Exploration UpdateCompany News Alert
Pacific Ridge Provides Exploration Update from the Mariposa GoldProperty (ccnm)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) -Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:PEX) (the "Company") reports thatexploration at the Mariposa Property, located within the Yukon's White GoldDistrict, has seen completion of 34 drill holes for a total of 5350 metresdrilled so far this season. Receipt of assay results has seen delays due to highvolume and continuous sample submittals, as a result of increased explorationactivity in the Yukon.
The objective of the 2011 drilling program is planned around completion ofapproximately 6,000 metres of diamond core drilling to test 5 gold explorationtargets located within an approximate 26 square kilometer area of the overall262 square kilometer Mariposa Property.
The following exploration targets currently defined within the MariposaProperty have seen preliminary drilling: Skookum Main-18 holes, Skookum West-7holes, Hackly-2 holes, Gertie-3 holes and Maisy-May-4 holes. The Big Alex targetwill be drill-tested next season.
Drilling is currently focused on the Skookum West area of the 3.5 km longSkookum Jim gold-in-soil trend where recent surface exploration has generatednew drill targets over a 2 square kilometer area. This area lies approximately1.5 kilometres to the southwest of the Skookum Main area, where this year'sdrilling has reported results of up to 2.44 g/t gold over 38.9 metres.
The Skookum Jim trend is centered along an east-northeast trending plateauwhich coincides with a structural corridor that is clearly defined bydisruptions and offsets of linear airborne magnetic features. The Skookum Mainarea lies to the north of the most prominent of these structural breaks, whereasthe Skookum West straddles this break, at a location where an array ofnorthwest, northeast and north-south trending structures appear to becross-cutting the main east-northeast trending structure. Elsewhere in the WhiteGold district, similar structural settings are of key importance for the hostingof gold mineralization. It is also notable that north trending structures in theSkookum West area are parallel to the prolific placer gold drainage of ScroggieCreek that flows to the north, through the western part of the MariposaProperty.
In 2010, widely spaced soil sampling along 100 metre lines at Skookum Westfirst detected gold-in-soil anomalism of up to 512 ppb (parts per billion) gold,with locally elevated molybdenum values. During 2011, infill soil sampling at 25metre stations further defined strong gold anomalism over a minimum 1500 metreby 800 metre area. Gold-in-soil results ranging from 20 ppb to a peak of 514 ppbappear to coincide with linear magnetic lows and/or flank magnetic highs. Thesefeatures, interpreted as reflecting brittle structures and underlying mafic rocktypes, provide a geologic setting with potential to host goldmineralization.
Detailed prospecting and rock sampling of surface float has returnedsignificant results within the Skookum West gold-in-soil anomaly. Of a total of117 rock samples from a 2 square kilometer area, 27 returned results greaterthan 0.5 g/t gold, to a high of 19.98 g/t gold. The averaged grade of theseresults is 3.3 g/t gold. Again, as seen elsewhere in the White Gold camp, theseelevated gold assays are hosted in well-silicified rocks cut by limoniticfracture nets and hematite-specularite alteration along with minor disseminatedpyrite.
Some of the anomalous gold results were obtained from rock samples in areaswith no indicated gold-in-soil response, but along structures interpreted frommagnetic surveys. This suggests that the prospectivity of the Skookum West areamay cover a larger area than indicated by the soil geochemical results. On-goingdiamond drilling is therefore testing a combination of targets in the SkookumWest area that include structural trends and soil and rock geochemicalsignatures.
It is contemplated that the drilling season will come to a close inmid-September with approximately 40 holes completed.
The technical information contained within this News Release has beenreviewed and approved by Janice Fingler, P.Geo, Vice President Exploration ofPacific Ridge Exploration, and Qualified Person as defined by NationalInstrument 43-101 policy.
John S. Brock, President and CEO
Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd.