VANCOUVER, March 3 /CNW/ - The Board of Directors of Finlay Minerals Ltd. ("The Company") is pleased to announce the results of core drilling from the 700 meter long Atlas East gold-silver zone, as well as preliminary evaluation of the Pillar East gold-silver occurrence 1,000 meters east of the Atlas East zone, on the Pil North property, Toodoggone Mining Camp, B.C.
Highlight results from Atlas East core drill program include,
AE07-03
Drilled
From To width
(meters) (meters) (meters) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t)
149.15 151.15 2 1.290 28.4
151.15 153.15 2 5.220 31.2
153.15 155.15 2 0.051 3.1
155.15 157.15 2 2.870 57
157.15 159.15 2 7.240 141.1
composite
149.15 159.15 10 3.33 52.1
The Atlas East zone has been traced in drilling for ~700 meters along strike from AE07-07 in the west to the AE07-04/06 drill-hole pair in the east. Further east the favourable volcanic unit containing gold-silver mineralization is buried beneath younger volcanic rocks. Management believes that the Pillar East zone, 1,000 meters to the east is the eastward continuation of the same mineralized zone as the Atlas East zone.
At the Pillar East zone soil samples returned up to 6,748ppb gold (6.75g/t gold), while visible gold was panned out of the headwaters of several streams with pan concentrate grades of up to 4,280ppb gold (4.28g/t gold). Considerable more exploration is needed at Pillar East including trenching and drilling in a largely scree covered mountain bowl (see map on web-site).
Mineralization at the Atlas East zone is associated with weakly pyritic, sericitic, silicified, and quartz stock-work andesite porphyry containing trace amounts of sphalerite and galena. The gross overall orientation of the mineralized zone, considering the 2007 work, is presently best estimated at an east-northeast trend with a moderate south dip. Drill-hole AE07-03 was drilled perpendicular to this trend (350 degree azimuth with a -45 degree north dip) so that true widths are likely ~80-90% of drilled widths.
Drill-hole AE07-03 was drilled ~240m ENE of the Atlas East zone discovery hole A06-05 (see news release of November 2, 2006).
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A06-05
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Drilled
From To width
(meters) (meters) (meters) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t)
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124.05 125.10 1.05 11.27 144.4
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131.5 132.45 1.10 2.25 8.4
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140.0 142.0 2.0 4.65 56.0
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composite
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124.05 132.45 8.4 1.9 25.6
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True widths are likely ~80% of drilled widths. A 2007 core hole was not drilled below the A06-05 site due to constraints of a large drill rig on narrow, switch back mountain trails.
Drill hole AE07-02 was drilled a further 100m north of AE07-03 but intersected no significant mineralization, even though it drilled under some higher grade surface float (see plan map on web-site). Both AE07-01 and AE07-05 were drilled due south and intersected nothing of interest, likely due to the south dipping orientation of the zone. Although AE07-04 and AE07-06 were both drilled due south, as well, they intersected the Atlas east zone with geochemically anomalous gold and silver over an ~10 meter true width. Drill hole AE07-07, at the west extent of the Atlas East zone, was drilled north through a 30 meter thick Atlas East zone with bleached, broken, pyritic andesite with a gold geochemical anomaly.
In 2005 and 2006, the Atlas East Zone emerged as a new and very exciting epithermal gold-silver exploration target. Discovery of the Pillar East zone in 2007 greatly adds to the size of the epithermal system. Surface sampling consistently revealed abundant mineralized talus float and outcrop consisting of silicified, quartz stockwork-veined and brecciated andesite Toodoggone Formation volcanic rocks. Gold-silver mineralization is associated with a prominent rusty gossan zone hosted by pyritic andesite. Gold and silver occurring as electrum, native gold, and argentite have been found in both float and bedrock. Soil and PIMA analysis of the clay-silica minerals suggests the Atlas East Zone lies close to the top of a hydrothermal system. In such systems, high-level clay-silica alteration can pass downward into precious metal mineralization.
Plans for the 2008 exploration program on the Atlas East zone are being evaluated.
B.C. Finlay Minerals Ltd. trades under the symbol "FYL" on the TSX Venture Exchange. Warner Gruenwald, P.Geo is the Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and responsible for the preparation of the technical information in this release. QA/QC protocols included the insertion of accredited blanks and standards into the sample stream. Sample analysis was conducted by Assayers Canada of Vancouver, B.C.
Documentation about the Company and properties can be viewed on the company's website at www.finlayminerals.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Robert F. Brown, P. Eng., President
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.
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