NEWS 33.54 g/t Gold Across 4 mMarathon PGM Hits 33.54 g/t (uncut) Gold Across 4 m (0.98 oz/ton uncut across 13.1 feet) at Leprechaun Gold Deposit
TORONTO, July 21/CNW/ - Marathon PGM Corporation (MAR-TSX) ("Marathon") announced thatresults from drilling and grab sampling have expanded the boundaries ofgold mineralization on-strike to the southwest and northeast at theLeprechaun Gold Deposit, in Central Newfoundland.
Highlights:
- best drill interval contains 33.54 g/t (uncut) gold across
4 m (0.98 oz/ton (uncut) gold across 13.1 feet) in VL-10-190, which
represents a new lens of high grade mineralization
- grab samples with assay values of between 49 and 79 g/t gold confirm
the greater than 300 m wide corridor of mineralization and that
mineralization is open to the southwest
- multiple, shallow intersections of gold mineralization were
encountered in both sub-horizontal and sub-vertical vein sets
- best intervals occur at intersections of sub-horizontal and steeply
dipping vein sets
- geophysical survey indicates new targets are developing at depth
- Leprechaun Deposit has now been drilled over a strike length of 700 m
and is growing
- click here for map
https://www.marathonpgm.com/images/valentinemapjuly2010.jpg
"The results from drilling and field work to date demonstratethat the gold system at the Leprechaun Deposit has very good sizepotential," said Phillip Walford, President and CEO of Marathon PGM. Mr. Walfordfurther noted, "The mineralizing system is robust at the LeprechaunDeposit with gold now found in the granitic rocks up to 300 m west ofthe sedimentary contact. This deposit is one of several gold zones andoccurrences noted along the 30 km of strike we have on the property.Our long term goal is to develop resources with open pit potential andunderground potential relying upon tightly focused drilling andgeological work."
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Core True
From To Width Width Gold Gold Cut to
Best Results Section (m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (oz/t) 58 g/t
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VL-10-180 9,887.5 93 101 8 5.3 1.05 0.03 -
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VL-10-182 10,337.5 54 56 2 2 1.69 0.05 -
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" 10,337.5 66 69 3 3 1.12 0.03 -
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" 10,337.5 81 92 11 6.5 1.84 0.05 -
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VL-10-183 10,350 3.6 5 1.4 1.4 2.08 0.06 -
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" 10,350 41 53 12 10 0.64 0.02 -
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" 10,350 59 66 7 7 0.96 0.03 -
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" 10,350 75 89 14 11 1.83 0.05 -
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" 10,350 128 133 5 3 2.76 0.08 -
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VL-10-184 10,350 13 27 14 13.8 2.00 0.06 -
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" 10,350 46 54 8 7.9 2.06 0.06 -
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VL-10-185 10,350 1.5 7 5.5 4.6 1.53 0.04 -
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" 10,350 17 24 7 7 5.79 0.17 -
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VL-10-186 10,375 2 5 3 3 9.61 0.28 -
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" 10,375 18 24 6 6 2.57 0.08 -
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" 10,375 39 45 6 5 1.53 0.04 -
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VL-10-190 10,425 29 34 5 2.5 2.23 0.07 -
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" 10,425 44 45 1 0.5 8.7 0.26 -
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" 10,425 53 60 7 4.8 1.9 0.06 -
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" 10,425 77 83 6 4 22.75 0.67 14.49
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includes 10,425 78 82 4 2.65 33.54 0.98 21.15
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Includes 10,425 81 82 1 0.66 107.58 3.16 58
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(1) Hole VL-10-181 intersected no significant values, 1 of the reported
assay values was cut to the historical value of 58 g/t Au
All holes were drilled normal to the strike of mineralization,with shallower holes typically having a -45 degree dip and deeper holeshaving a -75 to -85 degree dip. Holes VL-10-180 and -181 on section9887.5 were drilled to test the western extension of mineralizationencountered in VL-10-178. Mineralization encountered is continuous fromVL-10-178 and -179 and open to the west and down dip. Hole VL-10-182 onsection 10337.5 had visible gold noted during core logging. Three zonesof mineralization were intersected, the uppermost interval is the downdip flat extension from VL-10-173 and -174 which are on the samesection. Holes VL-10-183, -184 and -185 are located on section 10,350and intersected multiple stacked intervals of quartz with numerousoccurrences of visible gold noted.
