VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 18, 2011) - Woulfe Mining Corp. ("Woulfe" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:WOF)(OTCQX:WFEMF) announces that Wardrop, a Tetra Tech company, (Wardrop) have completed an interim resource update for the Sangdong mine in South Korea. This follows completion of Woulfe's phase 1 drilling programme and other works. The resource for the skarn mineralised zones is summarised in Table 1. It is important to note that this Resource represents mineralisation only within the Upper Section of the mine. The Resource given in Table 1 represents approximately one-quarter of the dip length of known mineralisation from the old mine. Woulfe will continue to drill and explore the remainder of the dip length and refine the Resource.
Table 1 Resource estimate for Sangdong, skarn mineralised zones, Upper Section.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Class Zone TONNES Density WO3 (%) MoS2 (%)---------------------------------------------------------------------------'Indicated' Hangingwall 1,143,000 2.9 0.38 0.07---------------------------------------------------------------------------'Indicated' Main 2,076,000 2.9 0.47 0.03---------------------------------------------------------------------------'Indicated' Footwall 2,749,000 2.9 0.41 0.03---------------------------------------------------------------------------'Indicated' Total 5,968,000 0.42 0.04------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------'Inferred' Hangingwall 6,073,000 2.9 0.38 0.06---------------------------------------------------------------------------'Inferred' Main 9,002,000 2.9 0.50 0.04---------------------------------------------------------------------------'Inferred' Footwall 3,497,000 2.9 0.46 0.04---------------------------------------------------------------------------'Inferred' Total 18,572,000 0.45 0.05---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Wesson CEO and President of Woulfe Mining commented "Woulfe is focused on early low cost production from the upper 25% of the ore body therefore all the work to date has concentrated on this area. The drilling carried out by Woulfe was efficient and produced good results, grade has increased by close on 30% over the scoping study grade. This is an important mile stone as it confirms the resource base in the upper part of the mine to underpin the plan."
Background
The Wardrop Scoping Study Report (April 2010) produced the published resource given in Table 2.
Table 2 Resource estimate for Sangdong, skarn mineralised zones,
April 2010 Scoping Study
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Class Zone TONNES Density WO3 (%) MoS2 (%)
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Inferred Hangingwall 45,800,000 2.9 0.32 0.05
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Inferred Footwall 57,400,000 2.9 0.37 0.04
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It is important to understand that the scoping study Resource was based entirely on historical drilling data. Under current guidelines this data does not comply with NI 43-101 Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC). As a result the Resource was classified in the 'Inferred' category.
The interpretation of the mineralised zones for the whole deposit was a very coarse representation of the geology as understanding and data was very limited at the time of that study.
Details
This Resource update (effective date July 15th 2011) is the culmination of work completed since Woulfe took charge of the project. It represents the end of the first stage of a programme to refine and understand the Resource. Woulfe gained access underground and started a comprehensive underground drilling campaign, supplemented with additional surface holes. The new Resource update is based on this drilling campaign and the modern surface drilling campaign completed by Woulfe's predecessor at the project.
A wealth of historical data has also been made available to Woulfe including:
-- Underground survey master drawings,
-- Annual mine plans,
-- Geological plans and sections, and
-- Other relevant mapping.
The new Wardrop resource has been based on the new compliant drilling data collected to date and the historical reference material; consequently the new resource should be considered more robust than the original scoping study.
From study of historical data the mineralisation is now better understood and also now better realised in the model. The new model can be considered a much closer representation of the geology as understood in the mine than the scoping study model. Part of the Resource presented here lies within a known higher grade section of the old mine. Average grades in this zone are approximately 0.6% WO3.
The greatly increased geological understanding, enhanced by underground access, has led to significant refinement of the mineralised zones. This is especially true for the footwall zone where the mineralisation has been refined to individual smaller zones as opposed to the coarse combination of zones in the scoping study model.
