Rockcliff intersects more copper, zinc, at Lon deposit

Rockcliff Resources‘ (RCR-V) 100%-owned Lon deposit, part of the company’s 660 sq. km Snow Lake project in Manitoba’s Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, remains open in all directions and recent drill results underscore its potential.

Rockcliff has completed the last of its 5,000-metre winter drill program at Lon, where drilling was designed to test the zone across a strike length of about 150 metres and to a vertical depth of 300 metres. 

Drill highlights included 2.3 metres of 1.9% copper, 0.2 gram gold per tonne, 1.3% zinc, 18.1 grams silver in hole six, including 2.1% copper, 0.3 gram gold, 1.5% zinc, 20.5 grams silver across 2 metres.

Hole eight returned 3.5% copper, 0.6 gram gold, 5.7% zinc, 30.9 grams silver across 1.8 metres, including 5.3% copper, 0.9 gram gold, 8.7% zinc, 46.5 grams silver across 1.2 metres.

Hole nine cut 1.5% copper, 0.3 gram gold, 1.9% zinc, 12.4 grams silver across 2.7 metres including 2.4% copper, 0.5 gram gold, 3.1% zinc, 18.8 grams silver across 1.4 metres, while hole ten yielded 1.6% copper, 0.2 gram gold, 1.4% zinc, 13.3 grams silver across 2.8 metres including 2.9% copper, 0.3 gram gold, 2.8% zinc, 23.7 grams silver across 1.3 metres.

The Lon deposit was discovered by drilling in the 1950s. Mineralization consists of chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite and pyrrhotite hosted in juvenile arc rocks and the juvenile arc rock package trends on the property for about 15 km. 

Juvenile arc rocks of the Flin Flon greenstone belt host all of the known mines in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake mining camps, the company says, and represent high-priority geological trends for the discovery of VMS deposits.

Rockcliff’s Snow Lake project is made up of about a dozen properties all basically centered around Snow Lake. In addition to the Lon deposit, Rockcliff’s Rail project has a  National Instrument 43-101 indicated resource of 822,000 tonnes grading 3% copper, 0.9% zinc, 9.3 grams silver per tonne and 0.7 gram gold per tonne.  Rockcliff is earning a 100% interest in the Rail property from HudBay Minerals (HBM-T, HBM-N). 

Rockcliff is also earning a 70% stake from Pure Nickel (NIC-T) in the Tower deposit, where it plans to complete a NI 43-101 resource before the end of 2012.

The Tower zone has been traced for over 600 metres and to a vertical depth of 500 metres and remains open in all directions. Recent drilling at Tower intersected 8.2 metres grading 7.6% copper, 2 grams gold, 1.7% zinc and 35.4 grams silver in hole TP11-08. Hole TP11-17 cut 4 metres of 3.9% copper, 0.6 gram gold, 0.6% zinc, and 18.3 grams silver.

The Snow Lake project also includes two former VMS mines (Spruce Point and Dickstone),  one former gold mine (the Century mine) and one gold deposit (C-Zone), as well as additional areas with potential for VMS (copper-rich) and gold mineralization.

Between 1971 and 1975, the Dickstone mine produced 775,504 tonnes grading 2.46% copper, 3.12% zinc, 12 grams silver and 0.41 gram gold.

In addition the junior explorer has the Squall and Tramping properties, which it believes have “blue sky potential.” The two properties are both about 6 km from Hudbay Minerals’ Lalor deposit. Rockcliff has completed airborne geophysics on both properties, has identified several airborne targets and this summer will complete ground proofing and defining drill targets.

“Rockcliff Resources is a copper explorer and what better place to explore for VMS than in one of the most prolific VMS districts and the largest Paleoproterozoic VMS district in the world,” the company’s president and chief executive, Ken Lapierre says. “We presently have five VMS (copper-rich) deposits and all have room for considerable resource expansion.”

At presstime in Toronto Rockcliff was trading at 22¢ per share and has ranged between 11¢ and 40¢ over the last year.

The junior has about 75 million shares outstanding, no debt, and about $2 million in cash.