Tintina Reports an Inferred Copper-Cobalt-Silver-Gold Resource for the Lower Copper Zone on its Sheep Creek Property, Montana, USA
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/17/11 -- Tintina Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TAU) ('Tintina' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce that it has completed a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate on a second deposit on its Sheep Creek Copper-Cobalt-Silver-Gold property ('Sheep Creek') located in Central Montana, USA (see Figure 1).
Highlights:
-- The Lower Copper Zone at Sheep Creek contains an Inferred Resource of
2.5 MMT grading 4.71% Cu, 0.06% Co, 5.1 g/tonne Ag, and 0.35 g/tonne Au
at a 1.5% Cu cut-off grade based on an assumed copper price of $2.50/lb.
Table 1 shows a range of Lower Copper Zone (LCZ) undiluted Inferred Resources at various cut-off grades. Using a copper cut-off grade of 1.5%, and based on an assumed copper price of $2.50/lb, the LCZ contains an undiluted Inferred Resource of 2.46 million tonnes which average 4.71% Cu, 0.06% Co, 5.1 grams/t Ag and 0.35 grams/t Au, which totals 255 million pounds of copper. Table 2 shows the individual assay results from the 10 historic and 15 recently completed drill hole intersections that were used in this estimate. After reviewing the results from a verification drilling program which twinned three of the 10 historic LCZ drill hole intersections, Mike Lechner, the independent Qualified Person for the resource estimation work, has determined that the new drilling results confirm the historic results, and that the historic intervals can be used in conjunction with the new drilling data to estimate Inferred Resources. All resource blocks lie within 75 meters of a drill hole intersection.
Jerry Zieg, Vice President of Exploration, said, 'This new resource estimate keeps us firmly on the path toward our 2011 goal of identifying one billion pounds of copper in Inferred and Indicated Resource categories at Sheep Creek. Infill and expansion drilling of the existing Upper Copper Zone Inferred Resource (7 million tonnes grading 2.4% Cu, 0.12% Co, and 12.3 g/t Ag containing 366 million pounds of copper - see January 6, 2011 news release) in the Strawberry Butte target area, together with the results from ongoing drilling on the Lower, Middle, and Upper Copper Zones in Strawberry East target area two miles to the east, should ensure we achieve this objective.'
Table 1 - LCZ Undiluted Inferred Resources:
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Cu Cu Co Au Ag
Cutoff Tonnes Cu Co Au Ag Lbs Lbs Ozs Ozs
(%) (000) (%) (ppm) (g/t) (g/t) (000) (000) (000) (000)
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0.00 2,671 4.41 549 0.34 5.1 259,612 3,232 29 438
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0.25 2,663 4.43 549 0.34 5.1 260,008 3,222 29 437
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0.50 2,649 4.45 546 0.34 5.1 259,809 3,188 29 434
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0.75 2,592 4.53 549 0.34 5.0 258,788 3,136 28 417
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1.00 2,563 4.57 550 0.34 5.0 258,153 3,107 28 412
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1.25 2,520 4.63 547 0.34 5.0 257,154 3,038 28 405
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1.50 2,462 4.71 550 0.35 5.1 255,576 2,984 28 404
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1.75 2,387 4.81 558 0.35 5.1 253,052 2,936 27 391
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2.00 2,304 4.91 557 0.34 5.1 249,331 2,828 25 378
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2.25 2,212 5.03 555 0.34 5.1 245,225 2,706 24 363
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2.50 2,131 5.13 557 0.33 5.1 240,942 2,616 23 349
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2.75 2,028 5.25 551 0.33 5.1 234,660 2,463 22 333
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3.00 1,905 5.41 566 0.33 5.2 227,145 2,376 20 318
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It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Resource as a result of continued exploration. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves because there are insufficient studies to demonstrate economic viability. The Inferred Mineral Resources shown in Table 1 are global undiluted in situ totals. The contained Inferred Mineral Resource metal quantities shown in Table 1 are based on tonnes and grades that have been rounded and may not necessarily calculate to the quantities shown. A NI 43-101 Technical Report detailing this Inferred Mineral Resource estimate will be filed on SEDAR within the next 45 days.
