Marathon PGM drills 20 m of 23.4 g/t PGM, Au
2007-04-19 08:27 ET - News Release
Mr. Phillip Walford reports
MARATHON ANNOUNCES 20 M OF 23.4 G/T PGM AND GOLD AND 0.28% COPPER 700 M NORTH OF MALACHITE HIGH GRADE MINERALIZATION
Marathon PGM Corp. has provided the results from 12 drill holes (five in the Malachite area, three in the Main zone, two in the Southern Resource area and two in the area between the Southern Resource and Malachite areas). Drill hole M-07-300 was drilled in the main zone for metallurgical testing as part of a definitive feasibility study that is currently under way.
Phillip Walford, president and chief executive officer, noted: "This fourth drill discovery of high-grade mineralization is a remarkable development. This establishes positively that there are shoots of high-grade mineralization over a surface strike length of 1,000 metres and this has certainly validated both the drilling and exploration models developed by Dr. David Good, Sherry Dunsworth and the exploration team."
Marathon recently reconfigured the interpretation of the BR, W, RD and Southern Resource mineralized zones as recent drilling has shown that they apparently form a nearly continuous package of mineralization. Marathon will refer to the mineralization as belonging to either W (high-grade or platinum group mineral (PGM) enriched) or FW (Main zone type) zones. The old RD, BR and Malachite zones are now referred to as the Malachite area and the Southern Resource zone is referred to as the Southern Resource area. Thus Marathon will have the W zone in the Southern Resource, which is interpreted to be the same stratigraphic horizon as the W zone found in the Malachite area.
Hole M-07-306 contains 20 metres of 23.4 grams per tonne (g/t) PGM and gold and 0.28 per cent copper including eight m of 55.4 g/t PGM and gold and 0.59 per cent copper. The assays of this intersection far exceed the exceptional values obtained in holes M-07-237 and M-07-239 as previously reported in Stockwatch on Feb. 16, 2007, and now stands as the richest intersection for its length ever recorded in the Coldwell complex. Hole M-07-306 is located in the Southern Resource area approximately 700 m north of the Malachite area. The hole was drilled to test an induced polarization (IP) geophysical anomaly located between 150 m and 200 m depth that was identified by the insight array technique.
Much of the terrain between the Southern Resource and the Malachite areas is open for exploration and Marathon believes there is a high probability of finding additional high-grade material. The outstanding results found in drill holes M-07-306, M-07-307, M-07-309 and M-07-310 support this concept. Drill holes M-07-307 and M-07-310 contain greater than 2.6 g/t PGM and gold over 14 and six metres, respectively. Drill hole M-07-309 successfully tested the down-dip extension of the FW zone in the Southern Resource area. Because of this early success, Marathon intends to focus on this area in May after the spring thaw when access has improved.
Holes M-07-301 and M-07-303 are infill holes within the Main zone. They both intersected mineralization that is approximately 40 to 75 per cent thicker than was predicted by the modelling that was used to calculate the mineral resource. Marathon will continue the infill and exploration drilling program in the Main zone when the drill returns from the WD zone in May. The company's goal is to extend the Main zone south and west and perhaps merge with the Southern Resource area.
Holes M-07-299, M-07-302 and M-07-304 were infill holes at the south end of the Malachite area. Hole M-07-304 intersected the W zone and intersected 20.2 g/t PGM and gold and 0.14 per cent copper over 10 m, which is similar to other intersections in the W zone. At the south end of the Malachite area, the W and FW zones merge so that intersections are thicker but PGM grades are lower as shown by the 22 m intersection from 114 to 136 m in hole M-07-302 and the 54 m thick intersection in hole M-07-299. A higher grade intersection in hole M-07-302 occurs from 78 to 100 m and contains 3.53 g/t PGM and gold.
Total
PGM
and
True gold
From To Width width Pd Pt Au Rh + Au Cu
Hole Zone (m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (%)
M-07-299 W-FW 142 196 54 50 0.41 0.21 0.08 tr 0.70 0.13
M-07-300 Main entire hole used for metallurgical testing
M-07-301 Main 112 200 88 88 0.76 0.24 0.09 tr 1.09 0.38
M-07-302 W 78 100 22 22 2.58 0.80 0.15 tr 3.53 0.10
includes 90 94 4 4 10.44 2.58 0.45 tr 13.47 0.12
M-07-302 W-FW 114 136 22 22 0.52 0.26 0.13 tr 0.91 0.13
M-07-303 Main 66 146 80 80 0.79 0.25 0.07 tr 1.11 0.29
M-07-304 W 6 34 28 28 6.24 1.86 0.38 0.01 8.49 0.14
includes 6 16 10 10 15.02 4.35 0.84 0.03 20.24 0.22
M-07-305 W 64 86 22 21 0.26 0.13 0.06 tr 0.45 0.10
M-07-306 W 150 170 20 20 17.55 4.94 0.92 0.03 23.44 0.28
includes 150 158 8 8 41.55 11.80 2.00 0.06 55.41 0.59
M-07-306 200 206 6 6 0.88 0.27 0.09 tr 1.24 0.36
M-07-307 W 53 67 14 12 1.80 0.81 0.11 tr 2.72 0.04
includes 53 59 6 5.1 3.38 1.62 0.24 tr 5.24 0.08
M-07-307 W 85 99 14 12 0.43 0.24 0.07 tr 0.74 0.06
M-07-308 W no significant values
M-07-309 FW 126 180 54 52 0.34 0.13 0.04 tr 0.51 0.18
M-07-310 W 54 60 6 6 2.03 0.60 0.02 tr 2.65 0.01
As a part of Marathon's quality control (QC) program, the high-grade samples were analyzed multiple times in order to confirm the high grades. All of the samples were sent to Accurassay, an accredited laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ont., to be assayed using fire assay and other standard techniques.
All exploration work is being performed under the guidance and supervision of Mr. Walford, president and chief executive officer of the company, a professional geologist and qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Walford has approved the contents of this press release.
About the Marathon PGM-Cu project
The company has a 100-per-cent interest in the Marathon PGM-Cu project, located about 10 kilometres north of Marathon, Ont. As announced previously, the company has completed a revised preliminary economic assessment in compliance with the provisions of National Instrument 43-101, showing a potentially minable resource of 39.2 million tonnes of measured resource containing 1.6 million ounces of PGM and gold and 285 million pounds of copper. The indicated resource of 28.9 million tonnes contains 1.1 million ounces of PGM and gold and 178 million pounds of copper. An additional low-grade resource was also identified in the report completed by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. and filed on SEDAR on April 5, 2007.
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