Red Pine Releases Inferred Resource Report; Improves Grade and Tonnage for Wawa Gold Project


TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 11, 2015) - Red Pine Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RPX) (the "Company" or "Red Pine") announces that it has received an Independent Technical Report for its Wawa Gold Project from Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience ("Ronacher McKenzie") in collaboration with SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. ("SRK"), which includes an updated resource estimate for the Surluga-Jubilee Deposit ("Surluga Deposit").

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

  • Improved Inferred Resource at the Surluga Deposit with a 14.7% increase in gold grade and a 1.5% increase in gold content contained within less tonnes of ore:
    • 1,088,000 ounces at 1.71 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold contained in 19.824 million tonnes (using an average 0.5 g/t gold cut off grade)
  • Pit-constrained inferred resources of 676,000 ounces at 2.05 g/t gold and outside pit-constrained inferred resources of 298,000 at 1.07 g/t Au for all gold zones located between surface and 300 meters vertical depth (using a 0.4 g/t gold cut-off grade)
  • High-grade Underground Constrained Inferred Resource:
    • 114,000 ounces gold at 3.73 g/t gold (using a 2.5 g/t gold cut-off grade)
  • 89.5% of the resource is located between surface and 300 m vertical depth.
  • The Surluga Deposit contains discrete zones of higher-grade gold mineralisation that have a strong control on the spatial distribution of the gold.
  • The Ronacher McKenzie-SRK report states: "Further, there is gold mineralization in the hanging wall and footwall secondary structures, but its geometry remains poorly constrained". This indicates that the contained gold of the pit-constrained resource can be increased by defining (drilling and logging of historic core) the gold zones in the hanging wall and footwall of the Surluga Deposit. This can significantly improve the current Surluga resource and its economic potential.

The updated inferred resource estimate for the Surluga Deposit (Table 1), was based on the 2007 historical boreholes (126,067 meters) and the 26 boreholes (5,594 meters) drilled by Red Pine Exploration in 2014 and 2015. The mineral resource estimate was prepared by Sébastien Bernier (P.Geo.) of SRK. Mr. Bernier is the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and is independent of Red Pine.

Table 1. Mineral Resource Statement*, Surluga-Jubilee Gold Deposit, Wawa Gold Project, Ontario, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc (effective May 26, 2015)

Resource Category Cut-off
Gold
(g/t)
Quantity
('000 t)
Grade
Gold
(g/t)
Contained
Metal Gold
('000 oz)
Inferred**
Pit-Constrained 0.40 10,239 2.05 676
Outside Pit-constrained 0.40 8,630 1.07 298
Underground 2.50 955 3.73 114
Total 0.50 19,824 1.71 1,088
* Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Composites have been capped where appropriate.
** Open pit mineral resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.40 g/t gold in relation with a conceptual pit shell constructed by SRK. Underground mineral resources include classified modelled blocks below the conceptual pit shell and above a cut-off grade of 2.50 g/t gold. Cut-off grades are based on a gold price of US$1,250 per once and a gold recovery of 95 percent.

The Updated Resource Estimate for the Surluga Deposit shows a marked improvement in the grade and quality of the inferred resource from the previous resource estimate as well as an improvement in the total contained gold (Augustine Ventures news release November 28th, 2012).

Using a 0.4 g/t gold cut-off for Pit-constrained and 2.5 g/t gold cut-off for underground-constrained resource blocks, the Surluga Deposit contains an overall inferred gold resource of 1,088,000 ounces of gold at 1.71 g/t gold. The Pit-constrained resource is based on an optimized Whittle pit shell that extends to a maximum vertical depth of approximately 300 metres and are reported at a 0.4 g/t gold cut-off. The optimized pit shell contains an inferred resource of 676,000 ounces of gold at 2.05 g/t gold associated with an inferred resource of 298,000 ounces of gold at 1.07 g/t gold defined outside the limits of the Whittle optimized pit shell but shallower than 300 metre vertical depth. The Underground-constrained resource includes all the gold zones of the Surluga Deposit deeper than 300 meters vertical depth. Reported at a 2.5 g/t gold cut-off, the Underground-constrained resource contains an inferred resource of 114,000 ounces of gold at 3.73 g/t gold.

