VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 21,2010) - Premium Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PEM) (the"Company") is pleased to announce assay results for the first threeholes of the ongoing 10,000 meter Phase-Three drill program at theFriday-Petsite project located in central Idaho, USA. These holes haveadded 200 meters of strike length to the high-grade mineralization nowreferred to as the "Lower Block" recently discovered down-dip, directlybeneath, and not included in the existing bulk-tonnage 531,890 ozinferred gold resource (NI 43-101).
"Resource growth at the Friday-Petsite property should expandrapidly with the addition of 300 meters of strike length in the new"Lower Block" to the existing 350 meters of strike length in the 531,890oz, "Upper Block", inferred gold resource. With mineralization open atdepth and the high-grade aspect of the "Lower Block", the potential forquickly adding ounces with two drills onsite is outstanding," statedMichael Ostenson, Premium's VP of Exploration.
The geometry of the deeper high-grade mineralizationdiscovered in Phase-Two drilling led Premium's geologists to propose anew "Lower Block", offset horizontally and slightly vertically from theupper block, which hosts the 531,890 oz at-surface resource, by ashallow dipping thrust fault. The existence of the new "Lower Block" hasnow been confirmed and is the target of development in the early stagesof the 10,000 meter Phase-Three drill program. Please clickhttps://bit.ly/CrossSection123for the PFR2010-1, 2, 3 Cross-Section and https://bit.ly/strikelengthsectionsplanviewfor the "Strike Length and Section Plan" map.
With the high-grade component of the newly discovered "LowerBlock", addition of ounces and overall resource growth at theFriday-Petsite inferred gold resource is expected to proceed at a rapidpace; PFR2010-11 was drilled 50 meters to the south of PFR2009-11 whichreturned 2.94 g/t gold over 73.5 meters, including 10.57 g/t gold over17.2 meters in Phase-Two, and encountered similar alteration andmineralization, adding 50 meters of the "Lower Block's" strike lengthsouth. An additional five drill holes have been drilled along 150 metersof strike to the north of PFR2009-10 and have encountered similaralteration and mineralization as encountered in PFR2010-3 and PFR2009-10increasing the "Lower Block's" total strike length by 200% withinPremium's patented claim boundary.
A second drill is now onsite and is currently drillingPFR2010-12, a step-out hole in the "Lower Block" 50 meters along striketo the south of PFR2009-11. The second rig will drill along strike tothe south and be utilized for a limited number of infill definitionholes while the first drill will continue to explore north along strike.
Drill-1 has completed 3,452 meters of drilling and Drill-2has completed 533 meters of drilling for a total of 3,985 meters of HQsize core drilled in 12 holes. To date, PFR2010-11 is the deepest holedrilled in the Phase-Three program, reaching 430 meters.
Please click https://bit.ly/Drillplanandresultsto view the Phase-3 Drill Plan & Mag Geophysics Map.
The first two holes of the program, PFR2010-1 and PFR2010-2,were vertical holes designed to intercept key structural and geologicalfeatures crucial to the efficient development and expansion of the"Lower Block". The holes provide essential three dimensional data suchas the orientation of the thrust fault, extent of offset, and the"Friday Fault" contact, being the main bounding fault of mineralizationto the east.
Hole three, PFR2010-3, was drilled 25 meters north and on thesame direction and dip as PFR2009-10 drilled during Phase-Two. PFR2009-10returned 2.66 g/t gold over 198.4 meters (including 3.81 g/t gold over121.1 meters, including 9.16 g/t gold over 25.3 meters, and 30.60 g/tgold over 1.8 meters.
PFR2010-3 is the first step-out to the north of PFR2009-10and was specifically designed to test continuity of mineralization alongstrike in the newly discovered "Lower Block" to the north.
* The gold grade calculation is a weighted mean with notop cut, and no bottom cut. The grade calculation includes internalwaste and low grade sections.
* True Widths are estimated to be between 50% and 75% ofthe drilled interval.
PFR2010-1returned 0.98 g/t goldover 203.0 meters, including 2.61 g/t gold over 21.0 meters.
PFR2010-1 was a 219 meter vertical hole located 100 meterswest and 15 meters north from PFR2009-10. PFR2010-1 encounteredidentical sulphides and geology as encountered in PFR2009-10; alteredquartz monzonite and muscovite schist with moderate to intense sericitealteration and bottomed in 16.1 meters of Trachyte, a post-mineral dike.Hole one of Phase-Three was located slightly too far east andintercepted a limited portion of the "Lower Block".
