TerraX returns grab samples to 2.08 g/t gold at Blackfly in Ontario; drilling
to resume in November 2010
TSX-V: TXR
Frankfurt: TX0
VANCOUVER, Oct. 28 /CNW/ - TerraX Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: TXR; Frankfurt: TX0) has completed detailed surface mapping on its wholly-owned Blackfly and Sunbeam-Pettigrew properties near Atikokan, Ontario. The objective was to identify the areal extent of the distinctive rock units encountered during our June 2010 drilling that contained gold mineralization. This has enabled us to more effectively position drill collars for drilling planned for November. Mapping and additional sampling were conducted on the Blackfly and Blackfly NE targets on the Blackfly property, and on the Pettigrew Northeast, Road, AL198 and Roy targets on the Sunbeam-Pettigrew property. Grab samples returned assays up to 2.08 g/t Au on the Blackfly property and 0.52 g/t Au on the Sunbeam-Pettigrew property. All three of TerraX's Atikokan properties (Blackfly, Sunbeam-Pettigrew and Central Canada) occur within and on the margins of the Marmion Batholith, in a similar geological environment to the nearby Hammond Reef gold deposit, presently being explored by Osisko Mining Corporation.
TerraX plans to drill one of the new targets noted above, the Road Zone, in mid November along with further drilling at Pettigrew Northeast and Blackfly. The other target areas are to be drilled in January, when freeze-up will make them more readily accessible.
Sampling of the Road Zone in 2009 produced anomalous mineralization over a strike length of 165 m, with a high value of 2.6 g/t Au. Mapping of this zone in September revealed that the controlling shear structure in the immediate area of the best surface mineralization strikes approximately 240° and dips 65° northwest. Drilling by Nahanni Mines Ltd in 1982 produced an intersection of 8.5 m @ 4.8 g/t Au. This target will be a high priority for drilling in November.
The Pettigrew Northeast target on the Sunbeam-Pettigrew property returned significant results from 2009 surface prospecting (up to 10.2 g/t Au), and there were indications of some success in finding wider zones of mineralization from historical work on the structure (0.70 g/t Au over 21 m in underground workings and 26.8 m @ 0.43 g/t Au in hole 57766 drilled by Canadian Nickel in 1983). These historical results are of a similar grade and width to the initial results reported from Hammond Reef. The Pettigrew structure has been defined over 1.5 km. Outcrop stripping and mapping completed in September and re-analysis of the geophysical data relative to the surface showings, and a more detailed review of the historical drilling, all establish that the Pettigrew structure dips steeply to the northwest. It is apparent that none of the holes recently drilled by TerraX (drilled to the northwest at -50°) could have reached the mineralized zone. This target remains essentially untested, and it is still a high priority as a Hammond Reef analogy and will be drilled in November.
At Blackfly, TerraX has so far tested only the upper parts of a gold-bearing hydrothermal system, and it is encouraged by the extent of the alteration zones and the associated gold mineralization. It is considered significant that the small drill program recently conducted on the Blackfly Target encountered both high grade gold associated with major quartz veins and several intersections of low grade material (the average grade of the nearby Hammond Reef deposit is 0.8 g/t Au) associated with alteration and narrow veins. Brett Resources' experience in similar alteration systems is that the width and continuity of the ore improve with depth. It is also significant that TerraX has only tested a 100 m strike length of the Blackfly Target and a 150 m strike length of the Blackfly Northeast Target, both of which occur on the 4.4 kilometer Blackfly lineament. The remainder of the strike length of this lineament has never been drill tested.
