VANCOUVER, May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Amarc Resources
Ltd. ("Amarc" or "the Company") (TSX Venture: AHR; OTCBB: AXREF)
announces that it has mobilized crews to the field for its 2010
exploration program in south-central British Columbia (BC), ahead of an anticipated
June start date. Exploration activities, initially budgeted at
$4 million, have commenced on both
the compelling Newton bulk tonnage gold property and the
underexplored, high-potential Plateau Gold-Copper Belt.
Amarc Executive Chairman, Bob
Dickinson states; "Amarc has assembled an experienced
15-person technical team focused on expanding the Newton bulk
tonnage discovery made in late 2009, and to explore the
newly-staked, approximately 3,000 square kilometre Plateau
Gold-Copper Belt. These areas host significant potential for
porphyry gold-copper and epithermal gold type deposits. In addition
to drilling at Newton, our crews will be advancing comprehensive
exploration programs at a number of high-priority sites this
summer, generating new drill targets and a steady stream of news
for Amarc investors."
Late in 2009 Amarc discovered the Newton bulk tonnage-style gold
system. The best intercept from Amarc's 14-hole diamond drill core
program in 2009 was 189 metres at 1.56 g/t gold (see Amarc's
December 8, 2009 and January 19, 2010 press releases). Amarc has the
right to acquire an 80% interest in the Newton property from New
High Ridge Resources Inc. by incurring $5
million in expenditures within seven years.
Permit applications submitted to the BC provincial government in
December 2009 for a 25-hole diamond
drill program and an Induced Polarization (IP) ground geophysical
survey at Newton have been approved. Geological mapping and IP
geophysical surveys have commenced on that property. These
exploration activities will assist the technical team in
delineating the gold system.
"Amarc has a comprehensive and well-planned program outlined at
Newton for the 2010 field season, the goal of which is to define a
substantial bulk tonnage gold resource," Dickinson said. "We are
tremendously excited to be back on the ground exploring at Newton,
as we believe this property may represent a new gold deposit type
for BC. Once the initial surface exploration activities have been
completed and data synthesized, we will commence drilling."
The most intensively developed mineralization at Newton is
associated with disseminated sulphides that appear to be
preferentially localized within pervasively altered volcaniclastic
and epiclastic rock units. These host rocks are characterized by
both a high primary permeability and an anticipated wide geographic
distribution - features that are representative of a permissive
environment for the development of a bulk tonnage-style mineralized
system.
In addition, a number of high-quality, previously unrecognized
deposit scale targets with the potential to host significant
porphyry and epithermal styles of mineralization have been defined
and prioritized within the adjacent 100% owned Plateau Gold-Copper
Belt. On-the-ground assessment of these targets has commenced.
Targets were defined by combining the results of a 7,000-line
kilometre ZTEM survey (Z-Axis Tipper Electromagnetic system) and a
high-sensitivity magnetometer airborne geophysical survey over the
Newton property, other regional anomalies and the Plateau
Gold-Copper Belt (see Amarc's January 19,
2010 press release) with public domain data and in-house
knowledge.
"Our experienced technical team has been deployed and is already
hard at work, carrying out geological mapping, soil sampling and
preparing grids for the IP geophysical surveys," Dickinson said.
"Once surface target delineation is complete, it is our intention
to drill-test select high priority targets this season." Initial
permits for IP geophysical surveys to assist in field-based target
delineation have been received, while others are in progress.
The Newton property and Plateau Gold-Copper Belt are located
approximately 140 kilometres southwest of the City of Williams Lake in a region
characterized by subdued topography. The district is well served by
existing transportation and power infrastructure, which supports a
number of operating mines and late-stage development projects.
The Prosperity copper-gold project, located 40 kilometres to the
south of the Newton property, hosts Proven and Probable Reserves of
830 million tonnes grading 0.41 g/t gold and 0.23 % copper at a
C$5.50 NSR/t cut-off (Taseko Mines
Limited). Prosperity, a project with an estimated capital cost of
C$800 million, received its
environmental assessment certificate from the BC government on
January 14, 2010 and is in the final
phase of the federal panel environmental review process.
Amarc Resources Ltd. is a Vancouver-based exploration and development
company affiliated with the Hunter Dickinson group, a private
company associated with a series of successful mineral exploration
and development projects in BC - including Golden Bear, Mt. Milligan, Kemess, Gibraltar and Prosperity.
Mark Rebagliati, P.Eng., a
Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, is
supervising the exploration and quality assurance and quality
control programs on behalf of Amarc and has reviewed the content of
this release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Ronald W. Thiessen
President & CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor any other regulatory
authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
Forward Looking and other Cautionary Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other
than statements of historical facts that address exploration
drilling, exploitation activities and other related events or
developments are forward-looking statements. Although the Company
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are
not guarantees of future performance and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in the forward
looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include
market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity
of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain
necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party
opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and
natural resource exploration and exploitation, continued
availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market
or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual
results or developments may differ materially from those projected
in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Amarc
Resources Ltd., investors should review the Company's annual Form
20-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission at www.sec.gov and its home jurisdiction filings that
are available at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Amarc Resources Ltd.