PFR2010-2 returned 1.84 g/t gold over 274.9 meters,including 5.74 g/t gold over 76.2 meters, including 22.18 g/t gold over14.94 meters.
This hole was a 349.3 meter vertical hole located 120 meterswest and 20 meters north of PFR2009-10. PFR2010-2 also encounteredidentical sulphides and geology as encountered in PFR2009-10. The collarlocation for this hole was accurately placed to intercept the thrustfault, drill through a large portion of the high-grade mineralization,locate the position of the offset Dacite Dike at depth and finally passthrough the "Friday Fault" and terminate in un-mineralized country rock.
PFR2010-3 returned 2.23 g/t gold over 157.9 meters,including 3.65 g/t gold over 74.4 meters.
The collar for this hole is located 25 meters along strike tothe north of PFR2009-10 and was drilled to the west at a -65 degreedip, the identical direction and dip to PFR2009-10. PFR2010-3 was a392.9 meter hole that also encountered identical sulphides and geologyas encountered in PFR2009-10 and terminated in mineralization. With thestructural and geological data provided by PFR2010-1&2 this hole wassuccessful in expanding the strike of the "Lower Block" to the north by25 meters.
The existing Friday-Petsite 531,890 oz inferred gold resourceis hosted in 15.17 million tones averaging 1.1 g/t gold at a cut-offgrade of 0.5 g/t.
Airborne Geophysics and Drill Plan
Due to the presence of sulfides, magnetite, and hematite inthe mineralized Shear Zone, a limited ground magnetic geophysicalprogram has been conducted on the Friday-Petsite property.
Magnetic data correlates exceptionally well with soilgeochemistry and effectively delineates the Shear Zone and specifically,the location of the Friday Fault along the eastern boundary of theShear Zone. A sharp magnetic high/low signature is present along theFriday Fault, being the main bounding fault between mineralization andun-mineralized country rock (see map). This sharp high/lowsignature exists along strike to the north and to the south which willbenefit in drill-hole placement where soil geochemistry is absent orunobtainable and suggests ~3,000 meters of potential additional strikelength, open for immediate exploration.
The success of the ground magnetic geophysics has also ledPremium geologists to plan a large helicopter born Magnetic/EM surveyalong the entire length of the Orogrande Shear Zone.
Quality Assurance
The Company has implemented a rigorous QA/QC program usingbest industry practices at the Friday-Petsite Property. As described inthe Company's News Releases of July 9th, 2009 and December 29th,2009 the program includes chain of custody of samples, drill core sawnin half and shipped in sealed bags, blind duplicates, blank samples andcertified standards are inserted in the sample stream. The samples arethen boxed and couriered to Acme Analytical Laboratories of Vancouver,B.C. a lab certified for the provision of assays and geochemicalanalyses (ISO 9001:2008). In Phase-Three, as with Phase-Two andPhase-One, samples with gold values greater than 10 g/t are re-analyzedvia the metallic screen procedure. Samples with visible gold were alsoanalyzed initially using the metallic screen analysis, as were thesamples immediately preceding and following the sample with visiblegold.
QualifiedPerson
The 2010 Phase-Three exploration program is being directed byMichael Ostenson, P.Geo., VP Exploration of Premium Exploration Inc.and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Ostenson prepared,and approves of the content in this release.
About Premium Exploration Inc.
Premium Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PEM) explores anddevelops North American gold, silver, Platinum and Palladium. Our teamis committed to unlocking mineral wealth for our shareholders bydiscovering, developing, and permitting precious metals assets toproduction. The Company's portfolio includes one of the largest landpackages in Idaho which includes an the Friday-Petsite NI 43-101inferred gold resource hosted in 15.17 million tones averaging 1.1 g/tgold at a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t, as well as a PGM exploration projectin Montana. For additional information, please visit us at www.premiumexploration.com.
This press release contains certain "Forward-LookingStatements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the United StatesSecurity Exchange Act of 1934, and involves a number of risks anduncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results todiffer materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in theCompany's documents filed from time to time with the TSX VentureExchange and the British Columbia Securities Commission. All statements,other than of historical fact, included herein are forward-lookingstatements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be noassurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actualresults and future events could differ materially from those anticipatedin such statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation ServicesProvider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX VentureExchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of thisrelease.