VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VR Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: VRR, FSE: 5VR; OTCBB:
VRRCF), the "Company", or “VR”, is pleased to provide an update on its large, Bonita porphyry copper-gold property in Nevada.
New claims were staked to expand the property to the south and west to cover new surface copper showings. This area was
mapped and sampled following the summer 2018 drill program completed at the Hemco target in the northwestern part of the property
(see News Release dated August 8, 2018). The Company will provide further updates for ongoing exploration at Bonita in
2019.
The new area of interest at Bonita is named Rattlesnake. A total of 36 new claims cover numerous clusters
of historic workings of copper-bearing specularite iron oxide vein breccia (Figure 1). Surface exploration by VR at
Rattlesnake included geological mapping, rock sampling (21) and soil sampling (94 samples on 5 lines). Copper and silver
assays of surface grab samples are similar to those taken elsewhere throughout the 5x7 km alteration footprint at Bonita (see grab
sample map at http://www.vrr.ca).
Copper-bearing iron carbonate and iron oxide vein breccias at Rattlesnake commonly extend upwards into the
folded volcanic and sedimentary units which are the host to the Bonita igneous complex and porphyry system (Photo 1). The
most intense chlorite alteration facies at Bonita occurs at Rattlesnake (Figure 2). The alteration provides an exploration
vector to the area north of the historic workings which is under cover and previously unexplored.
The Bonita porphyry copper system has the potential to host one, or several porphyry copper stocks within the
overall 5x7 km hydrothermal footprint, based on comparison with other porphyry copper camps of similar age and tectonic setting in
western North America. The Company is planning for additional ground-based IP geophysics and drilling in 2019 to advance and
test this potential (Figure 3):
- the current coverage of ground-based IP geophysics at Bonita will be expanded, including two new lines at Rattlesnake;
- additional drill holes are proposed at Copper Queen and Hemco in order to fully evaluate those targets in the northern part
of the property where drilling was initiated in 2017 and 2018;
- new drill holes are proposed at four other key integrated targets in the Bonita system, namely: Whiskey Bottle; Corral; Lori,
and; Rattlesnake. As shown on Figure 3, IP geophysics is also proposed at all four areas, to improve vectoring for specific
drill hole locations.
VR also continued through the summer and fall of 2018 and is working towards a full Plan of
Operations (POA) permit from the BLM for the Hemco target area. While more drilling is still possible under the
current Notice of Intent permit (<5 acres disturbance), this initiative for a POA is strategic in nature, designed to enable the
Company to be ready to complete more detailed delineation drilling in the future. Work by an independent, arms-length company
which specializes in the base-line surveys required by the BLM is ongoing. Two surveys are complete and filed with the
BLM:
- Habitat Evaluation Report, a desktop analysis of habitats within the project area;
- Baseline Biological Survey, including Botanical Survey and Wildlife Survey, including Aerial Raptor Survey.
The next and final survey required for completion of a Plan of Operations submittal is an archeological
survey. The Company has a survey and budget proposal in-hand for work this spring and summer, 2019.
Commenting on the news today, VR’s CEO Dr. Gunning stated: “Four years of exploration at Bonita have
unearthed a middle Jurassic porphyry copper-gold system that unifies showings of copper and gold - bearing iron oxide breccia
across a hydrothermal alteration footprint nearly 5x7 km’s in size. The work this summer at Rattlesnake added another target
to the system. The past-producing Yerington camp to the south demonstrates the endowment of copper systems of this age in Nevada,
and the Company continues to believe in the unusual upside of owning 100% of a district-scale property like Bonita. We will look at
all strategic options to continue to advance the property in 2019; to complete the first pass drilling of the first two targets at
Copper Queen and Hemco, and fully test the remaining four. We look forward to providing updates as plans unfold.”
Please see the Company’s website at www.vrr.ca for more complete information on the Bonita Property.
About the Bonita Property
The Bonita property is located in Humboldt County in northwestern Nevada, USA, approximately 200 km northeast of
Reno, and 75 km northwest of the town of Winnemucca. There is road access both to, and within, the property, and there is
railroad and powerline infrastructure approximately 20 kilometres to the south. Bonita is located in desert-like basin and
range affording nearly year-round work.
The Bonita property is large, consisting of one contiguous block of 381 claims covering 3,186 ha (7,872 acres),
an area of approximately 5 x 6 kilometres. It is owned 100% by VR, free and clear of any interests or royalties. It is
on land administered by the BLM, and is outside of sage grouse protection.