Table 2 - Historic and Verification Drill Intersections:
Drill From To Length Length Cu Co Au Ag
hole (m) (m) (m) (ft) % % g/t g/t
(i)SC-50 367.89 370.33 2.44 8.0 7.75 0.01 0.40 3.2
(i)SC-51 397.61 404.77 7.16 23.5 5.80 0.01 0.19 1.7
(i)SC-55 463.60 470.31 6.71 22.0 10.12 0.02 0.43 12.5
(i)SC-57 482.50 484.94 2.44 8.0 9.39 0.02 0.38 8.7
(i)SC-90 383.26 384.54 1.28 4.2 11.64 0.02 0.10 10.9
(i)SCC-17 355.70 358.14 2.44 8.0 6.82 0.05 0.34 3.0
(i)SCC-20 343.05 344.97 1.92 6.3 1.21 0.02 0.13 1.8
(i)SCC-21 394.56 400.66 6.10 20.0 4.78 0.04 0.24 4.0
(i)SCC-34 413.61 417.27 3.66 12.0 9.84 0.10 0.40 7.7
(i)SCC-46 400.35 412.76 12.41 40.7 5.71 0.03 0.27 2.4
SC10-003 350.40 351.69 1.29 4.2 4.08 0.06 0.57 4.3
SC10-004 414.00 418.05 4.05 13.3 10.84 0.08 0.21 8.3
SC10-005 401.00 412.15 11.15 36.6 4.99 0.07 0.20 3.9
SC11-007 409.66 411.24 1.58 5.2 1.38 0.01 0.07 3.2
SC11-008 353.38 357.40 4.02 13.2 1.56 0.02 0.38 3.8
SC11-009 415.42 416.67 1.25 4.1 1.35 0.00 0.06 1.0
SC11-010 450.10 458.75 8.65 28.4 0.48 0.02 0.03 7.2
SC11-011 409.65 422.70 13.05 42.8 3.18 0.02 0.35 2.5
SC11-012 384.65 387.55 2.90 9.5 2.37 0.12 1.74 6.8
SC11-015 449.29 456.59 7.30 24.0 3.14 0.04 0.46 6.1
SC11-023 421.35 424.59 3.24 10.6 0.19 0.28 0.89 5.1
SC11-029 437.00 441.50 4.50 14.8 11.39 0.19 0.30 8.0
SC11-031 426.08 428.24 2.16 7.1 0.64 0.03 0.01 2.0
SC11-032 374.51 375.72 1.21 4.0 0.47 0.01 0.01 4.0
SC11-048 359.92 367.60 7.68 25.2 6.96 0.09 0.69 6.4
(i) Historic drill holes
The LCZ is a tabular layer of copper-cobalt-silver-gold mineralization with bands and masses of chalcopyrite concentrated within a massive pyritic sulfide layer hosted by a silicified shale and debris flow conglomerate unit that lies at depths ranging from 373 meters to 442 meters below the surface. Mineralized intervals range between 1.2 and 13.1 meters in thickness (Figure 2). The zone is fault bounded on its north and south margins. The historic results summarized in Table 2 were collected from 10 drill holes that initially identified LCZ mineralization and were completed by Cominco American Inc., BHP, and Utah International between 1985 and 1989. Tintina completed 15 holes within the LCZ earlier this year as part of its ongoing drilling campaign (Figure 1). All drill hole intersections represent approximate true thicknesses in the gently-dipping mineralized zones. Historic resources that were calculated by earlier operators are non-compliant with NI 43-101 standards and are not being relied upon for resource estimation purposes. There is potential for additional resource in the LCZ and in the six other Cu-Co occurrences so far identified on the property (Figure 3).
To view Figures 1, 2 and 3 accompanying this press release, please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/tau817i.pdf
The Company has completed infill drilling of the Upper Copper Zone at Strawberry Butte with the objective of upgrading Inferred material to a Measured and/or Indicated status. Meanwhile, drilling is ongoing in the Strawberry East target area with the objective of identifying additional resources in the Middle Copper Zone and Lower Copper Zone stratigraphy.