The mineralised zones defined by the current Resource for the upper quarter of the known dip length of the old mine are as follows:
-- Hangingwall Alteration Zone, approximate strike length 600 m, dip length
900 m, true thickness 5-15m
-- Main Zone, infrastructure pillar remnant, approximate strike length 750
m, dip length 900 m, true thickness 10-20m
-- Footwall Alteration Zones, two separate alteration zones, approximate
strike length 900 m, dip length 550 m, true thickness' 5-15m.
The estimated true width given is that of the alteration zone as a whole, not the true width of contained scheelite mineralisation within that zone.
Future work
Woulfe will continue to drill and explore within the Upper Section of the old mine. Definition and refinement of the Sangdong models will continue as more underground drilling is completed. This data will increase the sample density increasing the area meeting the criteria for the 'Indicated' category.
The historical plans are being digitised to accurately update the areas of historical mining and depletion, adding further confidence and precision to the Resource model. The increased understanding of the formerly mined Main Zone offers potential for additional remnant mineralisation to be added to the Resource.
Significant potential exists down-dip. As the mine is rehabilitated and lower levels are made accessible for drilling, more data will be available to refine the Resource estimate down-dip. Wardrop estimates that the down-dip target mineralisation, within the overall alteration zones, is in the order of:
-- Hangingwall Zone, 20 to 25 million tonnes
-- Main Zone, infrastructure pillar remnant, 8 to 13 million tonnes
-- Footwall Zones, two separate zones, 17 to 23 million tonnes (both zones
combined)
-- Target grades for all of the zones are between 0.35% and 0.45% WO3 and
between 0.03% and 0.05% MoS2
The down dip mineralisation targets are conceptual in nature, but derive from the scoping study work previously completed by Wardrop. Additional drilling is required to determine a mineral resource. This work will be completed in a phased manner by Woulfe. Whilst much historical information is available it is not certain that further work will define a mineral resource.
Pre-feasibility study
The Resource described here will feed into the pre-feasibility study currently being prepared by Wardrop. Publication is planned for the end of September 2011.
This news release has been reviewed and approved in the form and context in which it appears by Mr. Paul Gribble FIMMM, C.Eng, of Wardrop, who is working with Woulfe on the Sangdong studies. Mr. Gribble has appropriate qualifications and sufficient relevant experience to qualify as a Qualified Person for the reporting of exploration results for the Sangdong deposit.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Woulfe Mining Corp.
Brian Wesson (FAusIMM), President, CEO and Director
About Woulfe Mining Corp.
Woulfe Mining Corp. is a TSX-V listed company with a diversified portfolio of mining licenses for tungsten, molybdenum, gold, base metals and uranium-vanadium in South Korea.
The company is focused on the development of the Sangdong tungsten mine (one of the World's largest and most renowned tungsten mine's for 40 years) a property that we believe has substantial value for our shareholders. The outcome of the scoping study in March 2010 determined that the project NPV was US$467 million at a commodity price of $25,000 per tonne Ammonium Paratungstate (APT). Today, the APT price is over US$45,000 per tonne. Woulfe has accelerated the project due to the robust project and market. The company's target is to move to production at the end of 2012. In the last 18 months the company has focused on building the Sangdong tungsten mine team and reopening the mine. The project is well staffed with professionals and is moving forward rapidly.
Woulfe Corporate has now turned its focus to the Muguk gold project, historically Korea's largest producing gold mine. In 1998, Muguk was reported by Korea Resources Corporation (KORES) to contain a combined resource of 1,418,980 tonnes @ 13.5 g/t gold, 72.8 g/t silver (615,956 oz gold and 3,321,599 oz silver). Woulfe cautions that a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current, that it is not treating the historical estimate as current and that the historical estimate should not be relied upon. A drill campaign is starting drilling the down dip extensions of the Three Brothers Vein in June 2011. Woulfe's other projects will be considered once these two projects are moving to production, in order to unlock value for shareholders and to move the company to a positive cash flow as quickly as possible.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information and even though our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: commodity price volatility; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; mining operational and development risk; litigation risks; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability; risks of sovereign investment; currency fluctuations; speculative nature of mineral exploration; global economic climate; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements.
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