Mar 7 2017
Rockcliff Copper Corporation ("Rockcliff" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RCU) (FRANKFURT:RO0) (WKN: A142TR) is pleased to announce that a Phase one geophysical program has commenced at the Company's high grade Laguna gold property (the "Property"), in Manitoba. The Company will complete an airborne magnetometer survey over the entire Property using state of the art drone airborne equipment and complete an Induced Polarization (IP) survey to cover the prospective high grade Laguna gold mine trend. The Property hosts the former high-grade Laguna gold mine and is part of the Company's Snow Lake Project, one of the highest grade base and precious metals property portfolios in North America. The Snow Lake Project is located in the Snow Lake mining camp in the eastern half of the prolific Flin Flon-Snow Lake greenstone belt which hosts numerous high grade precious and base metal deposits and mines.
Ken Lapierre President & CEO stated "Our geophysical program is the first program of its kind ever on the Property. Last year's initial prospecting program over historic showings identified significant, widespread gold values from trace up to 20 ounces per tonne. More importantly it discovered that the gold mineralization is structurally controlled and associated with much thicker zones of gold-rich quartz stockwork systems not previously identified or reported in historical documents. The detailed drone magnetometer and the IP surveys will play a pivotal role in following and identifying the horizontal and lateral extent of the known high-grade stockwork systems under the overburden covered Laguna gold mine trend. With this phase one geophysical data, we will be one step closer to our first drill program on the Laguna gold mine trend and the first on this trend in over 70 years."
State-of-the-Art Airborne Drone Magnetometer Survey
A total of 1,116 kilometres of tightly spaced lines between 25 metres and 50 metres spacing has commenced at the Property by A.I.R. Inc. from Flin Flon, Manitoba. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) used is a state-of-the-art Canadian designed and built helicopter style UAV which slings a potassium magnetic sensor underneath. Helicopters offer many advantages over other kinds of UAVs: Vertical Take-off and Launch, highest aerodynamic efficiency in forward flight as well as the best size vs payload vs flight time available. A GPS guided autopilot coupled with ground elevation data allows it to fly accurate survey lines that hug the terrain. With the implementation of a UAV over conventional ground and airborne surveys, one can now economically fly extremely tightly spaced lines with high density ground sampling distances without the need for line cutting. It is now possible to resolve individual magnetic anomalies that were previously indistinguishable when surveyed using conventional ground and airborne surveys, a perfect solution for structurally controlled gold exploration targets like that at the Property. Ultimately, magnetic surveys done from a UAV deliver higher quality magnetic data at a decreased cost with a reduced environmental footprint.
Induced Polarization Survey
Geophysique TMC, who have a long history of providing high quality field surveys to their clients, was awarded the IP contract. The initial ground geophysical surveys will consist of 65 kilometers of Gradient IP. IP and resistivity surveys are a useful tool in gold exploration to map resistivity and chargeability distributions and also to assist in general geologic mapping of lithology, structure and alteration along favourable horizons. The Gradient profiling technique has been selected here due to its good signal-to-noise, improved survey economics, and because of the capacity for good lateral resolution and depth penetration. Pole-dipole detailed surveys will be conducted over the highest priority target areas for additional detailing, with 3D inversions performed on both datasets.
About the Property
The Property hosts the Laguna gold mine, a high-grade former gold mine in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake mining camp. Historical, intermittent gold mining from the Laguna vein between 1916 and 1939 produced over 60,000 ounces of gold grading 18.7g/t. The Laguna gold mine infrastructure consists of a three compartment vertical shaft to 381 metres and 8 levels totalling over 3.0 kilometres of underground drift and stope development. The Property now includes 34 contiguous mining claims totalling 3,499 hectares covering 6.0 kilometres of prospective strike length of the Laguna gold mine trend. The Property is strategically located 20 kilometres from a 2,150 tonne per day gold mill facility in Snow Lake, Manitoba.
The gold mineralization on the Property is metallogenically controlled by subsidiary thrust faults attributed to the major Crowduck Bay Fault which crosses the entire length of the Property a distance of 6.0 kilometres. The gold-rich quartz veining and stockwork systems along the northwest limb of the Herb Lake Syncline typically occur where the subsidiary faults intersect quartz-feldspar and biotite porphryry stocks that intrude Missi Group sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Quartz-iron carbonate-albite-sericite alteration commonly overprint peak regional metamorphic assemblages within auriferous vein margins. Mineralization in quartz and surrounding quartz stockwork wall rock consists of pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, pyrrhotite, native gold and telluride. Typical gangue minerals include tourmaline and fuchsite.
Pursuant to its option agreement Rockcliff can earn a 100% interest in the Property. Please refer to the news release dated September 12, 2016 for specific terms of the option agreement.
Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies
In its annual survey of exploration and mining companies, The Fraser Institute survey found that Manitoba is ranked as the second best jurisdiction in the world for exploration, mining and investment attractiveness. Manitoba historically has been rated as a top tier investment location on an annual basis and continues to provide an excellent location for Rockcliff to invest and discover deposits in a mining friendly jurisdiction.