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PAX News - High Grade at Selwyn

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Pacifica Resources Announces High-grade Mineralization Intersected at Selwyn Project 10:08 EDT Thursday, August 31, 2006 FSC / Press Release Pacifica Resources Announces High-grade Mineralization Intersected at Selwyn Project Vancouver, British Columbia CANADA, August 31, 2006 /FSC/ - Pacifica Resources Ltd. (PAX - TSX Venture), is pleased to provide an update on the exploration activities on the Selwyn Project that hosts the world-class Howard's Pass SEDEX zinc-lead deposits including the down-plunge drilling of the high-grade, underground diluted reserve (hereafter referred to as underground Inferred Resource; see July 10, 2006 press release). Drilling continues with 8-drill rigs on known mineralized zones on the 96 square kilometers of Howard's Pass Joint Venture ("HPJV") claims under purchase agreement and new target evaluation on the more than 209 square kilometers of wholly owned mineral claims (Pacifica Claims). Highlights * Drilling continues to confirm the potential for expanding the down-plunge extension of the underground Inferred Resource with high-grade assay results from XY-111 that intersected 3.40 metres of high-grade zinc-lead sulphide mineralization grading 21.74% zinc and 15.75% lead within a 14.45 metre intercept of 9.16% zinc and 5.86% lead. Successfully followed up in XY-116 that intersected 9.49 meters grading 17.54 % zinc and 11.68% lead as part of a 32.36% interval that assayed 12.74% combined lead and zinc. * Discovery of the HC West Zone, 2.0 kilometres northwest of the newly discovered HC Zone. * 116 drill holes have been completed for a total of 21,611 metres. Eight drill rigs drilling. XY Central Zone Four new drill holes have been completed on follow-up to the underground Inferred Resource identified by underground development and drilling by the Howard's Pass Joint Venture. Mr. Al Burgoyne, P.Eng, in a NI 43-101 report on the Selwyn Project in June 2005 noted that the HPJV estimated an underground Inferred Resource of 8,100,000 tonnes (8,900,000 short tons) grading 10.6% zinc and 5.5% lead based on 61 drill holes having dimensions of 1700 by 600 metres (note that this reserve predates NI-43-101 and should not be relied upon). The high-grade mineralization is beneath the proposed open pit and appears open down-dip to the northeast towards the hinge of the XY synclinal structure. Drill hole XY-111, situated 200 metres down dip of the HPJV high grade reserve area, intersected a true thickness of 23.60 metres of well mineralized zinc-lead Active Member. XY-111 mineralization includes a 3.40 metre interval grading 21.74% zinc and 15.75% lead, demonstrating continuation of the high grade mineralization and potential expansion of the previously defined high grade underground Inferred Resource. Follow-up drill hole XY-116 drilled 150 metres grid east of XY-111 intersected 42.30 metres from 319.80 to 361.20 metres and XY-124 drilled 300 metres grid east of XY-111 intersected 34.00 metres from 345.00 to 379.00 metres of zinc-lead mineralized Active Member. Hole XY-120 ended in hanging wall rocks to the favourable horizon at 510.20 metres at the maximum depth extent of the drill rig (see Pacifica web site for hole location information). The casing has been left intact for this drill hole in order that the hole can be deepened at a future date to further test for expansion of the underground Inferred Resource. These new intersections are very typical of historical drill results from the underground Inferred Resource at XY. Previous surface drilling in XY-80 intersected 17.68 metres grading 12.28% zinc and 10.18% lead and XY-91 intersected 10.97 metres grading 11.72% zinc and 5.65% lead. Underground drilling intersected 7.62 metres grading 17.19% zinc and 9.50% lead in XYU-018 and 21.42% zinc and 13.61% lead in XYU-019. The new drill intersections confirm the opportunity for expansion of the underground Inferred Resource beneath the proposed XY open pit. Additional drilling is planned for testing the expansion of the underground Inferred Resource as an important source of high grade material to blend with open-pit mineralization. Preliminary modeling is focused on evaluation of mining 1.5 million tonnes of high grade mineralization annually. The initial goal is to define ten years of production of this material. It should be noted that previous dense media testwork indicated that this material benefits greatly from application of gravity separation processing to provide very high grade mill feed (see February 13, 2006 news release). