Expat joins Amarc at Fox River (December 10, 2001)

Vancouver — Having just acquired the Fox River nickel-copper-platinum-palladium property from sister company Rockwell Ventures (RCW-V), Hunter-Dickinson-led Amarc Resources (AHR-V) is dealing a 12% interest in the Manitoba project to Expatriate Resources (EXR-V).

In return, cash-strapped Expatriate must contribute $1.3 million to exploration expenses in 2001 and $1.2 million to expenses in 2002.

A $1.3-million loan from HD will cover most exploration costs for this year. The loan consists of a convertible debenture bearing an 8% interest rate payable semi-annually and must be repaid in full by the end of 2002.

Amarc bought into the Fox River property only recently. Through a reorganization agreement with Rockwell Ventures, Amarc took over project by assuming exploration expenditures of $2.5 million and issuing up to 1 million 2-year warrants initially exercisable at $1 each. As a result, the junior holds an option to a earn a 60% interest in the property from Falconbridge (fl-t) by spending $12.5 million over five years.

The project covers a 150-km section of the Fox River belt, a 10-by-25-km sequence of Proterozoic rocks hosting the world’s largest ultramafic intrusive complexes. Situated 250 km east of Thompson, the property is roughly the same size as the Thompson belt, which holds 180 million tonnes grading better than 2% nickel. Inco (n-t) originally explored the property for nickel in the 1950s and 1970s.

In the 1990s, Falco picked up where Inco left off and drilled 15 holes into the eastern section of the ultramafic sill. The sill is known to contain at least two horizons of platinum-palladium-bearing mineralization. At the base of the Upper Central Layered zone, mineralization has been identified over widths of up to 20 metres. Below this, the Lower Central Layered zone grades into a marginal zone that contains disseminated sulphides with platinum-palladium mineralization.

At the western portion of the sill, the Great Falls showing returned grab samples grading 4.4 grams platinum, 4.1 grams palladium and 6.7 grams gold per tonne, plus 1.9% copper and 0.68% nickel. At the nearby KO zone, samples yielded up to 1.3 grams platinum, 3.5 grams palladium, 2.1% copper and 0.94% nickel.

Significantly, the property lies in the heart of the Manitoba diamond play, and though no kimberlites have been identified in the province, till sampling has outlined a large diamond indicator mineral train just south of the Fox River property.

This year, Rockwell tested several geophysical anomalies with 12 drill holes but failed to cut any significant mineralization. The new partners are currently defining drill targets for the 2002 season.

Expatriate also inked a deal with Boliden (bol-t) to pick up the Yava massive sulphide deposit in Nunavut. Discovered in 1974, the deposit hosts an inferred resource, based on only five holes, of 1.1 million tonnes grading 4.96% zinc, 1% copper, 1.6% lead, 117 grams silver and 0.3 gram gold.

Under the deal, Expatriate assumes all of Boliden’s obligations under the leases and will pay the major’s annual rent payment for the current year.