Mineral Mountain Provides Exploration Update and 2012-2013 Activities Summaries
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/07/13 -- Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. ("Mineral Mountain" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MMV)(OTCQX: MNRLF) is pleased to provide an exploration update and summary of activities from the 2013 exploration program at its Holy Terror Project (HTP) located 55 kilometres southeast of the formerly producing Homestake Mine, the deepest and one of the richest gold mines in the Western Hemisphere located in South Dakota, USA. Since the Company acquired the Holy Terror Project in Q2 of 2012 (refer to Company press release dated May 31, 2012), considerable progress has been made by significantly advancing and growing this relatively unexplored area. Since acquiring the Holy Terror Project, the Company has exceeded its first and second anniversary exploration expenditure commitment of US$4,000,000.
Project History
The Company's Holy Terror and Rochford Gold Projects are located along the Homestake Gold Trend in the Black Hills of South Dakota and represent above average exploration and development targets for high grade gold given their proximity to the past producing Homestake Mine and also based on the sheer number of turn of the century high grade past producers. Until now, these two areas have essentially been forgotten over time from a development standpoint due to a number of factors. Depressed gold prices and disjointed patented lands consolidation were the major barriers to past development because meaningful consolidated land packages were not assembled to be explored and developed systematically. In total, the Company has patented and unpatented lands that host 8 former high grade gold producers in the Holy Terror district and another 8 shallow high grade producers in the Rochford district. Between the two project areas, the Company now controls approximately 30% of the Homestake Gold Trend.
Lands Consolidation
When the Holy Terror Project was first presented to the Company in March 2012, a total of 450 acres of patented and unpatented lands comprised the project area. Since that time, the Company has consolidated in excess of 5,000 acres of lands in the Holy Terror area through a combination of staking and property purchases. The Rochford Project is 100% owned by Mineral Mountain and represents another 4,400 acres of unpatented mining claims covering 8 former past producers. The Company is currently the majority land holder in these historical mining districts.
Geophysical and LiDAR Surveys
The Company recognized the lack of historical geophysical data available for the two project areas and immediately engaged Fugro Airborne Surveys to perform detailed magnetic and electromagnetic surveys to assist in near mine and regional drill targeting. Because the geology that hosts the high grade gold mineralization is akin to that at the Homestake Mine (hallmarked by strongly magnetic iron formation), the detailed magnetic surveys have proven invaluable in detailing the magnetic iron formation and identifying new areas for drill targeting. In conjunction with the high resolution magnetic survey, the electromagnetic survey successfully identified new areas of conductive rocks, especially in overburden covered areas, that are spatially associated with existing gold mineralization and have identified a plethora of new, previously untested drill targets.
Complementing the airborne geophysical surveys, the Company conducted a high-resolution airborne laser mapping survey (LiDAR) over the Holy Terror Project area designed mainly to accurately locate all of the historical workings, trenches, pits, adits and drill roads that were excavated pre-1940's along the gold trend. As well, the LiDAR proved to be effective in tracing the major faults trending through the area and providing an extremely detailed topographic map.
Diamond Drilling Campaigns
The Company drilled 32 diamond drill holes totalling 6,793 metres during the first two phases of exploration at the Holy Terror Project in 2012-2013. These holes targeted various areas including the Bismarck, Keystone, Bullion and Holy Terror Mines and not only confirmed the known mineralization but also expanded the mineralized horizons and demonstrated the gold systems ability to have depth potential.
It appears that the mineralization intersected in the drilling is hosted in intense brittle-ductile shear zones with localized brecciation and gouging. Parts of the shear zones contain a series of lens-like zones and bodies of glassy, dark coloured (smoky) quartz associated with and surrounded by sections of iron rich chlorite which probably have replaced all pre-existing metamorphic mineral assemblages. The quartz and silicates are intergrown with pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite. Gold grade appears to have a rough correlation with arsenopyrite.
