Northern Freegold Update on Exploration Program at Burro Creek, Arizona
posted on
Jul 09, 2013 08:59PM
Vancouver, BC: July 9, 2013 - Northern Freegold Resources Ltd. (NFR: TSX-V) ("the Company" or "Northern Freegold") announces the current phase of an exploration program at its wholly owned Burro Creek Gold/Silver Property, located in Mohave County, Arizona, USA (the "Property"). Given increased levels of mining and exploration activity in Arizona, and investor interest in potentially less capital intensive projects such as Burro Creek, the Company has recently reappraised the project. The board of directors determined that a low budget fieldwork program was warranted to follow up on previous exploration recommendations identified in the most recent NI 43-101 technical report. The objectives of the current phase of the program are to detect precious metal anomalies in a 1300 x 400 metre area bounded to the north and south by an outcropping gold/silver vein.
Burro Creek, Arizona - Fieldwork Program
The Burro Creek property covers a low-sulphidation epithermal gold/silver vein system that has been traced for more than 1.7 km along strike, exhibiting widths of up to 45 metres. The vein partially outcrops. Only 300 metres of the vein have been drilled to date and the vein mineralization is still open to the north and south along strike of the Burro Vein, as well as at depth, and in possible subparallel structures.
Initial soil sampling with analysis by partial leach, completed by the Company in 2008, was effective in detecting the Burro Vein within the Central Block and detecting a second, or offset, portion of the vein 120 metres to the west with significant width suggestive of a "blow out" zone within the vein. The 1000 metre area between the Central and South Blocks is covered with overburden where no geophysics or soil sampling had been conducted by the Company before.
The objective of the fieldwork program is to complete soil sampling between these two blocks where the vein outcrops, furthering our understanding of the vein potential between these two zones. Results from the analysis will be made available once management has received and analyzed them.
The results from analysis of these samples will assist management in determining future fieldwork and drill targets at the property.
About Burro Creek
The Burro Creek Property is located 1.6 km off of State Highway 93 in Mohave County, Arizona, approximately 265 km southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada and 200 km north of Phoenix, Arizona. The 2000 acre property consists of four patented mineral claims, situated on private land, and 100 surrounding lode mineral claims. The property is located in an active mining belt which includes Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.'s neighbouring Bagdad Mine (www.fcx.com). Northwest Arizona also hosts gold/silver development properties such as Northern Vertex Mining Corp.'s Moss Gold-Silver project (www.northernvertex.com).
Parallel high tension power lines lie within 1.6 km of the Burro Creek deposit and water rights on the property have been secured, providing the project with excellent infrastructure.
In the late 1980s a portion of the Burro Creek vein system was fully permitted to commence production, but the production decision was deferred due to a decline in gold prices. The previous owners had intended to place the existing resource into production, and then to continue to expand the resource through exploration funded by the profits of production. Their original production plan demonstrated that the project was amenable to a conventional heap leaching process.
Prior Exploration Activities at Burro Creek Undertaken by Northern Freegold
A 2008 drill program with 33 holes totaling 2,565 metres was drilled along the vein system. The main focus of the drill program was to confirm and update historical results on an open pittable, epithermal gold/silver mineralized zone on the property and to drill test areas on the property with potential to discover additional mineralization within the extensive epithermal vein system. The Burro Vein has a 1.7 km known strike length and is up to 45 metres wide. It remains open in both directions and to depth.
Highlights of the 2008 program include: hole BC08-030 which intersected 4.6 m of 7.99 g/t gold and 192.72 g/t silver including 1.03 m of 31.80 g/t gold and 759.00 g/t silver, and hole BC08-038 which intersected 51.3 m of 0.94 g/t gold and 56.10 g/t silver including: 26.73 m of 1.20 g/t gold and 43.96 g/t silver.
Results from the 2008 drill program confirmed the historical results on the property and confirmed the potential to expand historical resources.
Indicated & Inferred NI 43-101 Resource
Northern Freegold released its first Indicated resource estimate delineating 75,600 contained gold ounces and 2,757,000 contained ounces of silver (@ 0.5 g/t AuEq cutoff) within 2.3 million tonnes grading 1.01 g/t gold and 36.77 g/t silver in February 28, 2011. An Inferred resource of 43,200 contained ounces of gold and 2,236,000 contained ounces of silver (@ 0.5 g/t AuEq cutoff) was delineated within 2.2 million tonnes grading 0.60 g/t gold and 30.95 g/t silver.
The Indicated and Inferred mineral resource estimate was prepared in compliance with the standards of NI 43-101 by Dr. A. Armitage, Ph.D., P.Geol., and J. Campbell, B.Sc., P.Geo. of GeoVector Management Inc. GeoVector is an Ottawa, Ontario consulting firm specializing in resource estimation, project assessment, and project management. Dr. Armitage acted as the Qualified Person, as defined in NI 43-101 and was Independent of the Company at the time the report was released. Mineral resources do not demonstrate economic viability, and there is no certainty that these mineral resources will be converted into mineable reserves once economic considerations are applied. AuEq values were calculated using metal prices of US$846/oz gold and US$14.40/oz silver. The NI 43-101 resource estimate was finalized and filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on February 28, 2011.
The technical information disclosed in this release has been reviewed by Paul Reynolds, B.Sc., P.Geo., Vice President Exploration for Northern Freegold Resources Ltd. Mr. Reynolds is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
About Northern Freegold
Northern Freegold Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: NFR; OTCQX: NFRGF) trades in Canada on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "NFR" and in the United States on the OTCQX under the symbol "NFRGF". Northern Freegold is a growth oriented Canadian-based precious metals exploration and development company. Northern Freegold brings wide-ranging expertise and strong management to focus on the development of its district-scale Freegold Mountain gold and copper project in the Yukon and the Burro Creek gold and silver property in Arizona.
PR Contact for Northern Freegold Resources Ltd.:
Andy Hay, Corporate Communications, +1 (604) 893-8757, andy@northernfreegold.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Signed "John Burges"
John Burges, President and CEO
Neither 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.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The information in this press release includes certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, plans for and intentions with respect to the company's properties, strategic alternatives, quantity of resources or reserves, timing of permitting, construction and production and other milestones, are forward looking statements. Statements concerning Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are also forward-looking statements in that they reflect an assessment, based on certain assumptions, of the mineralization that would be encountered and mining results if the project were developed and mined in the manner described. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from NFR's expectations include the uncertainties involving the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological testing and the estimation of reserves and resources; the need for cooperation of government agencies and First Nations groups in the exploration, and development of properties; and the need to obtain permits and governmental approval. NFR's forward looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections of management on the date the statements are made. NFR assumes no obligation to update the forward looking statements if management's beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors should change.