VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, October 10 2012 - Millrock Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MRO) ("Millrock" or the "Company") announced today results from the 2012 drilling program at the Council gold property located west of Nome, Alaska. Exploration drilling, done at the Elkhorn and Upper Ophir prospects, totaled 1,242 meters in nine core holes. Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) (“Kinross”) is funding exploration under the terms of an option to joint venture agreement with Millrock operating.
Highlights
The 2012 Council project exploration program included core drilling at two prospects, Elkhorn and Upper Ophir. Results from the 2012 drill program include the following.
- Elkhorn Prospect: Hole COU12-023 cut an interval averaging 2.58 grams per tonne gold over 7.01 metersfrom 106.99 to 114.00 meters occurring within a 14.02 meter interval averaging 1.45 grams per tonne goldfrom 106.99 to 121.01 meters. This hole constitutes discovery of a new gold occurrence on the Council project.
- Upper Ophir Prospect: Hole COU12-025 cut an interval averaging 1.09 grams per tonne gold over 7.62meters from 38.40 to 46.02 meters.
Elkhorn Prospect The Elkhorn prospect occurs along a possible northwest-trending fault zone in schist and marble of the Nome Group. Previous soil sampling at Elkhorn defined a zone of anomalous gold and arsenic covering a 7.5 km strike length. The 2012 Elkhorn drilling consisted of seven core holes totaling 942 meters with four of the holes intersecting gold mineralization (see table below). Drilling occurred along widely-spaced drill fences within the central part of the anomaly over an area of approximately 1.5 km. Much of the anomalous trend remains untested and additional soil sampling with follow-up core drilling has been recommended to Kinross.
Upper Ophir Prospect The Upper Ophir prospect area geology consists primarily of schist and marble of the Nome Group, similar to that at Elkhorn. A large, strong arsenic anomaly was the focus of the drilling program which targeted a zone of graphitic schist overlying marble. Two core holes totaling 287 meters were drilled with both encountering encouraging gold mineralization (up to 7.62m grading 1.09 g/t Au).
The Council Project
Millrock has assembled a district-scale land package by staking claims and making option agreements with the Bering Straits Native Corporation and two prospectors. The town of Council was built during the early 1900’s and was the nucleus of a prolific placer gold mining district that produced at least 300,000 ounces.
Bedrock geologic units in the Council area are primarily part of the Precambrian to Paleozoic, blueschist-facies metamorphosed Nome Group. Bedrock gold mineralization is preferentially hosted in the more siliceous schist and quartzite units of the Mixed Unit with larger deposits occurring in shear structures and in brittle rocks.
Initial drilling at Council by Millrock was done in 2010 at the Albion prospect located west of the Upper Ophir prospect and northeast of the Elkhorn prospect. Drilling consisted of 17 shallow reverse circulation holes totaling 2,062 meters. Two holes intersected > 1 g/t Au mineralization, confirming bedrock mineralization at the Albion prospect (see news release dated October 22, 2010 entitled “ Millrock and Kinross Report Results From Drill Program and Surface Geochemical Surveys at Council Gold Project, Alaska”).
Kinross can earn a 55% interest in properties secured in the Area of Interest by incurring US$3.0 million in exploration expenditures and paying Millrock a total of US$260,000. Kinross may elect to increase its interest to 75% by making a further US$3.0 million exploration expenditure. The agreement is presently in its third year.
Select 2012 Council composite intercepts (>0.50 g/t Au) are summarized in the table below. Widths are reported as drill widths, not true widths, due to limited geological information in the area.
Prospect | Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | Notes |
Elkhorn | COU12-018 | 31.85 | 39.93 | 8.08 | 0.90 | |
Elkhorn | COU12-019 | 141.73 | 142.95 | 1.22 | 23.80 | |
Elkhorn | COU12-020 | No Significant Values | ||||
Elkhorn | COU12-021 | No Significant Values | ||||
Elkhorn | COU12-022 | 135.94 | 137.16 | 1.22 | 0.68 | |
Elkhorn | COU12-023 | 88.69 | 93.57 | 4.88 | 0.65 | |
including | 92.35 | 93.57 | 1.22 | 1.98 | ||
COU12-023 | 106.99 | 121.01 | 14.02 | 1.45 | ||
including | 106.99 | 114.00 | 7.01 | 2.58 | ||
Elkhorn | COU12-024 | No Significant Values | ||||
Upper Ophir | COU12-025 | 38.40 | 46.02 | 7.62 | 1.09 | |
including | 45.23 | 46.02 | 0.79 | 8.61 | ||
Upper Ophir | COU12-026 | 71.44 | 82.60 | 11.16 | 0.55 | |
including | 76.23 | 78.36 | 2.13 | 1.67 |
Note: Listed composites are those averaging >0.50 g/t Au calculated using a 0.200 gram/tonne Au cutoff with a maximum 3 meters internal dilution.
Location maps for the 2012 Council drill holes can be found at this link: http://www.millrockresources.com/files/Location-Maps-Cross-Sections-2012-Council-Drilling.pdf
Notes The 2012 exploration drill program and sampling protocol has been reviewed, verified and compiled by Millrock's geologic staff. A rigorous QAQC protocol was used on the project, including insertion of blank, duplicate and standard reference samples per every 20 samples delivered to the assay lab. Because of concerns over coarse gold and the potential for gold loss during core handling and sampling, the entire drill core was sampled with each sample placed in a sealed bag. All samples were securely shipped to ALS Chemex Labs in Anchorage, Alaska for preparation, with fire assay and multi-element ICP analyses done at ALS Chemex Labs facility in Reno, Nevada. The drill core was carefully logged and photographed prior to sampling.
The technical information in this news release was reviewed by Gregory Beischer, Millrock's President and CEO, a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.
ABOUT MILLROCK RESOURCES INC. Millrock Resources Inc. is a premier project generator to the mining industry. In the search for world-class gold and copper deposits in mineral rich Alaska and Arizona, Millrock identifies, packages and operates large-scale projects for joint venture, thereby exposing its shareholders to the benefits of mineral discovery without the usual financial risk and attendant shareholder dilution taken on by most exploration companies. Millrock currently has twelve active exploration projects, eight gold-copper properties in Alaska, and four porphyry copper prospects in Arizona. With funding primarily coming from its joint venture partners, Millrock is on track to carry out exploration programs with a total value of more than US$11 million in 2012. Business partners of Millrock include some of the leading names in the mining industry: Kinross, Teck, Vale, Inmet and Altius, as well as junior explorer Crescent Resources.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Gregory Beischer” Gregory Beischer, President & CEO
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Gregory A. Beischer (604) 638-3164 Millrock Resources Inc. 750 World Trade Centre 999 Canada Place Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1
Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information, including without limitation statements as the ability to confirm the presence of uranium deposits underlying the densely drilled areas of the property, the potential to expand resources by drilling, the forward-looking price of uranium, the potential for amenability to ISR mining, the ability to secure a funding partner for the project, the completion of the option to purchase some of the claims, and the ability to secure funding to carry out the planned exploration and development . These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements.
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