Premier Gold Mines Limited: Red Lake Drilling Expands High Grade Footwall Discovery
The East Bay Project is one of two active joint ventures Premier has with Red Lake Gold Mines (“RLGM“), a partnership between Goldcorp Inc. and Goldcorp Canada Ltd., in the heart of the prolific Red Lake gold mining district. RLGM is the operator and manages the activities at both the East Bay and Rahill-Bonanza projects. A portion of the East Bay Property, including the Footwall Zone discovery area, is held 35% by Premier and 65% by RLGM while the “Rivard Block“, adjacent to the new discovery, is held 50/50 with RLGM.
Highlights of the Footwall Zone include:
- The core area of the mineralized zones has been delineated over a strike length of 400 metres and to a depth of 400 metres where it remains wide open for expansion.
- Main Footwall (MFW) drill intercepts include 297.61 g/t Au across 1.0m (8.68 oz/ton across 3.3 ft) and 56.54 g/t Au across 0.9m (1.65 oz/ton across 3.0 ft).
- FW2 drill intercepts include 35.50 g/t Au across 0.8m (1.04 oz/ton across 2.6 ft) and 44.82 g/t Au across 1.5 m (1.31 oz/ton across 4.9 ft)
East Bay Project
In 2010, the Footwall Zone was discovered when high-grade gold was intersected, with drill intercepts up to 297.61 g/t Au across 1.0m (8.68 oz/ton across 3.3 ft), while testing favourable geophysical structures along the East Bay Ultramafic Trend located between the known 'GAZ' deposit to the northeast on the East Bay Property and Rubicon Minerals Corporation F2 Zone at the Phoenix Gold Project to the southwest. Results from 2011 drilling in the Footwall Zones are presented in Table 1 and a presentation on East Bay will be available on the Company's website: www.premiergoldmines.com.
“The footprint of the core high-grade area at the Footwall discovery compares favourably to resource area of the nearby F2 deposit“ said Tim Twomey, Vice-President of Exploration of Premier. “The exceptional high-grades intersected to-date, and the fact that the deepest holes on several sections exceed one ounce per ton gold, make this a priority target for future drilling“.
In addition to the East Bay Project, Premier's core Red Lake Project is the Rahill-Bonanza Project that is host to several gold deposits having historical and NI43-101 compliant mineral resources, including the past-producing Wilmar Gold Mine. The Rahill-Bonanza joint venture Project (49% Premier, 51% RLGM) covers approximately 4.5 kilometres of the main Red Lake “Mine Trend“ between the world class Red Lake Gold Mines complex to the east, and the Cochenour (Bruce Channel) complex to the west, where an underground exploration tram designed to link the two operations is under construction. The Rahill-Bonanza Project represents the last piece of the main mine horizon in the Red Lake gold camp not 100% owned by Goldcorp. Current drilling at Rahill-Bonanza is outlining high-grade gold mineralization within the 2E structure including 68.87 g/t Au across 3.5 m (2.01 oz/t across 11.5 ft uncut) and 46.15 g/t Au across 4.5m (1.35 oz/t across 14.8 ft uncut).
Table 1: Summary of East Bay Drill Results
_______________________________________________________________________________________
| | UTM |Dip/Azimuth|From | To |Interval| Grade |Interval| Grade | |
| Hole-ID |Coordinates| (degrees) | (m) | (m) | (m) |(g/tonne)| (ft) |(oz/ton)|Zone|
| |(m) NAD 27 | | | | | | | | |
|_________|___________|___________|_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | 5667865 N | |289.0|290.0| 1.0 | 22.35 | 3.3 | 0.65 |MFW |
|EBJV11178| 451214 E | |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | - 59/121 | DID NOT REACH TARGET |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|________________________________________________|____|
| | 5667865 N | |327.5|328.4| 0.9 | 56.54 | 3 | 1.65 |MFW |
|EBJV11179| 451214 E | |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | - 71/134 |527.9|529.4| 1.5 | 44.82 | 4.9 | 1.31 |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | 5668711 N | |348.5|349.3| 0.8 | 5.97 | 2.6 | 0.17 |MFW |
|EBJV11180| 452014 E | - 60/123 |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | | DID NOT REACH TARGET |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|________________________________________________|____|
| | 5668251 N | |338.9|339.6| 0.7 | 0.52 | 2.3 | 0.02 |MFW |
|EBJV11181| 451506 E | - 64/122 |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | | DID NOT REACH TARGET |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|________________________________________________|____|
| | 5667559 N | |309.3|310.2| 0.9 | 1.04 | 3.0 | 0.03 |MFW |
|EBJV11182| 451024 E | - 67/122 |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | | DID NOT REACH TARGET |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|________________________________________________|____|
| | 5667674 N | |424.5|425.2| 0.7 | 16.04 | 2.3 | 0.47 |MFW |
|EBJV11183| 451004 E | - 68/120 |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | | DID NOT REACH TARGET |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|________________________________________________|____|
| | 5667674 N | |383.8|384.4| 0.6 | 13.88 | 2.0 | 0.40 |MFW |
|EBJV11184| 451004 E | - 58/115 |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | | DID NOT REACH TARGET |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|________________________________________________|____|
| | 5667748 N | |244.1|244.8| 0.7 | 20.50 | 2.3 | 0.60 |MFW |
|EBJV11185| 451123 E | |_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
| | | - 53/123 |340.0|340.8| 0.8 | 35.50 | 2.6 | 1.04 |FW2 |
|_________|___________|___________|_____|_____|________|_________|________|________|____|
* True widths of new intercepts estimated at 40-80% of intersection width
** MFW = Footwall Zone, FW2 = Footwall 2 Zone
Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo., is the Qualified Person for the information contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Assay results are from core samples sent to Accurassay Laboratories, an accredited mineral analysis laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario, for preparation and analysis utilizing both fire assay and screen metallic methods.
Premier Gold Mines Limited is a well financed Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company with several projects and deposits in Northwestern Ontario and a joint venture in Mexico. In the Red Lake gold mining camp, two are operated in joint venture with Red Lake Gold Mines. The company also owns strategic projects located in the heart of the Carlin Trend, Nevada, on the main Musselwhite Gold Mine trend, and holds a 70% interest in the Hardrock Project.
The statements made in this Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections.
For further information:
Premier Gold Mines Limited
Ewan Downie, President & CEO
Phone: 807-346-1390
Fax: 807-346-0100
e-mail: Info@premiergoldmines.com
Web Site: www.premiergoldmines.com