Canada Zinc Metals Announces the Completion of the 2016 Pie Option Exploration Program

Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Canada Zinc Metals Corp. (“Canada Zinc” or “the Company”, TSX Venture Exchange: CZX) is pleased to announce that Teck Resources Ltd. (“Teck” TSX: TECK.B) has completed the 2016 exploration program on the Pie Option Properties and has demobilized from the site. 

2016 Pie Option Exploration Program

Teck has concluded the 2016 exploration program on the Pie Option Properties for the season. Field work included mapping, prospecting, soil sampling and ground geophysics which continued to advance and refine ranked drill targets across the three option properties. A single drill hole was completed late in the season and encountered favorable Gunsteel shale stratigraphy approximately one kilometre west of previous historical drilling on the Pie Main prospect. The exploration program was based out of Teck’s Cirque exploration camp situated on the banks of the Paul River and located approximately 20 kilometres northwest of the Company’s flagship Akie property.

Pie Option Properties

Teck’s progressive and integrated exploration strategy has identified a number of top-ranked drill targets across the three optioned properties and work in 2016 continued the evolution of target definition.

The 2016 field program objectives included:

• Geological mapping and prospecting at 1:10,000 scale.

• Collection of rock and portable XRF (pXRF) chip samples to assess historic mapping and to better understand the lithogeochemical signature of prospective stratigraphy on the Pie Option tenure and to identify possible vectors to mineralization.

• Completion of infill soil surveys at Cirque East, Yuen and Pie to validate historic data, develop geochemical vector tools, and refine or add to the pipeline of targets.

• Target development and advancement through the execution of ground gravity surveys over select high-rank targets to validate and refine airborne gravity gradiometry (AGG) results at Pie, Cirque East and Yuen.

• Follow-up drill testing of a high-rank integrated target on the Pie Option tenure

• Collection of geochemical data (pXRF and whole rock lithogeochemistry) focused on Earn Group stratigraphy to characterize the host lithology at Pie, as well as identify Zn-Pb mineralization and other pathfinder elements that may vector towards more prospective areas.

Results of the field and geophysical program include:

• A total of 21 geological/prospecting traverses covering key high-priority target areas on the Pie, Cirque East and Yuen properties. This work provided a better understanding of the geological context and spatial geochemical relationships.

• Geological mapping and prospecting identified new mineralisation located on the Cirque East property and associated rock and chip sampling characterized the lithogeochemistry of key rock units (114 whole-rock lithogeochemistry samples; 642 pXRF samples) and possible vectors to additional mineralization at Cirque East.

• The collection of 733 soil samples (including QA/QC samples) at three priority target areas confirmed the metal association of Zn-Pb+/-Ag defined by historic surveys and identified multi-element anomalies (Pb, Zn, +/-Ag+/-Hg+/-Tl+/-As+/-Mo) of interest.

• Successful execution of 10 ground gravity survey lines over targets at Yuen North, Yuen South, Cirque East, Pie Main and Del North. The results confirmed the validity of several small AGG anomalies.

• Completion of one drill hole to a total of 1,080 metres depth in favourable Gunsteel formation stratigraphy. The hole was targeted based on large coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalies and is located approximately one kilometre west of historical drilling at Pie Main. Assay results returned nominal values for Zn-Pb-Ag from two thick sequences of fine laminar pyrite with nodular barite. Further modelling and interpretation is required to integrate the geological and gravity data in order to explain the anomaly.

The Company looks forward to the 2017 exploration season and will be providing input and assistance in the planning of Teck’s 2017 exploration program through the joint technical committee.

Pie Option Agreement

The Pie, Yuen and Cirque East properties are the subject of an option agreement concluded on September 9, 2013 with Teck and its JV partner, Korea Zinc Co., Ltd. ("Korea Zinc" KRX:KorZinc 010130). Under the terms of the option agreement, Teck and Korea Zinc can acquire up to a 70% interest in the Pie, Yuen and Cirque East properties for $8.5 million of cumulative exploration expenditures.

Teck incurred over $1.3 million of exploration expenditures to the end of 2015 (two field seasons) on the Pie Option Properties using an integrated approach to exploration to decrease risk and maximize the potential for discovery. In accordance with the Option Agreement Teck and Korea Zinc must spend an additional $2.2 million by the end of 2017 to exercise the “First Option” and earn an undivided 51% interest in the Pie Option Properties.

Upon exercising the First Option, Teck and Korea Zinc would have an additional option (the "Second Option") to acquire a further 19% interest in the properties for a total interest of 70%, by incurring an additional $5.0 million in exploration expenditures on or before December 31, 2019. Expenditures for the 2016 exploration program on the Pie Option Properties are anticipated to be on the order of $1.6 to $1.9 million.

The Kechika Regional Project

The Company owns 100% of eleven, large, contiguous property blocks that comprise the Akie and Kechika Regional projects. The Company’s flagship Akie Project is host to the Cardiac Creek deposit and remains the primary corporate focus. The Kechika Regional Project includes the Pie, Yuen, Cirque East and Mt. Alcock properties extending northwest from the Akie property for approximately 140 kilometres along the strike of the highly prospective Gunsteel Formation shale; the main host rock for known SEDEX zinc-lead-silver deposits in the Kechika Trough of northeastern British Columbia. These projects are located approximately 260 kilometres north northwest of the town of Mackenzie, British Columbia, Canada. The generative portfolio of Kechika Regional properties offer shareholders and interested exploration companies high potential opportunities for new discoveries in the Kechika Trough.

Akie Property

The Company’s flagship Akie property is situated within the Kechika Trough, the southernmost area 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 Canada Zinc Metals since 2005 has identified a significant body of baritic-zinc-lead-silver SEDEX mineralisation known as the Cardiac Creek deposit. The deposit is hosted by siliceous, carbonaceous, fine grained clastic rocks of the middle to late Devonian Gunsteel Formation.

The Company has outlined a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource at Cardiac Creek, including an indicated resource of 19.6 million tonnes grading 8.2% zinc, 1.6% lead and 13.6 g/t silver (at a 5% zinc cut-off grade) and an inferred resource of 8.1 million tonnes grading 6.8% zinc, 1.1% lead and 11.2 g/t silver (at a 5% zinc cut-off grade). 

Ken MacDonald P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release.

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CANADA ZINC METALS CORP.

“PEEYUSH VARSHNEY”

pEEYUSH vARSHNEY, LL.B

CEO & CHAIRMAN

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