source:GlobeNewswire
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Search Minerals Inc. (TSXV: SMY) (“Search” or the “Company”) is pleased to report 2020 channel assay results from SILVER FOX, a fourth major mineralized zone in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis Critical Rare Earth Element (CREE) District. Trenching/channelling (seven new channels in 2020), and mapping/prospecting indicate that the surface expression of this mineralized zone is up to 8.8m wide and 1120m long. This surface expression is significantly longer, but thinner, than the surface expressions of the nearby and related FOXTROT and DEEP FOX Resources. The mineralization is similarly hosted by peralkaline volcanic rocks and contains lower grades of the REE magnet materials (Nd, Pr, Tb and Dy) but significantly higher grades of Zr and Hf.
SILVER FOX (all true widths) exhibits high grade Zr (Hf, Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb) mineralization ranging from 3.00 to 8.83m wide over two zones: East Zone 550m long and West Zone 180m long;
Channel assay highlights (all true widths):
FSC-20-01: 23,229 ppm Zr, 99.3 ppm Dy, 1222 ppm Nd, 570 ppm Hf, over 6.51m;
FSC-20-02: 24,308 ppm Zr, 87.4 ppm Dy, 1212 ppm Nd, 582 ppm Hf over 7.64m;
FSC-20-04: 22,949 ppm Zr, 106 ppm Dy, 1337 ppm Nd, 596 ppm Hf over 6.38m;
SILVER FOX contains Zr (Hf) values much higher than any other CREE resource (FOXTROT and DEEP FOX) or mineralized zone (FOX MEADOW and AWESOME FOX) in SE Labrador.
Greg Andrews, President/CEO states; “These results are very encouraging and support the vision of multiple deposits in our Critical Rare Earth Element district. The company is exploring the potential/possibility of producing and marketing a zircon concentrate, in addition to a mixed REE concentrate, from the mineralized peralkaline rocks in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis CREE District. Currently, we are doing some metallurgical test work on the SILVER FOX material, and those results will be published when available.”
The 2020 channelling program at SILVER FOX (seven channels totalling 83.44m and 120 samples) consisted of two new infill channels through the mineralized zone, an extension to a previously cut channel, and the addition of two channels to the eastly and two channels to the westly ends of the mineralized zone. Four of the new channels occur in areas with significant overburden; a mini-excavator was used to expose bedrock in these channels.
Table 1 outlines assay highlights from the 2020 channelling program at SILVER FOX. All channels assayed to date outline a mineralized zone with a surface expression of at least 1120m strike length and up to 8.83m wide. (Figure 1).
To view Figure 1 - SILVER FOX – CHANNELS ASSAYED, visit https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/94fecc10-9110-48de-a515-eb83151f7c8d
A westerly mineralized zone is up to 8.83m wide and at least 550m strike length; this zone is open to the west. The easterly zone is 4.60-6.49m wide and 180m long. Prospecting to the east has traced the mineralized horizon 2.0 km to the FOXTROT DEPOSIT, where high Zr (Hf) mineralization occurs just south of the deposit. Prospecting to the west indicates similar volcanic stratigraphy but poor outcrop exposure revealed no high Zr (Hf) mineralization.
SILVER FOX contains very high values of zirconium and hafnium (Table 1), being amongst the highest found in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis Critical CREE District (see Search Minerals new releases: May 26, 2011, April 27, 2012, October 30, 2013, October 15, 2015, April 8, 2020). The recent results from FOX MEADOW (see Search Minerals new release: April 6, 2020) reflect the range of Zr values, 9,733 – 17,807 ppm Zr, observed throughout most of the CREE district, with the exception of SILVER FOX (22,949 – 29,058 ppm Zr; Table 1 and previous new releases). Preliminary mineral identifications indicate that most of the Zr occurs in the mineral zircon in these rocks.
The SILVER FOX mineralized zone is much thinner than both the DEEP FOX and FOXTROT mineralized resources, which are up to 40m thick; however, it is much longer (at least 1120m long) than these zones (about 350-450m long). The surface expression of the FOX MEADOW mineralized zone is greater than that of DEEP FOX and FOXTROT combined.
Exploration plans for 2021 at SILVER FOX include additional channels to test the limits of the mineralized zone to the west and several infill channels to make the project drill ready.
The SILVER FOX prospect occurs about 12 km west of St. Lewis and about 2 km west of FOXTROT; access is from an all-season gravelled highway.
Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC):
Channel samples, 10cm deep and 8cm wide, are cut by gas-powered diamond saw from cleaned outcrops to provide samples for assay and logging/reference. Each channel is cut into two vertical sections, similar to drill core, with a 6 cm thick section (weathering removed) being sent out for assay to Activation Laboratories Ltd. A 2 cm thick section is stored in channel boxes for reference and to provide due diligence/verification samples. The channels are cut perpendicular to strike, pieced together, logged and photographed to produce geological and geochemical sections. These channel samples, or horizontal drill holes, produce the same data as vertical diamond drill holes, except the data is from horizontal geological sections and the collected sample is 6 to 8 times bigger than NQ drill core. Additional 8 cm wide cuts from a channel interval make excellent preliminary metallurgical samples (1m of channel yields about 30kg of sample).
Lithogeochemistry samples, all from bedrock, are collected by Company personnel, bagged and described. Reference samples are also collected for each grab, lithogeochemistry and channel sample. The samples are shipped to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (ActLabs) sample prep facility in Ancaster, Ontario, where they are crushed to 80% -10 mesh and riffled to produce a representative sample. This sample is then pulverized to 95% -200 mesh with the pulverizing mills being cleaned between each sample with cleaning sand. A representative sample is treated by a lithium metaborate/tetraborate fusion and then analyzed by ICP and ICP/MS techniques. Mass balance is required as an additional quality control technique and elemental totals of the oxides should be between 98% and 101%. For QA/QC purposes Search requires pulp and coarse reject duplicates every 20 samples and two Search reproducibility standards every 40 samples. ActLabs analyzes duplicates and splits approximately every 15 samples and also analyses 29 measured standards for QA/QC. To further enhance our QA/QC procedures Search has a program of checking analytical results with other labs to confirm the ActLabs results. ActLabs is a ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory.