TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Red Pine Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: RPX) (the “Company” or “Red Pine”) announces that it has completed ten (10) exploration diamond drill holes, covering a strike length of 325 metres, in the Cooper Shear Zone at its Wawa Gold Project.  The Cooper Shear Zone is part of the Cooper Deformation Corridor, located 1 kilometre east of the Surluga Deposit and 2.8 kilometres northeast of the Minto Mine South Deposit (Figure 1). This initial diamond drill program follows Red Pine’s 2019 channel sampling program in the Cooper Shear Zone where multiple centers of high-grade gold mineralization were found.

An additional two (2) exploration diamond drill holes were also drilled in the Hornblende Shear Zone to test a wide zone of mineralization that was discovered in the structure in 2018. The Company is now testing the deeper extension of the Jubilee Shear Zone which hosts the Surluga resource.  In this program, two (2) exploration holes are now completed and one is on-going. Assay results for the 14 holes are pending.

Highlights of preliminary observations:

• The Cooper Shear Zone extends down-dip over a strike length of 325 metres;
• Visible gold (gold visible with the naked eye) was observed in four (4) drill holes in the Cooper Shear Zone;
• In the Hornblende Shear Zone, wide zones of quartz veining, associated with deformation and sulfides mineralization, were intersected in the extension of hole SD-18-178 that intersected 0.4 g/t gold over 73.8 metres, including 13 g/t gold over 1.08 m;
• Between the Jubilee Shear Zone and the Hornblende Shear Zone, parallel structures with quartz veining and sulfide mineralization were intersected; and
• Visible gold was observed in the two holes completed in the deeper extension of the Jubilee Shear Zone, beyond the footprint of the current Surluga resource.

Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e39cab02-4c8c-4c4a-95e2-72976eb18091

Objective of the 2019 drilling program
Red Pine issued a new resource estimate for the Wawa Gold Project in July 2019 (National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report for the Wawa Gold Project, Brian Thomas P.Geo. Golder Associates Ltd, effective July 16, 2019). Two deposits have been identified on the property to date. The Surluga Deposit has an indicated resource of 205,000 ounces gold grading 5.31 g/t gold and an inferred resource of 396,000 ounces grading 5.22 g/t gold. The Minto Mine South Deposit has an indicated resource of 25,000 ounces gold grading 7.5 g/t and an inferred resource of 75,000 ounces gold grading 6.6 g/t gold.

There exists six (6) gold-bearing structures at the Wawa Gold Project for which conceptual exploration targets have been estimated (Figure 2). The Company’s current drilling program is focused on testing these targets.

Figure 2 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/801529f5-d9ed-4f1a-9849-c48738dcd57b

The Cooper Mine ceased production in 1938 and milled just over 4,400 tonnes at an average grade of 11.4 g/t gold.  Geologically, the mineralized gold structures of the Cooper Deformation Corridor are similar to the Minto Mine South Structure, host of the Minto Mine South Deposit. Red Pine’s 2019 trenching in the Cooper Shear Zone defined the footprint, at surface, of high-grade gold mineralization in the Cooper Shear Zone. Drilling at the Cooper Structure was undertaken to define the extension, at depth, of these zones of high-grade mineralization.

The Hornblende Shear Zone is a structure parallel to the Jubilee Shear Zone (host of the Surluga Deposit) and is part of the Wawa Gold Corridor. Recent exploration work by Red Pine has shown that the structure is mineralized over a strike length of more than 1 kilometre and that it hosts zones of higher-grade mineralization.

Red Pine’s recent re-interpretation of its magneto-telluric survey indicates that the Jubilee Shear Zone extends at depth and that it could be a large structure. The Jubilee Shear Zone was never drilled beyond the footprint of the current inferred resource which has a strike length of 1.5 kilometres. In 2007, previous operators drilled seven (7) deep holes in the Jubilee Shear, over a strike length of 350 metres, in the southern extension of the deposit. These 2007 deep holes indicate that there’s continuity in the structure and that gold mineralization exists 700 metres below surface and 500 metres down-dip of the current resource boundary.

The intersection in historical hole 07-391 of 11.4 g/t gold over 3.4 metres, including 120.9 g/t gold over 0.3 metres (MENDM assessment file 20000008756), indicates the potential of the Jubilee Shear Zone to host deeper high-grade gold zones in its down-dip extension, beyond the footprint of the current resource. Red Pine’s short-wave infrared measurements, in the drill holes at the edges of the current resource, also indicate that the structure remains favourable to host high-grade gold zones at depth. Red Pine’s current drilling in the Jubilee Shear Zone is planned at depths of 450 to 500 metres to confirm the deposit’s down-dip extension beyond the current 350-metres resource boundary.

On-site Quality Assurance/Quality Control (“QA/QC”) Measures
Drill core samples were transported in security-sealed bags for analyses to Activation Laboratories Ltd. in Ancaster, Ontario. Individual samples are labeled, placed in plastic sample bags and sealed. Groups of samples are then placed into durable rice bags and then shipped. The remaining coarse reject portions of the samples remain in storage if further work or verification is needed.

Red Pine has implemented a quality-control program to comply with best practices in the sampling and analysis of drill core. As part of its QA/QC program, Red Pine inserts external gold standards (low to high grade) and blanks every 20 samples in addition to random standards, blanks, and duplicates.

Qualified Person
Quentin Yarie, P Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About Red Pine Exploration Inc.
Red Pine Exploration Inc. is a gold and base-metals exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RPX".

Red Pine has a 60% interest in the Wawa Gold Project with Citabar LP. holding the remaining 40% interest. Red Pine is the Operating Manager of the Project and is focused on expanding the existing gold resource on the property.

For more information about the Company visit www.redpineexp.com

Or contact:  

Quentin Yarie, President & CEO, (416) 364-7024, qyarie@redpineexp.com

Or Mia Boiridy, Investor Relations, (416) 364-7024, mboiridy@redpineexp.com

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