TORONTO, July 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kerr Mines Inc. (TSX: KER, OTC: KERMF, (“Kerr” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce final drilling results from this first phase of its 2019 resource expansion program at the Copperstone Mine located in Arizona, USA. Based on the recently completed drilling program the next phase of resource expansion drilling of up to 10,000 meters is now in the planning stage and targeted to commence by Q4-2019.
2019 Resource Expansion Highlights:
- Drill Hole 18-18-02, a conversion hole, returned a high-grade gold mineralized interval of 3 meters at 27.45 g/t gold, including 1.5 meters of 52.30 g/t gold (See Figure 2), in an area where additional down-dip step-out drilling is planned for the next phase of drilling while further indicating the zone is significantly of higher grade and thickness than initially anticipated.
- Drill Hole 18-05-06, a conversion hole, intercepted Indicated resource of 6.1 meters at 3.71 g/t gold, which along with an intercept in nearby drill hole 18-05A-06 of 7.6 meters at 3.80 g/t gold, demonstrates the width and strong continuity of mineralization in this area and is expected to allow for the expansion of a designed stope panel, the edge of which is 15.2 meters down-dip.
- Drilling was accomplished entirely from existing underground access and affects an area of 500 meters of strike length and 200 meters of elevation, representing approximately 30 per cent of the current resource strike length.
- The objective of the underground resource expansion program of which the initial phase of 5,000 meters of reverse circulation drilling has been completed, was focused on the D and C zones to increase mine life by adding new Inferred resources and converting new and existing Inferred resources into Measured and Indicated resources.
The next phase of drilling, which is currently in the planning stage, will continue to focus on resource expansion by way of underground core drilling in the D and C zones. Recent step out drilling results as previously reported from Drill Hole 18-21-04 (16.8 meters of 40.0 g/t gold) returned significant values and are indicating higher grade and thickness will be followed up with the continued emphasis of adding new Inferred gold resources. The next phase will focus on stepping out along strike and dip beyond the previously defined mineralized domains which are reflecting further continuity with higher grades as shown in Figure 3 below. Highlights from previously reported drill results are included below for reference as these will also form the basis of the next phase of drilling.
Additionally, we will be shifting from reverse circulation drilling to core drilling which will allow for greater accuracy when stepping out to extend previously defined mineralized domains while providing greater granularity of gold ore contacts inclusive of structural information.
Giulio T. Bonifacio, Chief Executive Officer stated: “Our entire team has been extremely pleased by our initial phase of drilling. As we move into the planning phase, the program will focus on newly discovered step out areas that extend or connect previously defined mineralized domains as shown in Figure 3. The shift to core drilling will also prove beneficial towards upgrading and expanding our currently defined resources while allowing for greater accuracy in defining grade, thickness and continuity.”
Drilling results from the recently completed drilling are as follows:
| Hole ID | From | To | Interval Length | Gold* | True Thickness** | Effective Mining Width*** |
| meter | meter | meter | gram/tonne | meter | meter | |
| 18-18A-01 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 3.0 | 4.77 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| includes | 10.7 | 12.2 | 1.5 | 8.87 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| 18-18-02 | 12.2 | 15.2 | 3.0 | 27.45 | 2.0 | 4.8 |
| includes | 12.2 | 13.7 | 1.5 | 52.30 | 1.0 | 2.4 |
| 18-04-02 | 22.9 | 25.9 | 3.0 | 4.32 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| 18-04A-03 | 22.9 | 25.9 | 3.0 | 4.20 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| 18-05-06 | 9.1 | 15.2 | 6.1 | 3.71 | 4.3 | 7.6 |
| includes | 12.2 | 15.2 | 3.0 | 4.80 | 2.2 | 3.8 |
| 18-05-08 | 15.2 | 19.8 | 4.6 | 4.52 | 3.2 | 5.5 |
| includes | 18.3 | 19.8 | 1.5 | 8.79 | 1.1 | 1.8 |
| 18-05A-06 | 13.7 | 21.3 | 7.6 | 3.80 | 4.6 | 8.0 |
| includes | 13.7 | 18.3 | 4.6 | 5.16 | 2.8 | 4.8 |
| and | 16.8 | 18.3 | 1.5 | 9.54 | 0.9 | 1.6 |
| 18-05E-01 | 15.2 | 19.8 | 4.6 | 4.15 | 4.5 | 7.8 |
| * Grades herein are reported as uncapped values. | ||||||
| ** Estimated distance between the foot wall and hanging wall of the mineralized zone measured perpendicularly to the edges. | ||||||
| *** Effective Mining Width is defined as the distance between the foot wall and hanging wall of the mineralized zone measured horizontally and matches the planned mining method. The mining method used to calculate reserves will extract ore by drift mining along strike in a defined ore stope. The Effective Mining Width is the width that miners will be working within. | ||||||
Highlights from previously reported drilling results:
- Drill hole 18-08A-02 returned an interval of 12.2 meters at 11.7 g/t Au, including 3 meters of 38.3 g/t Au, indicating the zone is higher grade and thicker than initially anticipated with an effective mining width of 17.7 meters;
- Drill hole 18-21-06, an exploration step-out hole returned an interval of 16.8 meters at 40.0 g/t gold, including 3 meters of 98.26 g/t gold further indicating the zone is significantly of higher grade and thickness than initially anticipated with a total effective mining width of 17.9 meters;
- Drill hole 18-21-04, an exploration step-out hole returned an interval of 10.7 meters at 17.49 g/t gold, including 6.1 meters of 29.45 g/t gold with a total effective mining width of 12 meters;
- Drill hole 18-21A-05, an exploration step-out hole, returned an interval of 6.1 meters at 15.02 g/t gold, including 3 meters of 22.4 g/t gold further indicating the zone is significantly of higher grade and thickness than initially anticipated with a total effective mining width of 13.1 meters;
- Drill hole 18-04-01, a conversion hole returned, an interval of 6.1 meters at 15.91 g/t gold, including 4.6 meters of 21.02 g/t gold with a total effective mining width of 3.2 meters
Figure 1: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/088dc0ed-b9c4-4591-b7e6-fb6e8442295c
Figure 2: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/81ba2b9d-7f44-4087-99b2-eb01b2e13c99
Figure 3: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a563b928-5d20-4691-b691-2e6a4d65a673
Figure 4: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b05de102-ce95-47b0-85ed-4dcca0a1a214
The following provided additional information for each of the drill holes reported above:
18-18A-01: Azimuth 165, inclination -25, total length 47.2 meters. This intercept is in C Zone Inferred mineralization and with adjacent successful intercepts, is anticipated to allow for upgrading of Inferred mineralization to Measured and Indicated classification in this area.