The Bonita property encompasses a district of historic copper, gold and iron workings over an area of about 4 x
5 kilometers. The showings occur within a district-scale hydrothermal system with a footprint which spans 5 x 7 kilometers,
as delineated by airborne magnetic and hyperspectral surveys, and refined by detailed geological mapping. Alteration facies
progress inwards from distal propyllitic to argillic, sodic, and phyllic alteration, with silica-specularite and iron-carbonate –
chlorite hydrothermal breccia bodies (veins, dykes and plugs) at numerous locations.
VR has identified several large and specific exploration targets for porphyry copper-gold mineralization at
Bonita over the past four years of exploration. They are based on the integration of geological mapping, mineral alteration
vectors, rock and soil geochemical anomalies, and gravity, magnetic and resistivity geophysical anomalies. Integrated exploration
targets represent the potential to discover not just one, but a cluster of buried, porphyry copper stocks and/or breccia pipes
which give rise to the various historic surface workings of copper-gold veins, and copper-gold bearing iron oxide hydrothermal
breccias.
Bonita is a mafic, alkaline, polyphase middle Jurassic batholith that is the same age as the past-producing
Yerington porphyry copper camp located some 150 kilometers to the south, in west-central Nevada. VR completed an independent
NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report in January, 2017, and first-pass drill programs in September, 2017 and June, 2018.
Technical Information
Summary technical and geological information on the Company’s various properties is available at the Company’s
website at www.vrr.ca.
VR submits all surface grab samples and/or drill core samples collected for geochemical analysis to the ALS
Global (‘ALS”) laboratory in Reno, Nevada. Analytical work is completed at the ALS laboratories located in Vancouver, BC.,
including ICP-MS analyses for base metals and trace elements, and gold determination by atomic absorption assay. Analytical
results are subject to industry-standard and NI 43-101 compliant QAQC sample procedures at the laboratory, as described by ALS.
Technical information for this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory
requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101. Justin Daley, P.Geo., Principal Geologist at VR and a non-independent
Qualified Person oversees and/or participates in all aspects of the Company’s mineral exploration projects. The content of
this news release has been reviewed on behalf of the Company by the CEO, Dr. Michael Gunning, P.Geo., a non-independent Qualified
Person.
About VR Resources
VR is an emerging junior exploration company focused on greenfields opportunities in copper and gold (TSX.V:
VRR; Frankfurt: 5VR; OTCBB: VRRCF). The diverse experience and proven track record of its Board in early-stage exploration
and discovery is the foundation of VR. The Company is focused on exploring large copper-gold mineral systems in the western United
States. VR is the continuance of 4 years of active exploration in Nevada by a Vancouver-based private exploration
company. VR is well financed for its exploration strategy. VR owns its properties outright, and evaluates new opportunities
on an ongoing basis, whether by staking or acquisition.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
“Michael H. Gunning”
_____________________________
Dr. Michael H. Gunning, PhD, PGeo
President & CEO
For general information please use the following:
Website: www.vrr.ca
Email: info@vrr.ca
Phone:
604-262-1104
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically
identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, and similar expressions or are those which, by their
nature, refer to future events. Forward looking statements in this release include but are not limited to: The Bonita
porphyry copper system has the potential to host one, or several porphyry copper stocks; The Company is planning for additional
ground-based IP geophysics and drilling in 2019.
Although the Company believes that the use of such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that
such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in
such statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of
future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Trading in the
securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Company’s public disclosure filings are available at
www.sedar.com; readers are urged to review these materials.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in Policies of
the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/037a98ce-0f8c-4dd4-a088-20dae0790043
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8eb74265-4b80-4932-8409-e7202ff11dbd
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7af1335f-b95d-4c22-8ff2-83d5db238dc7
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/86eb3482-803f-4b61-acee-41ea9b7e8274
Figure 1
Satellite image of Bonita Property, Nevada. Shown are historic surface workings for copper and gold, and surface
occurrences of hydrothermal iron oxide breccia mapped by VR.
Photo 1
Iron carbonate and iron oxide vein breccia in a folded limestone succession into which the Bonita igneous complex and
porphyry hydrothermal system was emplaced.
Figure 2
Select data and aerial coverage from a fixed wing, airborne Hyperspectral survey flown over the entire Bonita Property.
Evident are the intense clay alteration facies at Hemco where VR commenced reconnaissance drilling in 2017, and the chlorite
alteration facies north of the historic workings at Rattlesnake.
Figure 3
Map of the Bonita property, Nevada, showing completed and planned IP geophysical lines and diamond drill holes. The
colour-shaded outlines highlight the main integrated exploration target areas within the overall hydrothermal footprint at
Bonita, based on geological mapping, geochemistry and geophysics.