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- True Drill Hole From To Thickness Pb Zn Pb+Zn Thickness (m) (m) (m) (%) (%) (%) (m) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XY-111 340.95 355.40 14.45 5.86 9.16 15.02 13.47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 352.00 355.40 3.40 15.75 21.74 37.50 3.20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XY-116 328.82 361.18 32.36 4.31 8.43 12.74 29.31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 351.69 361.18 9.49 11.68 17.54 29.23 8.60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The XY Central Zone has seen the most extensive exploration work and is one of several areas being evaluated for initial open-pit development. Drilling in the XY Central Zone has defined a NI 43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resource of 20,510,000 tonnes grading 5.90% zinc and 2.37% lead and an Inferred Resource of 54,130,000 tonnes grading 6.15 % zinc and 2.77% lead. Twenty-five new drill holes have been completed in the XY Central Zone as part of definition drilling of the open-pit environment. Additional drilling in the XY Central zone area includes twenty-two completed holes in the open-pit portion of the deposit to improve confidence in the Inferred category. XY-117 and XY-118 were drilled from the same drill collar location testing the southeastern limit of the XY Central zone. XY-117 was a vertical hole which intersected 29.60 metres of mineralized Active Member. XY-118 was an angled hole and drilled in a grid south direction that intersected 10.37 metres of zinc-lead mineralized Active Member. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- True Drill Hole From To Thickness Pb Zn Pb+Zn Thickness (m) (m) (m) (%) (%) (%) (m) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XY-115 57.20 64.20 7.00 1.21 3.71 4.92 6.90 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XY-117 100.50 130.10 29.60 1.28 4.32 5.59 29.50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 114.80 130.10 15.30 1.66 7.20 8.85 15.20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 114.80 121.40 6.60 2.56 9.17 11.73 6.57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XY-118 103.45 113.81 10.36 1.50 5.67 7.17 10.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 103.45 106.10 2.65 3.07 12.55 15.62 2.60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XY-119 29.45 54.21 24.76 2.83 6.18 9.01 21.40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 29.45 37.75 8.30 3.79 11.34 15.13 7.20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 35.17 37.75 2.58 9.26 24.83 34.09 2.20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XY-121 12.00 34.70 22.70 1.70 4.09 5.79 22.70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 13.25 22.96 9.71 2.09 6.65 8.74 9.71 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HC Zone The newly discovered HC Zone straddles the boundary between Pacifica's wholly-owned NOD claims and the HPJV claims in the southeastern portion of Don Valley. Eight new drill holes have been completed in the southeast portion of Don Valley with discovery hole DON-11 followed by intersections of similar zinc-lead sulphide mineralization in the Active Member in holes DON-12, DON 13, DON-16, DON-17 and DON-20. DON-19 intersected a fault zone and DON-21 remained in footwall stratigraphy. To date, drilling has traced zinc-lead mineralized Active Member over 950 metres of strike length. DON-11 intersected zinc-lead mineralized Active Member from 171.40 to 214.10 metres (42.70 metres with an estimated true thickness of 36.10 metres). DON-13 is a 225 metre step out to the northwest of DON-11, and intersected mineralized Active Member from 53.00 to 87.20 metres (34.20 metres with an estimated true thickness of 29.60 metres). To the southeast, DON-12 was a 500 metre step-out on DON-11 and intersected 43.45 metres of zinc-lead mineralized Active Member from 394.50 to 438.00 metres. It should be noted that although DON-12 was intersected below the limits of an open-pit environment, this intercept demonstrates down dip continuity of mineralization and potential for additional tonnage below the near surface environment within the HC Zone. DON-17, located 536 metres to the southwest of DON-11 intersected 34.70 metres of zinc-lead mineralized Active Member from 153.60 to 188.30 metres and DON-20 intersected 52.00 metres of zinc-lead mineralized Active Member from 146.70 to 198.70 metres. The HC Zone remains open in all directions for expansion of mineral potential. Additional drilling is planned to define the near surface resources. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- True Drill Hole From To Thickness Pb Zn Pb+Zn Thickness (m) (m) (m) (%) (%) (%) (m) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DON-11 171.74 203.88 32.14 0.61 2.44 3.05 31.