Important intersections for these two campaigns are highlighted in Table 1. Diamond drilling on the Holy Terror Project has been temporarily placed on standby as Company staff model the newly defined gold mineralization from the previous two phases of drilling. Planning and preparation for the Phase III work programs, which will include expansion drilling, are underway.
Table 1: summary highlights of previously reported 2012-2013 Length-weighted drillhole gold composites. Gold assay top cutting has not been applied. Drill hole intersections do not represent true widths, as there is insufficient information to determine the true width of the drill hole intercepts at this time.
CORE
FROM TO LENGTH AU AU
HOLE-ID (M) (M) (M) (G/T) (OZ/T) AREA
HT-12-001 18.41 25.33 6.92 5.54 0.16 BISMARCK
INCL 22.36 25.33 2.97 7.02 0.20 BISMARCK
HT-12-002 15.75 26.34 10.59 4.95 0.14 BISMARCK
INCL 17.07 21.89 4.82 7.14 0.21 BISMARCK
HT-12-003 26.58 30.48 3.90 10.02 0.29 BISMARCK
HT-12-003 84.08 85.93 1.85 10.29 0.30 BISMARCK
HT-12-003 102.60 112.62 10.02 4.02 0.12 BISMARCK
HT-12-004 112.22 113.05 0.83 9.71 0.28 BISMARCK
HT-12-005 13.52 21.20 7.68 4.35 0.13 BISMARCK
INCL 13.52 17.00 3.48 6.97 0.20 BISMARCK
HT-12-005 26.80 28.19 1.39 4.93 0.14 BISMARCK
HT-12-006 7.22 15.22 8.00 11.40 0.33 BISMARCK
INCL 7.22 12.22 5.00 17.07 0.50 BISMARCK
INCL 8.22 11.22 3.00 24.00 0.70 BISMARCK
HT-12-007 27 45 18 4.71 0.14 BISMARCK
INCL 31 39 8 10.04 0.29 BISMARCK
INCL 34 39 5 14.05 0.41 BISMARCK
HT-12-007 170 196 26 1.51 0.04 BISMARCK
INCL 190 194 4 6.46 0.19 BISMARCK
HT-12-008 32 42 10 2.04 0.06 BISMARCK
INCL 35 37 2 4.8 0.14 BISMARCK
HT-12-009 124 129 3.12 4.03 0.12 BISMARCK
HT-12-013W 633 646 13 1.79 0.05 HOLY TERROR
INCL 634 637 3 4.18 0.12 HOLY TERROR
INCL 635 637 2 5.31 0.15 HOLY TERROR
HT-13-015W 87.02 91.02 4.00 5.11 0.15 BISMARCK
HT-13-015W 125.58 129.34 3.76 4.78 0.14 BISMARCK
HT-13-016 201.95 203.98 2.03 8.39 0.24 BISMARCK
HT-13-017 94.06 103.55 9.49 4.84 0.14 BISMARCK
INCL 100.35 103.55 3.20 10.00 0.29 BISMARCK
HT-13-024 122.12 126.41 4.29 4.10 0.12 BISMARCK
INCL 124.04 126.41 2.37 6.27 0.18 BISMARCK
HT-13-030 218.24 230.43 12.19 4.10 0.12 BISMARCK
HT-13-030 223.45 227.38 3.93 10.36 0.30 BISMARCK
HT-13-031 109.00 112.00 3.00 4.46 0.13 BISMARCK
INCL 111.00 112.00 1.00 11.80 0.34 BISMARCK
HT-13-032 0.45 10.97 10.52 5.00 0.15 BULLION
INCL 0.45 3.35 2.90 5.11 0.15 BULLION
AND 6.55 10.97 4.42 8.36 0.24 BULLION
HT-13-032 236.31 242.31 6.00 10.47 0.31 KEYSTONE NORTH
INCL 237.28 242.31 5.03 11.75 0.34 KEYSTONE NORTH
AND 237.28 238.29 1.01 19.60 0.57 KEYSTONE NORTH
AND 240.16 242.31 2.15 13.25 0.39 KEYSTONE NORTH
Commentary
Wally Rayner, Vice President Exploration, for Mineral Mountain comments:
"Our drilling to date demonstrates the excellent potential to expand our many existing high grade gold zones to depth and along strike and, equally important, has confirmed the discovery of new zones in proximity to the historic mining areas. As evidenced by our two drill programs, our mineralized shoots are relatively closely spaced, sub vertical plunging and with depth potential. As well, we look forward to field checking the numerous airborne geophysical targets outlines by our airborne geophysical surveys. The planning of a Phase 3 definition drill program designed to expand the known gold zones between the Ida Florence and Holy Terror mine, a strike length of about 650 meters is also in progress."
