Stock Symbol: TSX: VUL
Shares issued: 43,564,301
VULCAN MINERALS INC. - Potash Review
St. John's - Newfoundland - Vulcan Minerals Inc. ("the Company" TSX-V: VUL) is pleased to announce that the company owns 100% interest in 1462 mineral claims (approximately 100,000 acres) in the Bay St. George Basin of Western Newfoundland with the potential to host an economically viable potash deposit. These claims have been systematically acquired over the course of the last ten years as the Bay St. George basin has been the primary focus of the Company's exploration efforts for petroleum and minerals.
Throughout the course of that exploration the company has acquired several seismic surveys and has compiled all previous geologic and geophysical data for the area. As a result of this exploratory work the company acquired strategic mineral rights in those areas with thick evaporite sequences that contain salt and potash. The drill hole, Captain Cook #1 (2003), encountered approximately 400 meters of evaporites consisting of 240 meters of anhydrite, 160 meters of halite (salt) including approximately 5 gross meters of potash. Previous work by other explorers for salt and potash in the Bay St. George Basin in the 1970's and 1980"s tested a series of geophysical gravity lows and did not have the advantage of modern seismic subsurface imaging. Potash was discovered in the Fischell's Brook salt dome and at Robinsons (see map on website www.vulcanminerals.ca). The Robinson occurrence as well as the new Captain Cook discovery are on Vulcan's mineral claims.
The Robinson discovery encountered multiple interbeds of potash (1m to 8.7m thick) over an interval of 69.83 meters grading up to 6.3 percent potassium oxide (K20). The Fischell's Brook salt dome intersected potash over a gross interval of approximately 5 metres grading from 0.1 to 19% K20. The Captain Cook potash zone does not occur in a gravity low, but rather appears to be part of a relatively undeformed section of the basin. This is important as it provides the potential for substantial thickness of potash at relatively shallow depth (less than 800 meters depth) in a stratified deposit where mining considerations should be more favourable. The analogue for exploration is the potash mine in the Moncton basin of Sussex, New Brunswick, currently operated by the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. The mine produces approximately 800,000 tonnes per year with a proposed expansion to 2,000,000 tonnes per year. The Moncton and the Bay St. George basins are part of the larger Maritimes sedimentary basin, which covers most of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and parts of the Maritime provinces. The evaporite package including the potash interval identified in the Moncton basin correlates straitgraphically, in geological time (Carboniferous) and depositional context to the Captain Cook potash zone identified in Bay St. George Basin, thus demonstrating that the company's claims cover an area with the geologic potential to host commercial deposits. Further work in the form of drilling and seismic acquisition specifically directed at potash exploration will be required to evaluate this potential.
The company is pleased to announce that it has hired Robert Cuthbert as Project Geologist. Mr. Cuthbert has several years experience in the Carboniferous rocks of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. He has specifically been involved in potash exploration and development in the Moncton basin. A significant part of that experience relates to drilling in evaporite formations. As well he has petroleum exploration experience and will assist the company in its ongoing petroleum exploration of the Bay St. George Basin. He has a BSc (Hons.) degree in Earth Science from Dalhousie University in Halifax Nova Scotia and is a professional geoscientist registered with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Cuthbert is compiling and evaluating all of the company's potash/salt related geoscientific information. With Mr. Cuthbert's assistance, potash samples from the Captain Cook hole have been selected and have been forwarded to a laboratory for assaying. More importantly, Mr. Cuthbert will provide direction on a specific potash exploration program designed to evaluate the most prospective areas of the evaporitic basin.
The company's claims within the Bay St. George Basin have excellent road access and are all near tide water available for shipping 12 months of the year in the North Atlantic. The Trans Canada highway and provincial electrical grids cross the property.
This technical overview has been the combined effort of Patrick J. Laracy, P.Geo., President of the Company, Phonse Fagan, P.Geo., (geophysics), and Robert Cuthbert, P.Geo., Project Geologist for the company.
The Company has initiated a new website which will be continually updated with graphics, pictures and maps to better describe the Company's projects. Maps relating to the potash project are available on the website www.vulcanminerals.ca.
The Company is evaluating the options available to advance exploration of the potash project. Key to this evaluation was the recruitment of a geologist with experience in this field. As well, the company desires to optimize the value of its significant geologic/geophysical database and its potash exploration implications. The company will require funding to advance exploration, through either joint venturing or direct equity financing. Decisions in this regard will be announced when available. Given the company's extensive local knowledge and operating experience in this area as a driller and explorer, the company has a competitive advantage in this emerging basin for its potash potential. The company's past exploration work on its mineral licenses means that these licenses are currently in good standing for several years allowing for a methodical exploration strategy.
Vulcan is a diversified junior exploration company focussed on petroleum exploration in the under-explored Western Newfoundland area and also holds mineral interests in areas strategic to its operations in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The statements made in this News Release may contain certain forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ from the Company's expectations. Certain risk factors may also affect the actual results achieved by the Company.
There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from any conclusions, forecasts or projections described in the forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
For information please contact Mr. Patrick Laracy, President of Vulcan Minerals Inc. at
Phone: (709) 754-3186, Fax: (709) 754-3946 or Email: info@vulcanminerals.ca, Website: www.vulcanminerals.ca