71.4 g/t Gold And 40.1 g/t Silver Over 5.9m At Nixon Fork
VANCOUVER, BC - Fire River Gold Corp reported additional high-grade results obtained from holes drilled during its 2011, 28,000 metre drill program at the Nixon Fork Gold Mine, situated in Alaska's Tintina Gold Belt. The Company has received and confirmed assay results from drillhole N11U-032 at the 3300 Zone. A complete list of the intercepts form the 2011 drill program is provided in Table 1 & 2. The widths of the intercepts are approximate to the true width of the mineralized intercept.
The Company is currently operating two drills continuously in the Crystal Mine. They are primarily focussed on detailing mineralized zones scheduled for the first six months of mining, in June 2011. This includes filling in gaps in mineralization and extending open zones along strike and dip. Hole N11-U032 targets the 3300 zone at the 220 meter mining elevation, which will be mined in the first six operating months. Mining has already begun on the 203 level beneath this intercept. The mine has begun stockpiling ore for the mid-June start up. Mill feed will be obtained from the upper levels of the mine for the first six months as the down-dip extensions of the orebodies are being accessed. Stopes will be established at depth on the 3000 and 3300 orebodies to replace the upper stopes as they are depleted. The existing mobile equipment is being used while awaiting the arrival of several new units. Two 20 t trucks, two 4 yd scooptrams, a drill buggy, and a utility forklift have all been purchased and will be arriving sporadically over the next 2 to 8 weeks. The mine has one drill jumbo and one "long tom" rig, but is actively seeking to purchase an additional unit. The current payroll of 50 workers includes 24 miners and diamond drillers. This will be increased to 42 over the next two months. Two development headings are being advanced: 1) the ramp is being extended to depth to access the down-dip extensions of both the 3000 and 3300 orebodies and 2) the connection drift between the Crystal and Mystery Mines is being developed to provide secondary egress, combine ventilation systems, establish underground drill platforms for the zone between the mines, and to bring the Mystery Mine into production in nine months. The mine is currently dry. Slimes have been mucked from the bottom of the ramp leaving 1 foot of water. Past operators experienced seasonal inflows into the mine from the spring melt. This has not been our experience over the past two seasons. A 200,000 gallon dammed reservoir is being constructed at the 190 metre level and is nearing completion. Seasonal groundwater inflow, if experienced, will be pumped into this reservoir, which will then be used as the source of drill water throughout the mine. The old ramp bottom will be used as a sump for both development drives. Rather than extend the old ramp, the new down ramp was located in the less permeable limestone as per the recommendations of an existing Golder Associates report from 2006. The company's address is 2303 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6M 2A3, 604-685-1870, fax: 604-685-8045, email: [email protected], www.firerivergold.com.