Champion Minerals Drills 123 Meters of Specular Hematite Mineralization Grading 34.1% Iron at the Fire Lake North Project
- Hole FLN11-47 intersected 85.65m grading 36.4% Iron at northern limit of current West Limb designed pit extending zone 200m north- Delineation drilling continues to confirm high grade nature of the specular hematite rich resources.
- Delineation drilling at both the East Limb and West Limb pit areas is revealing favourable 'bowl-like' fold geometries that could increase in-pit resources and reduce strip ratios.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 03/07/11 -- CHAMPION MINERALS INC. (TSX: CHM) (FRANKFURT: P02) ('Champion' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce assay results from diamond drill holes completed since the Fall 2010 mineral resource estimate and Preliminary Economic Assessment ('PEA') of the Fire Lake North Project in the Company's Fermont Property Holdings in northeastern Quebec.
At the West Limb designed pit area, drill hole FLN10-34 intersected 123 meters ('m') of specular hematite rich iron formation grading 34.1% Total Iron ('Fe'). The drill hole intersection starts from surface and the hole is located in the centre of the currently defined 1800 m long mineralized zone. Hole FLN10-40 located 400m south of FLN10-34 contained an intersection of 58.9m grading 33.4% Fe together with a second intersection further down hole of 61.75m grading 30.1% Fe. The two intersections are interpreted as the inclined limbs of a tightly folded and overturned syncline forming a 'bowl-like' shape. This synformal geometry has the potential to increase in-pit resources from previous interpretations and substantially reduce strip ratios of the designed pit.
Hole FLN11-47 was drilled at the current northern limits of the West Limb designed pit and intersected 85.65m of specular hematite rich iron formation grading 36.4% Fe, extending the strike-length of the zone 200 meters further north. Additional step-out drilling will be completed in attempts to extend the zone further.
At the East Limb designed pit area, the geology from the new in-fill drilling is revealing two horizons of iron formation that are interpreted in a similar tightly folded and overturned synformal geometry. Hole FLN10-36 intersected 74.2 m grading 30.2% Fe in the eastern fold limb and hole FLN10-38, collared at the same location but drilled in the opposite direction (toward the southwest), intersected 92.81m grading 26.1% Fe near the interpreted synformal fold closure at a vertical depth of approximately 250m and within the existing limits of the current designed pit.
The in-filling drilling at each of the East and West Limb designed pit areas is enhancing the geological model, confirming the high grade nature of the resource and revealing a highly favourable geometry that could potentially increase resources and significantly reduce strip ratios in the designed open pits that were used for the initial PEA for the Fire Lake North Project. The PEA study identified that an increase to the in-pit resources, mine life and reduction in strip ratios at Fire Lake North could significantly improve the project economics.
Highlights of assay results to-date from the in-fill and extensional drilling programs at the East and West Limb designed pit areas are presented in the following table.
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HOLE-ID FROM TO Interval
East Limb Pit Area meters meters meters % Total Fe
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FL10-25 112.35 129.00 16.65 19.32
FL10-33 292.51 329.10 36.59 25.06
including 308.52 329.10 20.58 36.06
and 384.79 435.30 50.51 29.60
FL10-36 47.95 162.33 114.38 23.93
including 47.95 122.15 74.20 30.22
FL10-38 163.69 256.50 92.81 26.07
FL10-39 227.98 239.00 11.02 28.03
and 272.84 296.80 23.96 32.59
and 398.00 432.00 34.00 35.49
FL10-41 97.96 153.00 55.04 29.67
and 183.61 199.04 15.43 37.10
FL10-42 257.46 327.33 69.87 26.79
FL10-43 217.25 240.40 23.15 29.06
and 316.04 345.14 29.10 30.07
FL11-46 244.14 278.03 33.89 28.67
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West Limb Pit Area
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FL10-34 28.75 152.00 123.25 34.08
FL10-37 67.00 132.83 65.83 21.78
including 90.22 126.00 35.78 31.18
FL10-40 210.50 269.40 58.90 33.40
and 308.25 370.00 61.75 30.10
FL10-44 133.10 165.00 31.90 30.80
FL11-47 100.55 186.20 85.65 36.40
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In addition to the recently completed drilling at the East and West Limb designed pit areas, Champion completed eight exploration diamond drill holes at the Northeast area of the property to test a series of highly complicated magnetic responses located 2km northeast of the East Limb designed pit area. The form of magnetic response is often indicative of potentially refolded iron formations. The best results from the Northeast area program included hole FLN10-26 intersecting 35.6m grading 30.4% Fe and hole FLN10-31 intersecting 21.3m grading 30.4% Fe. Two other holes contained narrower and/or weaker values while 4 holes contained no significant values. Champion is planning to detail the Northeast area with ground gravity surveying in order to assist with interpretation prior to drilling further in this area.
