CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voyageur Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:VM) (the “Company”). is pleased to announce the results of the Company’s 2017 drilling program. The Company completed 25 drill holes for a total of 1230.79m of drilling. 110 samples were tested from the core and surface outcrop.
The main area of interest during the 2017 exploration program was the “B Zone” area of Frances Creek that is located at an elevation between 1500m and 1580m. This area consists of high grade barite that outcrops at surface and was outlined in detail with 19 drill holes across a proven strike of 130m. The zone has been well defined and consists of an average width of 17.49m with an arithmetic average grade of 38.73% BaSO4 with a specific gravity barite 4.5.
The following chart summarises the total drilling results for the 2017 drilling campaign .
| Hole Number | Hole Depth | Barite Intersection | Specific Gravity | True Width Ba Zone | Total %BaSO4 Ba Zone |
| FC17-1 | 18.29m | 12.19m-15.24m | 4.02 | poor rec | |
| FC17-2 | 19m | 9m-10.2m | 3.82 | poor rec | |
| FC17-3 | 24m | No Sample | |||
| FC17-4 | 21m | 18m-18.93m | 3.81 | poor rec | |
| FC17-5 | 46m | 16.44m-25.35m | 3.8 | 8.17m | 68.88% |
| FC17-6 | 64m | 20.3m- 37.5m | 3.37 - 3.82 | 13.43m | 66.44% |
| FC17-7 | 69m | 30.4 – 54.17m | 3.46 - 3.81 | 21.29m | 26.54% |
| FC17-8 | 66m | 24m-64.5m | 3.08 – 4.06 | 36.63m | 25.28% |
| FC17-09 | 73.5m | 15.0m-55.5m | 2.94 - 3.27 | 36.03 | 19.47% |
| FC17-10 | 34m | 17.6m-33.6m | 3.46 | 11.86m | 60.32% |
| FC17-11 | 74m | 22.2m-64.1m | 3.13 – 3.83 | 31.93m | 24.89% |
| FC17-12 | 57m | 20.5m-57.0m | 2.96 – 3.51 | 17.9m | 37.39% |
| FC17-13 | 63m | 20.5m-46.4m | 2.97 – 3.47 | 22.88m | 23.94% |
| FC17-14 | 63m | 27.9m-47.5m | 3.35 – 3.40 | 14.0m | 38.41% |
| FC17-15 | 60m | 21.5m-38.4m | 3.13 – 4.49 | 15.22m | 37.65% |
| FC17-16 | 60m | 35.7m-44.6m | 2.91 | very poor recovery | N/A |
| FC17-17 | 72m | 26.6m-53.7m | 2.96 – 4.41 | 18.23m | 31.48% |
| FC17-18 | 60m | no sample | |||
| FC17-19 | 59m | no sample | |||
| FC17-20 | 35m | 5m-10.5m | 3.02 | 4.73m | 22.73% |
| FC17-21 | 36m | 7m-13.3m | 3.25 – 4.35 | 6.1m | 61.16% |
| FC17-22 | 33m | 6m-13.2m | 3.25 | 4.86 | 36.38% |
| FC17-23 | 33m | no sample | |||
| FC17-24a | 51m | 29m-32m | 3.13 | 1.04m | 19.36% |
| FC17-24b | 45m-48m | 3.48 | 1.45 | 52.54% | |
| FC17-25 | 42m | 31.3m-36.9m | 2.97 – 3. | 3.33m | 25.40% |
The Francis Creek Barite mineralization occurs as a 2 phase breccia vein which was emplaced along a fault. The matrix of the breccia is crystalline barite; the breccia clasts are composed of dolomite and argillite country rock from the walls of the vein. The breccia matrix ranges from 19.36% to 68.88% crystalline barite throughout the explored portion of the vein. A total of 20 spot samples of the crystalline barite matrix rock were collected from select intervals of core from 10 holes drilled along the strike of the breccia vein. Analyses of these samples showed a range of 93.83 % to 99.68 % BaSO4, averaging at 97.10 % BaSO4. The specific gravity analyses of these samples ranged from 4.29 to 4.50 and averaged at 4.41 SG.
Voyageur management believes that a milling circuit that includes crushing, jigging and advanced gravity separation should be able to recover a high purity – high specific gravity, industrial grade barite product from the Frances Creek Barite Breccia Vein.
2018 planning and goals:
- The Company is in the process of completing an updated resource report (NI 43-101) which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.
- An application for a 10,000 tonne bulk sample will be submitted in the first quarter.
- A 2018 drilling and geophysical work program for the Frances Creek property is being prepared.
The Company is currently investigating new technology which may produce high value barium products at low cost. This technology has the potential to take the 96%-98% barite crystals on the Francis Creek property and create a 99.98% barium precipitate and or barium carbonate. The objective for 2018 is to prove the technology by lab testing, and if proven successful the construction of a pilot plant to process the 10,000 tonne bulk sample.
The Company plans to continue exploration in 2018 to search for zones along the thrust fault and to depth. Geophysical work will be done to outline anomalies at depth along the fault zone and also to outline cross faulting along the trend as this is where the largest zones of barite have been discovered thus far.
Management is very pleased with the results from the 2017 drilling campaign. The discovery of such high grade barite mineralization makes this property very unique and potentially one of a kind. Voyageur’s management team will be focusing on marketing high value barium in the pharmaceutical, paint powder coatings and glass markets. The objective is to produce high purity barium precipitate (Blanc Fixe) and barium carbonate.
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 and pharmaceutical barite market place.
The Company also has 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.