Rathdowney updates results from 2012 drilling at Poland's Project Olza

VANCOUVER, June 28, 2012 /CNW/ - Rathdowney Resources Ltd. ("Rathdowney" or the Company") (TSXV: RTH) is pleased to announce this latest update on drilling results from its Olza zinc project, located 70 km northwest of Krakow in southern Poland. Compilation of results and resource modelling is progressing according to plan. Additional holes have been drilled which will be included in the resource estimate. A number of these are currently awaiting final QA/QC and will be released shortly.  Project Olza is a Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) zinc-lead prospect in Poland's historic Silesian mining district, an area with extensive infrastructure including power, rail and smelter facilities.

"Rathdowney's 2012 drill program commenced in January with up to six drills operating and has rapidly advanced our geological understanding of the Silesian MVT zinc-lead system," confirmed John Barry, Rathdowney's President and CEO.  "We are pleased to report that our results continue to correlate strongly with previous drilling undertaken in the region, and will facilitate our goal of converting historical resource estimates into a 43-101 compliant resource in the near-term."

Rathdowney's drill hole pattern is designed to optimize the testing and verification of historical resource estimates in this highly prospective district. Significant mineralization has been encountered since drilling commenced last year.   Results to date demonstrate the continuity of mineralization within zones along several kilometers of strike length. The drill results for 40 new holes appended to this release continue to build confidence in the reported historical resources. Highlights from the recent drilling are tabulated below.

Assays from the first 69 holes drilled were reported by Rathdowney on September 22, 2011, December 15, 2011 and April 02, 2012.  A drilling location map is available at www.rathdowneyresources.com.

Rathdowney has completed over 200 drill holes as part of a multi-million dollar resource delineation program at Project Olza. Drilling continues to verify the presence, and build confidence in, the reported grade and continuity of historic mineralization in the Rokitno and Zawiercie concessions that comprise Project Olza.  The Company's goal was to announce its first resource estimate for OLZA by mid-2012, however recent additional drilling has just been completed which will be included in the estimate to maximize the project's first mineral resource in compliance with National Instrument 43-101.

Zinc and lead has been mined in this area since the 12^th century. The Upper Silesian district has, by far, the most important accumulation of metal in any of the world's Mississippi Valley Type districts, with an estimated endowment of some 40 million tonnes of zinc and lead (USGS, 2010; endnote 1).  Given its geological potential and excellent location, Rathdowney's Project Olza presents a compelling investment opportunity among a small peer-group of zinc-focused juniors.

Zinc demand continues to grow globally while significant zinc producers are set to be taken offline over the medium term, resulting in looming deficits in concentrate supply from the world's mines. As a result, some of the world's largest zinc producers are already starting to acquire smaller suppliers in order to secure zinc concentrate. This clearly places Rathdowney in a very favourable position.

Ireland

Rathdowney's technical team continues to integrate the geological data and knowledge obtained from the Company's 2011 drill program in Ireland with historical information in order to define further targets for drill testing. The initial exploration thrust was heavily weighted toward soil geochemistry and drill testing with single drill-holes of isolated metal anomalies.  The focus has now moved toward the structural setting and its critical importance in localizing economic zinc deposits.

"Exploration and discovery is a critical element of Rathdowney's value creation strategy," said Barry. "Our geological team has conducted a detailed geological compilation and structural analysis using regional datasets in three priority areas of our land holdings in Ireland. We are now convinced that cluster drilling is key to effectively testing permissive structural settings to maximize the chances of discovery,"

About Rathdowney

Rathdowney Resources Ltd. is a mineral exploration company focused on finding and developing the next generation of zinc-lead-silver deposits in the ore fields of Poland and Ireland. Rathdowney is associated with Hunter Dickinson Inc. ("HDI") a diversified, global mine development company with a 25-year history of mineral development success. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral properties that provide consistently superior returns to shareholders.

The technical information in this release has been reviewed by Mark Rebagliati, P.Eng, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

John Barry
President & CEO

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.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, potential environmental issues or liabilities associated with exploration, development and mining activities, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

References:

¹Leach, D.L., Taylor, R.D., Fey, D.L., Diehl, S.F., and Saltus, R.W., 2010, A deposit model for Mississippi Valley-Type lead-zinc ores, chap. A of Mineral deposit models for resource assessment: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-A, 52 p. - Appendix page 50

Table of Assay Results

SOURCE Rathdowney Resources Ltd.