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 185.46 203.88 18.42 0.97 3.37 4.34 17.80 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DON-13 60.80 81.40 20.60 1.01 3.32 4.33 18.70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 68.10 77.50 9.40 1.40 4.53 5.93 8.50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DON-16 161.70 198.40 36.70 0.76 2.09 2.85 34.50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 172.90 187.50 14.60 0.94 3.67 4.61 13.70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 179.00 185.90 6.90 1.19 4.96 6.15 6.48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HC West Zone The northwest extension of the HC Zone was intersected after a large, two kilometer step out to the northwest of HC zone in the Don Valley. The HC West zone has now been tested by six drill holes with DON-18, DON-22, DON-24, and DON-25 intersecting favorable zinc-lead mineralized Active Member. DON-14 and DON-15 were stratigraphic drill holes that only intersected footwall rocks. To date, drilling has traced zinc-lead mineralized Active Member in the HC West Zone over 580 metres of strike length. The discovery of the HC West Zone further re-enforces the current geological interpretation of a continuously mineralized Active Member across the property. This discovery also significantly enhances the mineral potential for open-pit resources within Don Valley. Future drilling will continue to explore the 5 kilometre gap between the HC West and Don zones for continuation of the Active Member, and the various fault offsets of the zones. In aggregate, the Don Valley appears to host a 9 kilometre long zone of near surface mineralized Active Member. Other Selwyn Project Drilling Initial drill results for the drilling in the Anniv Central, Anniv East, OP West and Pelly North zones will be released shortly. The Selwyn Project exploration program is being reviewed by Vice President Exploration, Mr. Jason Dunning, M.Sc., P.Geo. The onsite activities for the Selwyn Project are directed by Exploration Manager, John J. O'Donnell, P.Geo. Both Mr. Dunning and Mr. O'Donnell are Qualified Persons within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. All assay data has been through internal validation of quality assurance and quality control. Pacifica has established a sampling and assay control program with blind insertion of assay blanks and duplicates for the Selwyn Project; however, it should be noted that there is also a quality control and quality assurance program in place at ALS Chemex that includes blanks, duplicates and standards. Silver and base metal analyses are conducted by a 25-element, four-acid digestion, ICP-AES technique with overlimit protocols for zinc, lead, copper, antimony, arsenic, and barium conducted by an ore-grade aqua-regia digestion with an instrument finish (ALS-Chemex). Note that all discussion of NI-43-101 compliant Indicated and Inferred mineral resources are referenced in the March 2006 NI 43-101 report for Howard's Pass. In reviewing historical resources, all discussion of Indicated mineral resources that predate introduction of NI 43-101 should be considered as Inferred mineral resources. All historical Inferred mineral resources that predate NI 43-101 should be considered as areas of mineral potential requiring further definition through drilling. Historical mineral resources are referenced in the June 2005 NI 43-101 report for Howard's Pass. Copies of the reports can be viewed at www.sedar.com. Location of the new zones and detailed drill plan maps are available at www.pacifica-resources.com. Pacifica's main focus is the exploration of its Selwyn Project in eastern Yukon and Northwest Territories. The Selwyn Project hosts very large tonnages of zinc-lead mineralization. The known deposits have the potential for large scale production of zinc and lead, at a time when World's zinc mine supply is in deficit and there are few new zinc-lead mines under development. This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control and actual results may differ materially from the expected results. Additional drilling is required to confirm the potential of the new discovery areas and expansions of the current resource areas. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the resources being defined can be developed as an economically attractive mine, and there are many uncertainties associated with permitting and other factors that could delay such development. THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. -30- For more information contact: Dr. Harlan Meade, President and CEO Jasmin TamDoo, Manager of Investor Communications Telephone: [phone] Toll-free: 1-877-682-5474 International Toll-free: 800-8682-5474 Facsimile: [phone] [e-mail] www.pacifica-resources.com News Release - 2006-19 Maximum News Dissemination by Filing Services Canada Inc. Ph: [phone] Fx: [phone] www.usetdas.com © Copyright Filing Services Canada