Champion has completed nearly 50% of the planned 17,500m of in-fill and exploration drilling at Fire Lake North for 2011. Four drills are presently turning on the property including one drill at each of the East Limb and West Limb designed pit areas and two drills at the Don Lake occurrence located 5km north of the West Limb pit. Drilling at the Don Lake occurrence is targeting to expand the resource in efforts to establish a third potential open pit within the Fire Lake North Project.
When all drilling is completed and assay results are available for Fire Lake North, Champion will complete an up-date of both its Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate, which is currently calculated at 388 Million Tonnes (MT) grading 28.9% Fe, and also, the PEA for the Project. The PEA update will study the possibilities of integrating the current Bellechasse Project Inferred Mineral Resources of 215 MT grading 28.7% Fe, located 10km northwest of Don Lake, as well as the 717 MT grading 25.0% Fe of Inferred Mineral Resources recently identified at the Harvey-Tuttle Project, located 20km west of Fire Lake North.
The O'Keefe-Purdy Project will also be evaluated for inclusion into the scope of the PEA study following the 10,000m of drilling scheduled to start later this year. This project hosts 51MT of historical resources grading 37% Fe and the O'Keefe NW occurrence has a coarse grained specular hematite showing at surface that is similar to the material at Fire Lake North. The objective is to increase the resource base in the Cluster 2 Projects for a larger centralized concentrator concept to further enhance Champion's growth profile.
The Fermont Iron Holdings
Champion's Fermont Property Holdings are comprised of seventeen Projects. Three of the seventeen Projects drilled by Champion to-date, namely; Fire Lake North, Bellechasse and Harvey-Tuttle, contain current combined National Instrument 43-101 compliant Inferred Mineral Resources totaling 1.55 Billion Tonnes grading 25.4 % Total Iron at a 15% cut-off.
Seven (7) other Projects within the Fermont Property Holdings contain combined Historical Mineral Resource Estimates(i) totaling 613 MT grading 31% Total Iron.
A fully-funded 60,000m drilling program is scheduled on nine Projects within the Fermont Property Holdings in 2011.
Corporate Up-date
Champion is pleased to announce appointments to its executive management team. Mr. Jeff Hussey, P. Geo., has been appointed Executive VP Development. Mr. Hussey previously held the position of VP Exploration and in his new position will manage development projects and advance them towards feasibility. Mr. Hussey brings over 25 years of international mining operations and exploration experience with Noranda and Falconbridge to Champion.
Champion is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Bruce Mitton, P. Geo., to the position of VP Exploration. Mr. Mitton previously held the position of Senior Project Manager and will assume duties previously performed by Mr. Hussey. Mr. Mitton brings over 25 years of mineral exploration experience to Champion, having worked for Noranda among others, and the Company welcomes him to the management team.
About Champion Minerals Inc.
Champion is an exploration and development company focused on discovering and developing significant iron ore resources in eastern Canada, particularly in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador. The Company's projects include the Fermont Iron Property in Quebec, jointly held by Champion, with an 82.5% interest and Fancamp Exploration Ltd., holding a 17.5% interest, and the Attikamagen Iron Property in Quebec and Labrador, and the Powderhorn / Gullbridge Base Metal Projects in central Newfoundland.
(i) Historical Mineral Resources(i) are from Paquet, 1963 (MRNFQ Assessment File GM 13035) (see press release date February 15, 2011). All Historical Mineral Resources outlined in the text are non-compliant to NI 43-101 Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves standards, and should therefore not be relied upon. A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to upgrade or classify these Historical Mineral Resources as current NI 43-101 compliant Mineral resources. The current Mineral Resource estimates were calculated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council December 11, 2005.
The technical information in this news release was prepared, revised and approved by Alex S. Horvath, P. Eng., Executive VP Exploration and Bruce Mitton, P. Geo., VP Exploration of the Company. Both individuals are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101 standards.
Please visit Champion's website at www.championminerals.com.
Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are 'forward-looking statements' and readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results, may vary materially from those in these 'forward-looking' statements.
Contacts:
Champion Minerals Inc.
Thomas G. Larsen
President and CEO
(416) 866-2200
Champion Minerals Inc.
Jorge Estepa
Vice-President
(416) 866-2200
www.championminerals.com