this press release.
Cautionary Note
Certain information set
forth in this press release contains "forward-looking statements",
and "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws,
including management's assessment of Crocodile
Gold's targeted production, future plans, operations, weather forecasts
and mineral resource estimates and are based on Crocodile
Gold's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions
and beliefs, which may prove to be incorrect. Some of the forward-looking
statements may be identified by words such as "expects"
"anticipates", "believes", "projects", "plans",
and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such
forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties, which may cause Crocodile
Gold's actual performance and financial results in future periods to
differ materially from any projections of future performance or results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to those risks described in the
annual information form of the Company. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Crocodile Gold undertakes no
obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or
management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by
applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance
on forward-looking statements.
To view the figures
associated with this table, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/crk_figures.pdf.
Contacts:
Crocodile Gold Corp.
Michael Hoffman
President and CEO
416-861-2964
Crocodile Gold Corp.
Ashleigh Clelland
Manager, Investor Relations
416-861-5899
info@crocgold.com