18-18-02: Azimuth 90, inclination -65, total length 18.3 meters. This intercept is in C Zone Inferred mineralization and with adjacent new intercepts, is anticipated to allow for conversion of inferred mineralization to Measured and Indicated classification in this area. This intercept is very high in gold grade and may portend the discovery of additional high-grade mineralization in planned down-dip offset drill holes.
18-04-02: Azimuth 205, inclination -12, total length 42.7 meters and 18-04A-03: Azimuth 170, inclination -35, total length 30.5 meters. These Conversion holes successfully intercepted mineralization above cutoff grade and along with adjacent successful Conversion holes, have yielded confidence in the continuity of this part of the C Zone. These results are anticipated to increase Measured and Indicated resources in this area and allow for the boundaries of the known mineralized domain to be updated.
18-05-06: Azimuth 215, inclination -15, total length 65.5 meters. This intercept is in existing C Zone Indicated resource and confirms the anticipated grade and thickness. The intercept is 15.2 m up-dip of designed stopes and may allow the stopes to be expanded in this direction. The intercept is slightly shallower than the modeled C Zone domain and will allow for the boundaries of the mineralized domain to be more accurately modeled.
18-05-08: Azimuth 80, inclination -75, total length 61 meters. This drill hole intercepted existing C Zone Indicated mineralization near the edge of Inferred mineralization and is anticipated to allow for the conversion of adjacent Inferred blocks to the Indicated classification.
18-05A-06: Azimuth 232, inclination -02, total length 70.1 meters. This drill hole intercepted Indicated mineralization in the C Zone but found the mineralization to be of greater thickness and higher grade than anticipated. Together with the nearby intercept in 18-05-06 reported above, this intercept may allow for designed stope panels to be expanded in this direction.
18-05E-01: Azimuth 244, inclination -65, total length 47.2 meters. This drill hole intercepted what was modeled as low-grade mineralization between designed stopes in the C Zone. The result successfully demonstrated the presence of gold mineralization of higher gold grade than is currently modeled.
The Copperstone zone is the underground extension of the same orebody that was historically mined as an open pit. The pit mined nearly 150 vertical meters of the Copperstone zone and produced in excess of 500,000 gold ounces historically. The Copperstone orebody currently has a horizontal strike length of over 1,500 meters and extends 110 meters beneath the historical open pit. Within this area there are Measured and Indicated resources of 276,100 gold ounces and Inferred resources of 145,700 gold ounces.
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Michael R. Smith, SME Registered Member (Geology), who is a “Qualified Person” as defined by NI 43-101 for this project.
About Kerr Mines Inc.
Kerr Mines is an Emerging American Gold Producer currently advancing the 100% owned, fully permitted past-producing Copperstone Mine project to production. Copperstone is a high-grade gold project located along a detachment fault mineral belt in mining-friendly Arizona. This gold project in Arizona demonstrates tremendous exploration potential targeting multi-million-ounce prospects within a 50 Square kilometers (12,259 acre) land package.
For further information please visit the Kerr Mines website (www.kerrmines.com)
KERR MINES INC.
Giulio T. Bonifacio, Chief Executive Officer
Quality Assurance and Quality Control Statement
Procedures have been implemented to assure Quality Assurance Quality Control (QAQC) of drill hole assaying being done at ALS Global, which is ISO Accredited. All intervals of drill holes are being assayed and samples are securely stored for shipment to ALS, with chain of custody documentation through delivery. Mineralized commercial reference standards and coarse blank standards are inserted every 30th sample in sequence and results are graphed to assure acceptable results, resulting in high confidence of the drill hole assay results. When laboratory assays are received, the QAQC results are immediately evaluated and graphed to analyze dependability of the drill hole assays. As the Copperstone Project advances, additional QAQC measures will be implemented including selected duplicate check assaying on pulps and coarse rejects at a second accredited assay laboratory. All results will be analyzed for consistency.
For further information contact:
Giulio Bonifacio
Chief Executive Officer
gtbonifacio@kerrmines.com
604-318-6760
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including current expectations on the timing of the commencement of production and the rate of production, if commenced. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the Canadian economy; the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; and the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with underground operations. Risks and uncertainties about Kerr Mines’ business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials, including its annual information form and MD&A, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. Kerr Mines assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by law. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release and no stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.