new zone at freegoldNorthern Freegold Discovers New Mineralized Porphyry Body at Freegold Mountain Project, Yukon
2/25/2008
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Feb 25, 2008 (Marketwire via COMTEX News Network) --
Northern Freegold Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:NFR) is pleased to announce discovery of a new mineralized porphyry body in the Stoddart Zone located 1 km from the Ridge Zone, in the central portion of the district scale Freegold Mountain Project, Yukon. Two diamond drill holes (509 m, 1,670 feet) tested a historical 1300 by 400 m (4,265 by 1,312 foot) gold and copper soil anomaly coincident with an airborne magnetic survey anomaly.
Highlights:
- Both diamond drill holes intersected significant mineralization indicative of a porphyry system located at or near surface
- Drill hole ST07-01 intersected 159.25 m (522.47 feet) of 0.14% copper including 15.75 m (51.66 feet) of 0.33% copper
- Drill hole ST07-02 intersected 205.65 m (674.53 feet) of 0.15% copper including 26.40 m (86.6.1 feet) of 0.27% copper
- The Stoddart Zone is located 1 km from the Ridge Zone where chip sampling returned 4.70 m (15.74 feet) of 0.11 oz/ton gold, 1.83 oz/ton silver and 0.59% copper
- Northern Freegold is very well financed and has access to 4 drills in the 2008 season and plans an aggressive 25,000 m (82,000 foot) drill campaign at the Freegold Mountain Project
Bill Harris, President & CEO commented, "We are encouraged that previously untested areas of the Freegold Mountain Project are producing significant new mineralized targets. Gold values in the Stoddart surface anomaly are higher than the gold-in-soil values at the Nucleus Zone where 2007 drilling intersected 75 m of 4.26 g/t gold (see December 6, 2007 news release). The large size of the surface anomaly and the long, mineralized intervals in the two holes drilled in 2007 make this area a priority for further drill testing in the 2008 season."
Stoddart ZoneDrill Results-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thick- Thick- Length From To ness ness Cu MoHole No. m m m m feet ppm (%) Ppm (%)--------------------------------------------------------------------------ST07-01 259.10 96.25 255.50 159.25 522.47 1354 (0.14%) (i) Includes 173.00 259.10 86.10 282.41 1599 (0.16%) (i) Includes 174.50 202.00 27.50 90.20 2399 (0.24%) 127 (0.013) Includes 174.50 190.00 15.50 50.84 3024 (0.30%) 158 (0.016) Includes 220.50 236.25 15.75 51.66 3288 (0.33%) (i) Includes 222.20 229.80 7.60 24.93 4708 (0.47%) (i)--------------------------------------------------------------------------ST07-02 249.90 1.60 207.25 205.65 674.53 1498 (0.15%) (i) Includes 89.60 190.40 100.80 330.71 1814 (0.18%) (i) Includes 130.60 157.00 26.40 86.61 2753 (0.27%) (i) Includes 139.45 150.30 10.85 35.59 3425 (0.34%) 211 (0.021) Includes 204.00 207.25 3.25 10.66 5138 (0.51%) (i) Includes(1) 205.50 207.25 1.75 5.74 5510 (0.55%) (i)--------------------------------------------------------------------------(i)Mo values less than 100 ppm(1)includes gold values of 0.87 g/t
To view the map accompanying this release please click on the following link: https://media3.marketwire.com/docs/0225nfr.pdf
The Stoddart Zone is underlain by a mid-late Cretaceous feldspar porphyritic stock, surrounded by a halo of northerly to northeasterly-trending quartz feldspar porphyry dyke swarms, intruding Mesozoic syenite and granodiorite. The model for the Stoddart Zone is a bulk-mineable plutonic hosted, calcalkaline porphyry copper+/-gold+/-molybdenum model, such as the Casino Deposit located 80 km (50 mi) to the northwest, which contains measured and indicated resources of 7.44 million oz of gold, 4,676 million lb of copper and 425 million lb of molybdenum (www.westerncoppercorp.com).
