VANCOUVER, Feb. 15, 2012 /CNW/ - TerraX Minerals Inc. has commenced a 1,200 meter drill program at its wholly-owned Sunbeam-Pettigrew gold project near Atikokan, Ontario. The Sunbeam-Pettigrew property consists of 36 claims totaling 425 claim units (~67 km2) within the Archean Marmion Batholith, in a similar geological environment to the Hammond Reef gold deposit, presently being developed by Osisko Mining Corporation. During the summer of 2011 two showings at Sunbeam-Pettigrew, Rubble and WN2, were stripped and channel sampled. Results included 11 m @ 500 ppb (0.50 g/t) Au at Rubble and 23 m @ 276 ppb (0.28 g/t) Au at WN2 (see Table 1).
Table 1: Significant Results from Channel Sampling at Rubble and WN2
_______________________________________________________
|Showing| Channel Location |Length (m)|Grade (ppb Au)|
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
|Rubble |Northernmost Outcrop | 9 | 240 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
|Rubble |Northernmost Outcrop | 2 | 739 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
|Rubble |North-central Outcrop| 11 | 500 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
|Rubble |South-central Outcrop| 9 | 418 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
|Rubble |South-central Outcrop| 10 | 331 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
|Rubble |Southernmost Outcrop | 4 | 190 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
| WN2 | Northern End | 21 | 193 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
| WN2 | Southern End | 23 | 276 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
| | Including | 1 | 2930 |
|_______|_____________________|__________|______________|
The Rubble showing consists of four stripped outcrops dispersed along a 190 m strike length of a 025° trending lineament/swamp. Several sub-vertical to northwest dipping shears and quartz-ankerite-pyrite veins with associated ankerite-pyrite alteration occur along the length of the showing. Channels were cut to intersect perpendicular to the main trend of mineralization. Anomalous gold is present along the length of the showing (Table 1), with a maximum exposed mineralized width of 11 m. The areas immediately east of the outcrops are concealed by swamp and the total true width of this mineralization could be as wide as 30 m. Mineralization at Rubble is also open along strike to the northeast and southwest. The entire width will be tested during the drill program as well as strike extensions of the stripping.
The WN2 showing is part of the 045° trending WN2/Pettigrew lineament, known to have anomalous gold over a strike length of at least 8.9 km. Grab sampling by TerraX in the northeast part of the lineament in 2009 returned values up to 10.2 g/t Au (news release, December 8, 2009). A 65 m long north-northwest trending outcrop was stripped and channel sampled. Wide northeast-trending zones of anomalous gold within shears, quartz-ankerite-pyrite veins and quartz-ankerite alteration on its north and south ends, separated by 15 m of fresh rock, were exposed on the northern and southern ends of the stripped outcrop. The northern outcropping contained 21 m @ 193 ppb Au, whereas the southern zone contains 23 m @ 276 ppb Au, including 1 m @ 2930 ppb (2.93 g/t) Au. Total thickness of the mineralized zones is currently unconstrained, as the area to the north of the outcrop is covered by swamp and the area to the south is covered by till. The planned drilling will have as one of its goals to define the true width and gold grade of the WN2 mineralization, as well as strike extensions.
TerraX is encouraged by the wide zones of alteration and gold anomalism encountered at both showings. The experience of Brett Resources in similar alteration systems is that the width and continuity of the gold mineralization improves with depth. Drilling has never occurred on either showing, and both WN2 and Rubble will be tested during the February 2012 drill program.
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
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. The Brett Resources Technical Report on this project 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 is also actively exploring the 60.5 sq km Stewart property in the Burin Peninsula, which is part of the Avalon Terrane. The Avalon Terrane hosts several epithermal/porphyry gold-copper deposits, including the past-producing Hope Brook deposit in Newfoundland. Exploration at Stewart by TerraX in 2011 indicated the property likely hosts porphyry style mineralization.
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.'
On behalf of the Board of Directors
'JOSEPH CAMPBELL'
Joseph Campbell, P.Geo, President
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation ServicesProvider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors - including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, and the results of exploration activities - that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT:
TerraX Minerals Inc.
www.terraxminerals.com
Paradox Public Relations
Phone: 514-341-0408 Toll Free: 1-866-460-0408