Hole VL-10-190 on section 10,425 had 20 flecks of visible gold notedduring core logging and returned 33.54 g/t (0.98 oz/ton) across 4 m(13.1 feet). This intersection is of particular importance as itdefines a new zone of high grade mineralization.
Summer 2010 Drill Program
Marathon is drill validating the 2 kilometer northeast-southwesttrending zone of mineralization that hosts the Leprechaun Deposit.Mineralization remains open along strike and down dip, with drillingfocused on finding additional lenses of high grade mineralization. Thedrill program continues to provide geological information on thegold-bearing vein sets, which helps to define the limits of goldmineralization.
Valentine Lake Background
The Valentine Lake GoldProperty and Leprechaun Deposit were defined by previous operators with23,872 metres of drilling in 139 holes up to the end of 2009. Widelyspaced historical holes intersected significant gold mineralizationover a strike length of 2 km. Marathon is drilling on closely spacedholes in order to gain a better geological understanding from theongoing drill program.
Generalized Geology - Leprechaun Deposit and On-Strike Extensions
The Leprechaun Gold Deposit is hosted by sub horizontal andsteeply dipping quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins that occur within amajor regional fault zone that strikes for over 30 km across the Valentine LakeGold Project. At the southwest end of the property, gold mineralizationhas been identified by drilling in a zone that is up to 300 meters wideand 2 km along strike. In this area, detailed drilling has occurredalong only 550 meters of the structure. The potential to improve theresource and introduce hanging wall mineralization into the up-comingresource estimate has significantly increased as a result of a betterunderstanding of the orientation and good continuity of the mineralizedveins near surface.
Closely spaced drilling has resulted in a better structuralunderstanding of the mineralization and shallowly dippingmineralization is now recognized to extend beyond the boundaries of themain steeply dipping mineralized structure and into the hanging wall.It is possible that some of the gold intercepts occurring in thehanging wall well away from the main zone and best interpreted as subhorizontal vein sets may prove to be so with further drilling.
Drilling is focused on finding extensions of high grade lenses alongthe mineralized trend. Presently up to hole VL-10-202, approximately4,000 metres have been completed of the current 8,000 meter program.The current plan is to continue moving the drill to the northeast andfill the 50-100 meter wide gaps between current drilling and historicaldrill holes VL-05-115 and VL-99-7 which intersected multiple zonesincluding 2.96 g/t gold across 11.1 meters and 2.41 g/t gold across11.8 m, respectively.
Leprechaun Gold Deposit
To date, the Leprechaun Gold Deposit is the first defined gold resource within the highly prospective Valentine Lake Gold Project ("Valentine Lake").The Leprechaun Deposit has an NI 43-101 compliant inferred mineralresource of 1,314,780 tonnes grading 10.50 g/t gold using a 5 g/t goldminimum cut-off and a 3 metre minimum width for a total estimatedmineral resource of 443,000 ounces of gold. Cutting individual assaysto 58 g/t gold, the average grade is 8.51 g/t gold, for a totalestimated mineral resource of 359,000 ounces of gold at the cut grade.The Leprechaun Gold Deposit is open at depth and along strike. Theresource estimate for the Leprechaun Gold Deposit presented in the NI43-101 Technical Report dated January 12, 2005, was performed by Larry Pilgrim, P. Geo. a Qualified Person (see: NI 43-101 Valentine Lake Technical Report).
Marathon is exploring Valentine Lakeunder an option and joint venture agreement between Marathon andMountain Lake Resources Inc (TSX.v:MOA"). Please see Marathon's OJVApress release of December 23, 2009 by clicking https://www.marathonpgm.com/news/2009/231209.pdf
All of the samples were sent to Eastern Analytical Laboratory Ltd., inSpringdale, Newfoundland. Samples were assayed using lead collectionfire assay with AA (atomic absorption) finish. Results from fire assayare used for drill hole planning only. Duplicate assays were made onall assays above 30 g/t. Assay results for the planned updated resourceestimate will be determined by a metallic screening process to beconducted at a later date.
David Good, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration is Marathon's Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release. Dr. Good has reviewed the contents for accuracy and has approved this press release on behalf of Marathon.