THUNDERMIN AND QUEENSTON ANNOUNCE ADDITIONAL BOUNDARY RESULTS
December 13, 1999……Thundermin Resources Inc. (“Thundermin”) and 50% joint venture partner Queenston Mining Inc. (“Queenston”) announce that they have received the remaining assays from the second phase diamond drilling program on the high grade Duck Pond base metal property. The 11,796 hectare property, which is located in west-central Newfoundland approximately 30 km southwest of Buchans, is under option from Noranda Inc. and hosts two copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, the Duck Pond and Boundary, that contain inferred resources of approximately 6,000,000 tonnes grading 3.4% Cu, 6.4% Zn, 1.1% Pb, 61.4 g/t Ag and 0.9 g/t Au.
The Boundary deposit, which is located 4 km northeast of Duck Pond, consists of two near-surface zones of massive base metal sulphides 250 m apart that, from prior drilling, are estimated to contain an inferred resource of 446,000 tonnes grading 3.5% Cu, 3.5% Zn, 0.5% Pb and 22.8 g/t Ag. Assay results for 28 of 65 holes recently completed on the North Zone were released on December 6, 1999. The assay results for the remaining 37 holes from the South Zone, along with historical Noranda holes, are presented in the accompanying Table and Drillhole Location Map. Highlights include 8.0% Cu and 5.3% Zn over 13.8 m in hole 155; 4.0% Cu and 4.5% Zn over 20.2 m in hole 143; 4.1% Cu and 0.1% Zn over 15.3 m in hole 145; and 5.3% Cu and 5.0% Zn over 11.0 m in hole 138. This new drill information will be used for preparing a revised resource estimate and further open pit modeling.
The South Zone has an irregular shape consisting of a thick, high-grade, western core flanked by two northeast trending massive pyrite bands, the southernmost of which terminates at its eastern end in a pod of high grade, zinc-rich, massive sulphides. The main base metal resource occurs above a depth of 25 m at the western end of the South Zone in an area measuring 115 m long, up to 75 m wide and up to 20 m thick. The relationship of the South and North Zones is unknown at the present time
The Boundary deposit is a fairly classical volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit comprised mainly of pyritic copper-zinc sulphides with associated underlying stringer pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization enclosed within an extensive chlorite-rich hydrothermal alteration zone. The massive sulphides are relatively flat-lying and occur within a lapilli tuff footwall unit at the contact with an overlying quartz crystal tuff. The hydrothermal alteration zone has a similar chemical signature to the alteration zone that underlies the Duck Pond deposit. A similar alteration style also occurs at the South Moose Pond area where disseminated base metal mineralization has been discovered coincident with an untested electromagnetic and gravity anomaly. This target will be drilled in the new year.
The Boundary drill program has been partially funded by the Junior Company Exploration Assistance Program (“JCEAP”) of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
- 30 -
For further information please contact Mr. John B. Heslop, President or Mr. Hugh D. Harbinson, Managing Director of Thundermin (THR:TSE) or Mr. Charles E. Page, President of Queenston QMI:TSE) at (416) 364-0001 or visit our websites at www.queenston.ca or www.thundermin.com/explore.