Detailed mapping in the region of the Blackfly Vein on the Blackfly property resulted in a more accurate delineation of the two main mineralized vein structures on the property. Most of TerraX's previous sampling was concentrated on the main vein, where 2009 grab samples returned up to 167 g/t Au, and from which drill hole BF10-04 produced an intersection of 1.07 m @ 15.1 g/t Au, and hole BF10-03 produced an intersection of 0.51 m @ 2.22 g/t Au. This vein has now been traced on surface for a strike length of 350 m. Mapping indicated that the intersections of 8.26 m @ 0.94 g/t Au from hole BF10-03 and 1.31 m @ 0.50 g/t Au are likely related to the Blackfly NW vein system, which is subparallel to and occurs 75 m to the northwest of the main vein. The Blackfly NW vein system varies along strike from a single 30 cm quartz vein with pyrite and galena to a ~5 m wide zone of thin quartz-ankerite veins with associated pyrite. Grab sampling of the latter zone returned up to 2.08 g/t Au. The Blackfly NW vein has been traced for 150 m on surface; it has been intersected by two drill holes to date. Twenty grab samples were collected from the Blackfly target during this fieldwork; assay results ranged from below detection to 2.08 g/t Au and include six samples with >40 ppb Au.
Mapping and sampling was also conducted on the Blackfly Northeast target, where the June 2010 drilling intersected 1.47 m @ 2.70 g/t Au in a magnetic quartz diorite that had not previously been noted on the property. This intrusion was mapped on surface over a strike length of 285 m (and is inferred from drilling to be at least 400 m long), and has only been completely drill tested at one location. A grab sample result of 1.80 g/t Au was obtained directly above the mineralized drill intersection, a vertical distance of 80 m. Four grab samples were collected from the Blackfly Northeast target; results ranged from 10 to 1800 ppb Au.
Terrax sampling of the AL198 Zone in 2009 produced values up to 16.2 g/t Au, over a strike length of 220 m of exposed mineralization. This zone, which is along strike from the Road Zone, was also mapped in September, revealing a consistent shear control striking southwest and dipping 65° northwest. As with most of the Sunbeam-Pettigrew property targets, this zone is defined by a topographic low along the controlling structure. This low is linear and approximately 20 m wide. Alteration and mineralization have been uncovered at surface from both sides of the topographic low, and therefore it has more strongly established that it has significant width associated with it.
The Roy occurrence has four historical small shafts; TerraX obtained up to 3.83 g/t Au from waste piles in 2009. Mapping in the Roy area in September established that the shear structure controlling mineralization is parallel to that of the Road and AL198 zones. New occurrences with up to 515 ppb Au were found along this trend to the southwest, 500 to 700 m from the Roy zone, including one zone of mineralization and alteration approximately 15 m wide.
A total of 35 grab samples were collected from the Sunbeam-Pettigrew property during this recent fieldwork. Results ranged from below detection to 515 ppb Au, including 10 samples with >20 ppb Au.
For more information on these properties, please visit the company's website at www.terraxminerals.com.
The technical information contained in this news release has been verified by Dr. Tom Setterfield, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined in "National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties." The historic information provided has not been verified by TerraX and is for reference only.
About TerraX Minerals
TerraX Minerals Inc. is one of the major landholders of prospective ground in the burgeoning Marmion Batholith gold district near Atikokan, Ontario, host to Osisko Mining Corporation's (TSX:OSK) Hammond Reef gold deposit which contains a National Instrument 43-101-compliant inferred resource of 259.4 million tonnes at 0.8 grams per tonne Au (approximately 6.7 million ounces of gold). The Brett Resources Technical Report on this deposit is available on SEDAR. TerraX is actively exploring three wholly-owned gold exploration projects, the Sunbeam-Pettigrew, Blackfly and Central Canada properties, all of which are located within 20 km of the town of Atikokan, 180 km west of Thunder Bay, and are within 19 km of the Hammond Reef gold deposit. TerraX recently optioned the ~43 sq km Stewart gold-copper property in the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland, which is part of the Avalon terrane, a geologic structure which can be traced from eastern Newfoundland through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into New England, the Carolinas and northern Georgia. The Avalon terrane hosts several epithermal/porphyry gold-copper deposits.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
"JOSEPH CAMPBELL"
Joseph Campbell, P.Geo
President
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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