CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voyageur Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:VM) (the “Company”), is pleased to announce that it has intersected a large barite breccia vein (17.2m intersect/ 11.91m True Width) in drill hole DDH – FC – 17 – 06, at the Frances Creek Barite Prospect. The overall grade of the entire width of this barite breccia intercept is 66.43% BaSO4. The Frances Creek Prospect is divided into two zones, based on the topographic elevation of massive barite outcroppings. The lower A Zone outcrops at ~ 1320m and the upper B Zone outcrops at ~ 1560m. The objective of the 2017 drill program is to prove continuity between the two zones.
A Zone:
The A Zone drilling successfully tied into the historical drilling results and added 20m of strike to the mineralized zone. The strike of the Barite Breccia Vein has been confirmed, however at this time further drilling is required to determine the true width and the exact angle of dip of the vein in this area. There are an additional 3 drill holes planned for the end of the drilling program to further delineate the vein and to determine its true dimensions. The mineralized vein is open in two directions along strike and the strike is on line with the upper B Zone outcrops. The mineralized zone is also open in the down dip direction.
| Hole Number | Hole Depth | Barite Intersection | %BaSO4 | Specific Gravity | Intersection Width | True Width | |
| FC17-1 | 18.29m | 12.19m-15.24m | 77.65 | % | 4.02 | 3.05 | unknown |
| FC17-2 | 19.0m | 9.0-10.2m | 68.92 | % | 3.87 | 1.2m | unknown |
| FC17-3 | 24m | No Recovery | |||||
| FC17-4 | 21m | 18.0-18.93m | 52.30 | % | 3.52 | 0.93m | unknown |
B Zone:
To date,13 drill holes have been completed on the B Zone and drilling is continuing down strike towards the A Zone. All of the drill holes are aimed so as to penetrate the vein at a near perpendicular angle and at vertical depths no deeper than 60m. The 2017 drill holes have successfully confirmed the previous operators’ historical drilling reports.
Drill holes FC17-5 and FC17-6 were drilled from the same drill station and with the same heading. Drill hole FC17-5 was drilled at an inclination of -37° and intersected a true width of 7.32m. The assay returns from this intersection was 68.9% BaSO4. FC17-6 was drilled at an inclination of -57° and intersected a true width of 11.91m which assayed (weighted average) at 66.4% BaSO4. Drill hole FC17-7 was drilled across two zones of barite with true widths of 2.5m @ 71.1% BaSO4 , and 5.3m @ 51.5% BaSO4 . Drill hole FC17-8 was drilled across three zones of barite with true widths of 4.2m @ 26.5% BaSO4 , 3.4m @ 86.1% BaSO4 and 7.98m @ 32.1% BaSO4.
| Hole Number | Hole Depth | Barite Intersection | %BaSO4 | Specific Gravity | Intersection Width | True Width | Total Barite Zone width | |
| FC17-5 | 46m | 16.44m-25.35m | 68.88 | % | 3.8 | 8.9m | 7.32m | 7.32m |
| FC17-6 | Total zone | 20.3-37.5m | 66.43 | % | 11.91m | |||
| FC17-6 | 64m | 20.3m-33.0m | 73.93 | % | 3.82 | 12.7m | 8.8m | |
| FC17-6 | 33m-37.5m | 45.27 | % | 3.37 | 4.5m | 3.11m | ||
| FC17-7 | 69m | 30.4-33.73m | 71.12 | % | 3.81 | 3.33m | 2.50m | N/A |
| FC17-7 | 47.13m-54.17m | 51.48 | % | 3.46 | 7.04m | 5.31m | N/A | |
| FC17-8 | 66m | 24m-30.51m | 26.47 | % | 3.08 | 6.51m | 4.23m | N/A |
| FC17-8 | 39m-44.25m | 86.08 | % | 4.06 | 5.25m | 3.41m | N/A | |
| FC17-8 | 52.2m-64.5 | 32.13 | % | 3.18 | 12.3m | 7.98m | N/A | |
Assay results show that the first 4 drill holes intersected a large fault breccia barite vein with what appears to be an exceptionally pure crystalline barite matrix. Two select samples of crystalline barite were taken from drill hole FC17-06 core to determine purity. The assays from select sample 6-a (29.5 – 29.55m) returned 99.49% BaSO4 and 4.49 SG, while the assays from select sample 6-b (30.9 – 30.95m) returned 98.68% BaSO4 and 4.47 SG.
The barite breccia vein contains from 30% to 95% crystalline barite in the breccia matrix. Limited testing to date indicates that the crystalline barite is exceptionally pure. Additional select samples will be taken from the core of other drill holes to test the purity of the crystalline barite throughout the vein.
Voyageur’s management believes that a high quality predominately crystalline barite product can be produced from the Frances Creek Vein by gravity separation milling. Future metallurgical testing will be conducted to test management’s theory.
About Voyageur Minerals
Voyageur is a Calgary based company which owns 100% interest in three barium sulfate ("Barite") deposits including two properties which initial work suggests are suitable in grade for the industrial barite market place, and interests in two high grade lithium brine projects in Utah, USA. Voyageur's business plan is to develop its Barite deposit at Frances Creek, BC, Canada, for potential near term cash flow, while it continues exploration for critical and strategic minerals.
Qualified Person Statement
The Company’s qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Mr. Randy Henkle, P.Geol, has reviewed this news release and approved it.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Qualifying Transaction, including statements regarding the acquisition of future assets, the discovery and commercialization of commercial quantities of industrial minerals, the successful commercialization of the Company’s assets, expected operational activities, other statements that are not historical facts. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the risk that the assets do not provide commercial quantities or grades of marketable minerals, that even if they do contain commercial quantities of marketable minerals that the Company will not be able to economically produce such discoveries, the existence of commercial grades of commercial minerals, timing of obtaining required approvals, state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, investor interest in the business and future prospects of the Company.
The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made, by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.
For further information, please contact:
John Rucci
President & CEO
(403) 383-8588
jrucci@voyageurminerals.ca
Steven R. Livingston
VP Finance
(403) 471-1659
steve@voyageurminerals.ca