The 2 holes of the 2007 program were drilled to test a historical copper and gold soil anomaly measuring 1300 by 400 m (4,265 by 1,312 feet). The 2 holes were successful in locating a previously unknown mineralized porphyry intrusion in the area. Tenorite, chalcocite and malachite mineralization appear at the top of both drill holes. Sheeted vein systems carrying pyrite, chalcopyrite and molybdenum mineralization cut the main intrusive phase at a shallow angle to the core axis throughout both holes.
Low grade gold values were encountered in hole ST07-01 (0.22 g/t gold over 14.50 m; 0.14 g/t gold over 11.05 m). Although the first 2 holes did not intersect ore grade gold mineralization, there is still potential that this target will host elevated precious metal, as it is surrounded by occurrences of high grade gold and silver, inclduing the Ridge Zone, only a kilometer away (see November 8, 2007 news release). The Stoddart Zone is located uphill from Guder and Seymour Creeks, where significant quantities of gold have been produced by placer mining.
Freegold Mountain Project
The Freegold Mountain Project is situated within the Dawson Range portion of the Tintina Gold Belt, characterized by plutonic rocks of the 100 million year old Cretaceous Dawson Range Batholith and early Jurassic Klotassin Suite metaplutonic rocks intruding metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane. The Dawson Range is a well-mineralized belt over 100 km long, extending from Mount Freegold northwesterly to the Casino copper-gold porphyry deposit. This belt is transected by the west-northwest trending Big Creek Fault, which provides the locus for many mineral occurrences including placer gold deposits, porphyry gold-copper mineralization, gold veins and breccias bodies. The Freegold Mountain Project covers a 35 km long section of this belt.
The Project area is in excess of 166 square km (64 square miles) and includes several road-accessible mineralized zones with historical resource estimates (not compliant with NI-43-101). Work on the Freegold Mountain Project dating back to 1930 indicates that the property has the potential to host intrusion related gold deposits or bulk-tonnage gold+/-copper porphyry style mineralization (eg. the Nucleus Zone) with similarities to the mineralization at Kinross Gold's Fort Knox deposit in Alaska which has produced more than 3 million ounces in the past 10 years and still has a resource of 2.7 million ounces of gold from proven and probable reserves of 159.7 million tonnes grading 0.53 g/t as at Dec. 31, 2006 (www.kinross.com) (These reserves have not been verified by the qualified person and the information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization at Freegold Mountain Project). The Project also has potential to host other related deposit types such as intrusive-hosted polymetallic vein systems (Tinta Hill), epithermal vein systems (Goldy, Dart) and skarn deposits (Margarete/Augusta), as well as other porphyry targets (Stoddart).
Quality Control and Assurance
The holes were drilled by a skid mounted diamond drill with NTW core size (5.6cm/2.2 inches in diameter). All core samples from diamond drilling are split and sent to EcoTech Laboratory in Whitehorse for sample preparation and then to EcoTech Laboratory in Kamloops for analysis. Blanks, commercial standards and duplicate core samples are included in each batch. Gold is analysed on 30 gram pulps by fire assay followed by aqua regia digestion and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). Gold values greater than 1000 ppb are reanalysed by gravimetric fire assay. Other elements are analysed by 28-element ICP analysis after aqua regia digestion. Additional check analyses and assays will be carried out by ALS Chemex in North Vancouver. Intervals reported in this release do not necessarily represent true widths of mineralization.
The program is under the direct supervision of Mr. Ron Robertson, P. Geol., hereby identified as the "Qualified Person" under the NI 43-101 requirements.
Northern Freegold is a well-financed Canadian-based resource exploration and development company which relies on local expertise and strong management to focus on development of economic reserves on the district-scale Freegold Mountain Project in the Yukon and the Burro Creek Project in Arizona.
Northern Freegold Resources Ltd.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
William (Bill) G. Harris, President and Chief Executive Officer