Qualified Persons
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101, reviewed and approved by Nelson W. Baker, P.Eng., the President and CEO of Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. and a Qualified Person for this project. The exploration activities at the Holy Terror Project are carried out under the supervision of N. Wally Rayner, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration and implemented by Project Manager Kevin Leonard, P.Geo., both being Qualified Persons for this project.
Quality Control
Drill core samples are transported, handled and stored with chain of custody procedures. Core is sawn or split in representative halves with one half submitted to the laboratory for analysis and the second half saved for archival purposes. Typical core samples are 0.5 to 1.5 m in length. Gold (Au) assays are by 30 g fire assay with atomic absorption finish with a lower limit of 0.005 ppm and upper limit of 10 ppm. The 48 element geochemical package, including silver (Ag), uses a 4 acid digestion followed by Induced Coupled Plasma with Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) and Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), when gold values are greater than 10 ppm then the sample is re analyzed using fire assay with a gravimetric finish. All over limits are also analyzed using the screened metallic method.
The laboratory for the Holy Terror Project is ALS located in Reno, Nevada. ALS is a certified laboratory that used standard reference material and duplicate sampling to ensure quality control. Mineral Mountain routinely sends a set of 4 blind standards as well as one blank sample with every shipment of core. The results of the analysis of the standard material are continuously reviewed to ensure quality assurance.
About Mineral Mountain and the Holy Terror Project
Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary Mineral Mountain Resources (SD) Inc., is focused on the exploration and, if warranted, development of its key asset, the Holy Terror Project in the Keystone Mining district in the southeastern part of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Holy Terror Project is centered along the southwestern extension of the Homestake Gold Trend and covers approximately 4,000 acres straddling a major gold bearing structural corridor measuring about 15 km in strike length and 1.5 km in width. The Keystone District contains historic gold mines, eight of which occur within the Holy Terror Project. Production of these mines came from early Proterozoic gold mineralization associated with iron formation, and shear zones similar to the deposits at the former Homestake gold mine which, over 120 years, produced over 40 million ounces of gold. The Holy Terror Project is very well located near Rapid City where it can be easily accessed by a network of roads and has hydro-electricity and modern internet services to the drill site. As well, the area has a skilled labor force and is a low cost exploration area. South Dakota has low political risk and a jurisdiction that embraces mineral development.
A technical report prepared by SRK Consulting entitled "Technical Report for the Holy Terror Project, South Dakota, USA" dated June 20, 2012 (the technical report) is available on the Mineral Mountain website (www.mineralmtn.com) or under Mineral Mountain's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
MINERAL MOUNTAIN RESOURCES LTD.
Nelson W. Baker, President and CEO
Reader Advisory
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, constitute forward looking-information. Forward looking information consists of statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such information does not constitute guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information. Factors that cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking information 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 the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and others who base themselves on the Company's forward-looking information 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 the forward-looking information 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.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd.
Brad Baker
Vice-President Corporate Development & Director
(778) 383-3975
bbaker@mineralmtn.com
www.mineralmtn.com