The Mineral Resource estimate for the LCZ was prepared by Mike Lechner, president of Resource Modeling Inc, an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. The drill hole database that was used to estimate Mineral Resources for the LCZ consists of 10 drill holes completed by Cominco American Inc., Utah International, and BHP totaling 4,668 meters, and 15 drill holes completed by Tintina, totaling 6,979 meters. The Mineral Resource estimate was completed by constructing a three dimensional computer block model with blocks measuring 10m x 10m x 2m in the X, Y, and Z dimensions, respectively. Three-dimensional wireframes were constructed for the LCZ based on logged mineralogical characteristics and grade assays. Several bounding structures (i.e. the Volcano Valley and Buttress Faults) were also modeled and used to limit the LCZ wireframe. Assay grades were capped at 10.0% Cu (56 samples), 0.6% Co (3 samples), and 1.0 g/t Au (14 samples); Ag assays were not capped. Two-meter-long drill hole composites were generated from the assay data after capping the high-grade outliers and were subsequently used to estimate copper, cobalt, silver and gold grades using an inverse distance weighting methodology. The block grades were validated visually and by comparing the grades with a nearest neighbor model. A density of 3.80 g/cm(3)was selected to tabulate resource tonnage based on density determinations from fresh drill core collected by Tintina from the 2010 and 2011 drilling campaigns. The HQ and NQ drill core was sawn in half and shipped to ALS Chemex in Vancouver, BC where it was assayed for base and precious metals. Tintina has implemented a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program for their 2010 and 2011 drilling campaigns consisting of inserting certified standard reference materials and blanks into the sample stream. In addition, duplicate samples were generated from coarse reject materials and compared with the original sample results. Historical assays were obtained from files donated to the University of Montana drill core collection by Cominco American Inc. These files do not contain original assay certificates, and attempts to recover these have so far have been unsuccessful.
Jerry Zieg, Vice President of Exploration for the Company is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the information of a scientific nature contained in this news release.
About Sheep Creek
The Sheep Creek deposit is located approximately 17 miles north of White Sulphur Springs within two miles of U.S. Highway 89 along a well-maintained gravel road. The Sheep Creek property consists of approximately 12,225 acres of fee simple lands and mining claims in central Montana. The property contains sediment-hosted zones of massive sulfide mineralization originally explored by Cominco American Inc. and BHP during the 1980's and early 1990's. Historical drilling encountered significant zones of strata-bound copper sulfide with associated cobalt and silver mineralization in multiple bedded massive pyrite horizons in the lower part of the Precambrian Belt Supergroup. This same stratigraphic unit hosts the famous Sullivan zinc-lead-silver deposit in southeastern B.C. The Company continues to evaluate several tabular mineralized zones along a four kilometer strike length. The Company has two drill rigs on site and will continue drilling over the course of 2011.
About Tintina Resources
Tintina is a growth company focused on the exploration and development of precious and base metal properties around the world. The Company's experienced management team has assembled an impressive portfolio of gold and base metal projects in Alaska, including the Colorado Creek gold project, located in southwest Alaska approximately 100 miles northwest of the 40 million ounce Donlin Creek project, the Kugruk copper project located 70 miles north of Nome in the northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, and the Sheep Creek copper-cobalt-silver-gold property in Montana. The Company, in a short period of time, has successfully established itself in several of the most prolific mineral belts in North America.
Website: www.tintinaresources.com
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Louis A. Lepry, Jr., President & CEO
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain disclosure in this release, including statements regarding the Company's plans for and intentions with respect to exploration of the Company's Sheep Creek property, constitutes 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities legislation. In making the forward-looking statements in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable, including that the Company is able to obtain any government or other regulatory approvals and any financing required to complete the Company's planned exploration activities, that the Company is able to procure equipment and supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis, that the Company's exploration activities on the Sheep Creek property will not be affected by actions of environmental activists or other special interest groups, and that actual results of exploration activities are consistent with management's expectations. However, the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to Tintina Resource's operation as a mineral exploration company and the Sheep Creek property that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and risks include, among others, actual results of the Company's exploration activities being different than those expected by management, uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests, delays in obtaining or inability to obtain required government or other regulatory approvals or financing, interference with Tintina Resource's exploration activities by environmental activists or other special interest groups, inability to procure equipment and supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis, equipment breakdowns and bad weather. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Tintina Resources does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Tintina Resources Inc.
Philippe Van Nieuwenhuyse
Investor Relations
604-628-1162 ext. 236
604-628-1163 (FAX)
philvann@tintinaresources.com
www.tintinaresources.com