The Father Lake property is located 40 kilometres northeast of the hamlet of Stony Rapids in the province of Saskatchewan. Stony Rapids is a full-service community with a commercial airport. Access to the property is via fixed wing or helicopter aircraft. From a regional perspective, the property lies along the Snowbird tectonic zone (SBTZ), which is a 2,800-kilometre-long, Archean-age, crustal-scale structural break. Locally, the property is situated immediately south of the Grease River fault. Geologically, the area is underlain by metasedimentary rocks that are intruded by a three-kilometre-long norite sill trending 65 degrees to 80 degrees that varies in thickness from 215 metres to 800 metres.
The nine contiguous mineral claims that comprise the Father Lake property cover approximately 12 kilometres of prospective geologic trend, including the three-kilometre-long norite sill that is host to the historic Dumas A, B, C and D nickel-copper sulphide showings, as well as additional identified airborne electromagnetic (EM) geophysics anomalies along trend to the northeast that show TAU decay signatures similar to that at the Dumas showings. Zone C is the westernmost zone, while zones A and B are the easternmost and located approximately three kilometres to the east, and interpreted to be the fault offset continuation of zones C and D. Zone D is situated halfway between zone C and zones A and B. The area has been the subject of historic exploration work dating back to 1956 by Father Lake Mining Co. with the discovery of Dumas zones A, B, C and D, and drilling of 18 holes. An additional 11 drill holes were completed in 1969 by Pathfinder Resources Ltd. and, more recently in 2007 to 2008, Strongbow Exploration Inc. conducted airborne geophysics surveys (MegaTEM and VTEM platforms) and drilled five holes to test geophysics targets that appeared to be associated with the showings as well as targets away from the showings.
A brief summary of the highlight results of the historic mapping, prospecting and drilling is as follows:
• Dumas nickel zones A and B occur within a norite body estimated by mapping to be between 215 metres and 800 metres thick. The zones exhibit a gossan 10 metres to 15 metres wide and traced 180 metres along strike, with sulphides (chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite with minor amounts of pyrite, arsenopyrite and pentlandite), comprising 15 to 25 per cent of rock volume within a borite body. Surface sampling assayed 1.00 per cent Ni and 0.77 per cent Cu. Encouraging drill results included the following:
o Father Lake Development Ltd. (1956) drilled hole No. 2, which returned 1.33 per cent Ni and 0.94 per cent Cu over two metres from 45.4 metres to 47.4 metres of downhole depth.
o Pathfinder Uranium and Nickel Mines Ltd. (1969) drilled hole P-11, which returned 0.26 per cent Ni and 0.07 per cent Cu over 6.1 metres from 3.0 metres to 9.1 metres of downhole depth.
o Strongbow Exploration (2008) drilled hole DS08-001, which returned 0.15 per cent Ni, 0.08 per cent Cu and 0.008 per cent Co (cobalt) over 25 metres from six metres to 31 metres.
• Dumas nickel zone C occurs within a norite body, which is estimated by mapping to be between 215 metres and 800 metres thick. Zone C is mapped at 1.5 metres to 12 metres wide, averaging five metres wide, and is exposed for a distance of 400 metres along strike and open in both directions along strike. Sulphide mineralization is similar to zone A, with lenses of chalcopyrite, pyrite, arsenopyrite and pentlandite. Outcrop samples returned 1.87 per cent Ni and 0.56 per cent Cu. Encouraging drill results included the following:
o Pathfinder Uranium and Nickel Mines (1969) drilled hole P-2, which returned 0.34 per cent Ni and 0.15 per cent Cu over 1.7 metres from 18.4 metres to 20.1 metres.
o Strongbow Exploration (2008) drilled hole DS08-003, which returned 0.27 per cent Ni, 0.20 per cent Cu and 0.012 per cent Co over 4.55 metres from 36 metres to 40.5 metres.
• Dumas nickel occurs within a norite body, which is estimated by mapping to be between 215 metres and 800 metres thick. Zone D mineralization is exposed over 15 metres wide along 183 metres of strike. Similar to zones A, B and C, mineralization is associated with lenses of chalcopyrite, pyrite, arsenopyrite and pentlandite. Encouraging drill results included the following:
o Father Lake Development (1956) drilled hole No. 8, which returned 2.36 per cent Ni and 0.26 per cent Cu over 0.5 metre from 25 metres to 25.5 metres.
o Strongbow Exploration (2008) drilled hole DS08-002, which returned 0.19 per cent Ni, 0.12 per cent Cu, 0.01 per cent Co over 12 metres from 14.5 metres to 26.5 metres.
In 2008, Strongbow drilled five holes totalling 671.5 metres. The drilling targeted plates modelled from a 2008 airborne VTEM survey. The first three holes tested the historic zones B, D and C, respectively, and all intersected anomalous mineralization of nickel, copper and cobalt. The last two holes tested targets away from the historic showings and did not encounter mineralization.
SKRR believes that the Father Lake Ni-Cu-Co showings may represent the same style of mineralization and possibly the same mineralizing event as the Nickel King Ni-Cu-Co deposit, which lies within the SBTZ, approximately 90 kilometres to the northeast of the Father Lake property. Strongbow Resources produced a resource estimate on June 2, 2010 (the updated National Instrument 43-101 technical report for the Nickel King main zone deposit, Northwest Territories, Canada, dated June 2, 2010), with an indicated resource of 11.1 million tonnes grading at 0.40 per cent Ni, 0.10 per cent Cu and 0.018 per cent Co, containing 97.7 million pounds of Ni, 23.5 million pounds of Cu and 4.4 million pounds of Co. The total inferred resource is 33.1 million tonnes grading at 0.36 per cent Ni, 0.09 per cent Cu and 0.017 per cent Co, containing 262.4 million pounds of Ni, 63.9 million pounds of Cu and 12.3 million pounds of Co at a base-case cut-off of 0.2 per cent Ni.
SKRR cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate lands are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Father Lake property. SKRR cautions that some of the historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a qualified person but form a basis for future work in the Father Lake property.
Qualified person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ross McElroy, PGeo, a director of the company and a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. McElroy verified the data disclosed (unless indicated otherwise), which include a review of the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained therein.
SKRR is a Canadian-based precious metal explorer with properties in Saskatchewan, one of the world's highest-ranked mining jurisdictions. The primary exploration focus is on the Trans-Hudson corridor in Saskatchewan in search of world-class precious metal deposits. The Trans-Hudson orogen, although known in geological terms, has been significantly underexplored in Saskatchewan. SKRR is committed to all stakeholders, including shareholders, all its partners and the environment in which it operates.
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