NWT Mineral Exploration

[Ed Monton]

Maximus Ventures releases Eastern Contact results

2004-09-21 11:25 ET - News Release


Ms. Barbara Dunfield reports

HIGH GRADE GOLD VALUES FROM EASTERN CONTACT OF HOPE BAY BELT; Assays up to 335 g/t (9.8 oz/ton) gold; Drilling Underway at North Lahti

Maximus Ventures Ltd. has released the results of sampling undertaken on the Eastern Contact target area of the Hope Bay belt in Nunavut. Values up to 335 grams per tonne gold were collected from vein outcroppings and have resulted in a number of drill targets, some of which will be drill tested during September, 2004. The Eastern Contact and nearby Twin Peaks areas are held under an option agreement with Miramar Mining Corp.

Eastern Contact

The Eastern Contact land package encompasses several high-grade gold showings lying near the eastern granite-greenstone contact that defines the limit of the Hope Bay greenstone belt, mostly comprising outcropping high-grade quartz veins. Mapping and sampling completed by Miramar personnel on behalf of Maximus have better delineated a number of the vein showings. Highlights of the recent sampling are presented below.

 
  
  
  HIGHLIGHTS OF GRAB SAMPLES 
 FROM EASTERN CONTACT SHOWINGS 
  
 Sample    Area       Gold 
                      (g/t) 
  
 79288  Lawa          334.9  
 79283  Lawa          208.3  
 79205  North Lahti    76.7  
 78653  Contact area   64.6  
 97527  Lawa           46.9  
 78648  BD             46.0  
 79535  Lahti North    41.0  
 79284  Lawa           40.1  
 74489  BD             34.5  
 97528  Lawa           32.8  
 79229  North Lahti    30.1  
 79282  Lawa           29.1  
 79206  North Lahti    26.5  
 79231  North Lahti    17.8  
 79208  North Lahti    16.4  
  
 

...........

The North Lahti area consists of a series of quartz veins that contain pyrite, galena, sphalerite and minor chalcopyrite hosted in granitic rocks. The veins occupy late structures and have a narrow iron carbonate alteration halo. The most extensive vein identified to date in the North Lahti area has a thickness of up to one metre and can be traced for 350 metres along strike. The principal exploration targets in this area are zones where multiple veins may occupy the same structure.

The Lawa showing consists of narrow (generally less than 0.5 metre), high-grade quartz veins hosted in altered mafic volcanic rocks near the eastern contact with the granitic rocks. The veins at Lawa are poorly exposed and individually appear to have limited strike length.

The BD, BD South and Contact showings are poorly exposed veins that are currently being evaluated as drill targets.

Based on these very encouraging results, drilling has commenced on two veins in the North Lahti area as the first step in the evaluation of the various high-grade vein-style targets in the Eastern Contact area.

Twin Peaks

The Twin Peaks area at the north end of the Hope Bay belt is where argillaceous sediments and conglomerates overlie volcanics and syenitic intrusives adjacent to a major lineament. This is a setting geologically similar to the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake mining districts, a source of significant historic gold production including production from large-scale bulk tonnage gold deposits. Miramar has interpreted the Twin Peaks area as having potential to host similar large-scale gold deposits at or near the volcanic-sedimentary contact.

A preliminary mapping program over this very large target area continues to provide encouragement regarding the potential of the Twin Peaks area to host Timiskaming unconformity-style mineralization similar to the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake districts.

The Discovery area at the north end of the Twin Peaks trend hosts a large alteration zone that has a width of several hundred metres and can be traced along strike for about three kilometres. This broad alteration zone affects the mafic volcanic rocks as well as felsic volcanic rocks and various sedimentary lithologies, including the conglomerates. Within this alteration corridor are several sets of quartz, iron carbonate, arsenopyrite and sphalerite veins. These veins can reach 50 centimetres in width and have an individual strike length of up to 100 metres. Work within this extensive alteration package is focusing on identifying potential dilation zones that could host large gold deposits by defining the mineralized structures and how they interact with the geology. This program will continue into 2005.

Quality assurance

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed by John Wakeford, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for Miramar Mining Corp. The analytical method for the gold analysis is gravimetric assay, done by TSL Laboratories in Saskatoon, with metallic screen assays for all samples assaying over 10 grams per tonne gold. Grab samples are selected samples collected to determine the presence or absence of mineralization and are not intended to be representative of the material sampled. Channel sampling or drilling is required to determine representative grades.

Option agreement

Maximus entered into an option agreement with Miramar Mining Corp. whereby Maximus can earn up to a 75-per-cent interest in the Eastern Contact and Twin Peaks areas of the Hope Bay belt for expenditures totalling $7.5-million by the end of 2007, subject to a one-time back-in right whereby Miramar could elect to increase its interest in the properties to 50 per cent.