Champion Minerals Drills 235 Metres of Specular Hematite Mineralization Grading 33.8% Iron at the Fire Lake North Project
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 04/14/11 -- CHAMPION MINERALS INC. (TSX: CHM)(FRANKFURT: P02) ('Champion', or the 'Company') is pleased to announce assay results from diamond-drill holes completed at its Fire Lake North Project since last reporting results on March 7, 2011.
Results from holes FLN11-44B to FLN11-53 inclusive, drilled in close proximity to the proposed East Limb and West Limb open pits, and holes DL11-05 to DL11-10 inclusive from the Don Lake area, are detailed in Table 1. The Company is currently completing over 18,000 metres of infill and extensional drilling at the Fire Lake North Project, following positive results published in the November 3, 2010 Mineral Resource Estimate and Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) Reports. Fire Lake North is one of the Company's 17 properties comprising the Fermont Property Holdings in northeastern Quebec.
At the proposed East Limb open pit area, hole FLN11-49 on section 2200N intersected 234.6 metres (m) of specular-hematite iron formation, grading 33.8% Total Iron ('FeT'), beginning at a vertical depth of 230 m and extending to 425 m below surface. The hole is interpreted to have pierced at or near the closure of the iron formation horizon within the west-dipping, overturned synform. Four drill holes completed on section 2600N define the closure of the iron formation at vertical depths between 150-250m below surface and within the current optimized pit. These results could potentially increase current mineral resources while reducing strip ratios within the current designed pit. Results from hole FLN11-49 could potentially add to current mineral resources and also increase the depth of the designed pit. Drilling on in-fill section 2400N is in-progress to be followed by drilling north of section 2200N.
At the proposed West Limb open pit area, hole FL11-44B penetrated 35.8 m of specular-hematite iron formation, grading 31.6% FeT. This hole transected the lower limb of the east-dipping, overturned synform.
At the Don Lake area, approximately 5 kilometres north of the West Limb designed pit, drilling has encountered specular-hematite iron formation that defines a steeply overturned, northeast-dipping synform. The 'upper' limb of the folded iron formation is locally over 60 m thick and contains a high-grade core over 35m thick, grading over 30% FeT.
The definition drilling at both the East Limb and West Limb designed pit areas has: 1) helped to corroborate the geological model of polyphase folded and structurally thickened iron formation; 2) confirmed the high-grade nature of the coarse-grained specular-hematite rich resource, and; 3) revealed the steeply overturned, synformal, bowl-shaped form of the iron formation: a geometry favourable to an increase in potential mineable resources and one that would also significantly reduce the strip ratios of the open pit designs that were used for the initial PEA study. The implied increase to the in-pit resources and reduction in strip ratios at Fire Lake North could significantly improve the project economics and mine life.
Champion continues to drill with four drill rigs on the Fire Lake North Project, including one drill at each of the East Limb and West Limb designed pit areas and two drills at the Don Lake occurrence. Drilling in the Don Lake area is designed to outline additional iron resources with the objective of establishing a third potential open pit. When all drilling is completed and assay results are available, Champion will update both its Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate, currently calculated at 388 Million Tonnes (MT) grading 28.9% Fe, and the PEA for the Project. This PEA update will also investigate the possibility of integrating the Inferred Mineral Resources at the Bellechasse Project, currently estimated at 215 MT grading 28.7% Fe. The Bellechasse Project is located 5km northwest of the Fire Lake North Project.
Selected Core-Assay Results from Recent Diamond Drilling at Fire Lake North Property
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Area Hole ID From To Interval Grade
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metres metres metres Fe%_Total
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East Limb FLN11-45B 56.50 228.00 171.50 25.1
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including 56.50 130.00 73.50 29.9
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and 162.93 228.00 65.07 29.0
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FLN11-48 NSV(2)
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FLN11-49 319.40 554.00 234.60 33.8
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FLN11-51 118.90 206.53 87.63 32.0
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FLN11-53 58.00 171.30 113.30 20.8
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including 58.00 104.10 46.10 31.9
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West Limb FLN11-44B 97.50 133.30 35.80 31.6
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FLN11-50 N/A(1)
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FLN11-52 N/A(1)
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Don Lake DL11-05 83.29 133.65 50.36 20.7
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including 106.43 126.43 20.00 34.6
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DL11-05 216.74 239.42 22.68 30.6
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DL11-06 114.88 177.65 62.77 23.1
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including 142.10 177.65 35.55 30.6
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DL11-06 239.75 250.73 10.98 28.0
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DL11-07 82.70 119.12 36.42 29.5
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DL11-07 195.17 210.00 14.83 25.5
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DL11-08 150.18 185.10 34.92 34.2
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DL11-08 273.25 309.30 36.05 31.5
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DL11-09(3) 95.50 97.25 1.75 33.8
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DL11-10 156.41 200.80 44.39 32.1
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DL11-10 289.00 309.04 20.04 28.8
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N/A(1) Not Available - Assays Pending
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NSV(2) No Signifcant Values - Cutoff Hole S. End
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DL11-09(3) Hole Terminated in Fault at Upper Contact of IF
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Note: Results for holes FLN11-46 and FLN11-47 reported in Press Release
dated March 7, 2011.
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The Fermont Iron Holdings
Champion's Fermont Property Holdings comprise seventeen Properties. Three of the 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 other Properties within the Company's Fermont Property Holdings contain combined Historical Mineral Resource Estimates(i) totaling 613 MT grading 31% Total Iron.
A fully-funded, 60,000 m diamond-drilling program is scheduled for nine Projects within the Fermont Property Holdings in 2011.
About Champion Minerals Inc.
Champion Minerals 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 Holdings in Quebec, jointly held by Champion, with an 82.5% interest and Fancamp Exploration Ltd., holding a 17.5% interest, 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
(416) 361-1333 (FAX)
Champion Minerals Inc.
Jorge Estepa
Vice-President
(416) 866-2200
(416) 361-1333 (FAX)
www.championminerals.com