Rockland Enters Agreement for Blue Lake Cu-Ni-PGM Mining Lease, Labrador Trough, Quebec


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 13, 2011) - Rockland Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:RL) -

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Rockland Minerals Corp. (the "Company") reports the Company has entered into an binding letter agreement with La Fosse Platinum Group Inc. ("La Fosse") to option five separate mining leases including the Blue Lake Cu-Ni-PGM "deposits" located in the heart of the Labrador Trough, Quebec.

The agreement covers special mining leases, originally granted to Hollinger North Shore Exploration Ltd. ("Hollinger") within the province of Quebec. They include the Blue Lake, Jimmick, Chance Lake, Glance Lake, Fredrickson properties and the Lac Aulneau claim group in the Marymac area of the Labrador Trough. Historical information is being compiled on the various mining leases and claims and will be provided in a future announcement.

The Blue Lake "deposits" or "cluster" of disseminated Cu-Ni-PGE bearing sulphide lenses are well documented in various reports by government and independent geologists and have historical estimates as follows:

Zone Reference Tonnes Copper % Nickel % Pt+Pd (g/t)
Blue Lake #1 (Clark 1994) 400,000 0.99 0.66 1.13
Blue Lake #2 (Clark 1994) 1,000,000 0.88 0.41 0.80
Centre (Clark and Wares 2005) 1,390,000 0.77 0.59 0.90
Pogo (Clark and Wares 2005) 1,240,000 0.96 0.49 0.71

(*All grades and tonnages presented in this press release are historical and are not NI 43-101 compliant. Please see section on historical estimates below.)

The total historical tonnage and weighted average of these 4 main deposits, plus smaller lenses at Blue Lake is 4.03 Mt at 0.85% Cu, 0.52% Ni and 0.84 g/t Pt+Pd.

Hollinger North Shore Exploration Ltd. was part of Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) during the post-WWII exploration and development of the iron ore deposits of the Labrador Trough, and controlled vast mining leases granted by the Québec government to foster mineral development. Pioneering IOC geologist Joseph A. Retty named Retty Lake in the late 1940's and carried out some of the first exploration of the Blue Lake deposits. Hollinger delineated Cu-Ni mineralization at Blue Lake in the 1950's and 1960's. During that period no precious metal assays were done on the copper-nickel ores. In the mid-80's La Fosse Platinum Group re-sampled Blue Lake core and discovered significant platinum-palladium values. In 1985, La Fosse purchased Hollinger's entire mining concession, which covered Blue Lake and other showings in the Labrador Trough. La Fosse continued development drilling, and drove a 350 meter underground bulk sampling adit into one of the Blue Lake sulfide lenses in 1987, however work on the adit and the property was cut short due to the economic climate at the time. No work on the Blue Lake sulfide deposits has occurred since. The acquisition of the Blue Lake mining lease presents a major opportunity for Rockland.

Key Benefits from Rockland – La Fosse Agreement

  • Allows Rockland to begin work towards a potential 43-101 compliant resource at Blue Lake.
  • Creates the opportunity to increase tonnage through down dip and step-out drilling at Blue Lake and make new discoveries along fertile horizon at neighboring Retty Lake property.
  • Rockland can begin analyzing important data generated from the Blue Lake #1 adit developed in 1985.
  • The five special mining leases present significant advantages in rapidly developing potential mineral resources.
  • Rockland will have access to Hollinger North Shore Exploration's world-class exploration database.
  • The Blue Lake lenses are well located, approximately 60 km from Schefferville, where rail and airport exist.
  • Rockland will control key mining leases in several areas throughout the Labrador Trough, making it one of the top regional players in this world-class area.

Rav Mlait, President of Rockland states: "The acquisition of these mining leases and claims in the Labrador Trough represents a major milestone for Rockland. The development of Cu-Ni-Pt-Pd assets near world-class infrastructure and in a mining-friendly jurisdiction like Quebec, presents a significant advantage. Investors have shown tremendous interest in Canadian projects that are on a path to development, an example being Prophecy Platinum's Wellgreen PGM-Ni-Cu project. Rockland now has an opportunity to develop its own advanced mineral project starting with Blue Lake."

Under the letter agreement, the Company can acquire a 55% interest in the Property over a 4 year period by making cash payments totaling $350,000 and issuing an aggregate of 5 million common shares and by spending $4.5 million in exploration on the property. The terms of the letter agreement are subject to due diligence, signing of a definitive option agreement and approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Historical Estimate

*The historical resources referred to in this press release are based on work completed and estimates prepared by La Fosse Platinum Group prior to the existence of National Instrument 43-101 and therefore not prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. The Company considers the historical resource estimates relevant and reliable. The Company is not treating the historical resource estimate as a current mineral resource. A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources. These historical estimates do not have categories used in sections 1.2 and 1.3 of National Instrument 43-101. The Company is currently studying what future steps will be required to upgrade or verify the historical estimate presented above.

References cited for historical estimate:

Clark, T., 1994, Géologie et gîtes de l'Orogène du Nouveau-Québec et de son arrière-pays. In: Géologie du Québec. Ministère des Ressources naturelles, Québec; MM 94-01, pages 47-65, C. Dube editor, ISBN 2-551-13934-1.

Clark, T., and M. Wares, 2005 Lithotectonic and metallogenic synthesis of the New Québec Orogen (Labrador Trough): Ministère des Ressources naturelles, Québec; MM 2005-01, 175 p.

George F. Sanders, P.Geo., a director of the Company, is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 responsible for the technical content of this news release.

We seek Safe Harbor.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Rav Mlait, President and CEO

Rockland Minerals Corp.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information:

Rockland Minerals Corp.
Rav Mlait
President and CEO
(604) 551-7831
(604) 676-2767 (FAX)
info@rocklandminerals.ca
www.rocklandminerals.ca

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