Quentin Yarie, President and Chief Operating Officer commented, "The updated resource report substantiates our belief that the Surluga Deposit has upside potential. We now have a better understanding of the deposit's characteristics and have also gained considerable insight into the surrounding geology. We firmly believe the Wawa Gold Project has the potential to be a significant gold camp and will focus on conducting work which will lead to further resource improvements both within the current deposit as well as identified gold zones outside the Surluga Deposit area."

Resource estimate comparison (previous vs. current) and confirmation of high-grade gold zones in the Surluga Deposit

The marked increase in the overall grade of the Surluga Deposit reflects a better understanding of the geological controls on the distribution of the higher grade gold zones. Using SRK's assumptions and partitioning the resource into two distinct zones, the total contained gold of the inferred resource was increased from 1.072 million ounces (0.5 g/t cut-off; Watts, Griffis and McOuat, Amended 43-101 report, October 15, 2012) to 1.088 million ounces, representing a 1.5% addition in total gold content. However, as the historical resource was not constrained by pit and underground zones, the sensitivity analysis(1) of the current resource provides a better direct comparison to the historical inferred resource of the Surluga Deposit. At a similar cut-off of 0.5 g/t gold, the in-situ gold content and the grade substantially increased when compared to the historical resource, from 1.072 million ounces at 1.49 g/t gold initially to 1.254 million ounces at 1.65 g/t gold, representing a 17% increase in the total ounces and a 10.7% increase in the gold grade. At a 2 g/t cut-off, the sensitivity analysis shows a marked increase in the size of the higher grade gold zones of the Surluga Deposit, from 0.498 million ounces at 3.33 g/t gold initially to 0.736 million ounces at 3.5 g/t gold in the current resource, representing a 48% increase in total gold content and a 5% increase in gold grade of the higher grade zones. The marked increase in the size and grade of the higher grade gold zones of the deposit suggests the potential to find extensions of the higher grade gold mineralization. Extending these high-grade gold zones, with local true thickness of over 20 meters, would substantially improve the economic potential of the Surluga Deposit. The high-grade zones identified in the Surluga Deposit remain open at depth.

Table 2 Cut-off grade sensitivity analysis - Surluga Deposit***

Cut-Off
Grade Gold
(g/t)
Location Tonnage
('000
tonnes)
Gold
(g/t)
Contained
Ounces
('000 oz)
Historical
('000
tonnes)
Historical
gold
(g/t)
Historical
('000 oz)
Change
gold
(g/t)
%
change
(grade)
Change
('000
oz)
%
change
(ounces)
0.5 Pit-constrained 9,162 2.24 660
Outside Pit-constrained 6,867 1.24 273
Underground 7,623 1.31 322
Total 23,652 1.65 1,254 22,355 1.49 1072 0.16 10.7 % 182.34 17 %
1 Pit-constrained 6,795 2.78 607
Outside Pit-constrained 2,604 2.12 177
Underground 3,014 2.34 227
Total 12,414 2.53 1,011 12,503 2.11 847 0.42 20.0 % 163.56 19 %
2 Pit-constrained 3,890 3.73 467
Outside Pit-constrained 1,001 3.22 104
Underground 1,658 3.11 166
Total 6,549 3.50 736 4,651 3.33 498 0.17 5.0 % 238.14 48 %
5 Pit-constrained 636 7.29 149
Outside Pit-constrained 93 7.18 21
Underground 128 8.00 33
Total 857 7.38 203 378 7.69 94 -0.31 -4.0 % 109.49 116 %
***The reader is cautioned that the figures presented in this table should not be misconstrued as a Mineral Resource Statement. The reported quantities and grades are only presented as a sensitivity of the deposit model to the selection of cut-off grade.

Substantial up-side potential also exists in the hanging wall and footwall of the Surluga Deposit

The mineral resource estimation presented in the resource statement is limited to the Jubilee Shear zone. The Ronacher McKenzie-SRK report states, "...there is gold mineralization in the hanging wall and footwall secondary structures, but its geometry remains poorly constrained". As a result, this mineralization has not been included in the updated resource statement. Figures 1 and 2 show the many gold intersections outside the main resource shell that are not included in the current resource statement such the Hornblende shear zone located 300 metres from the Jubilee shear zone, the Minto shear/vein systems located in the hanging wall of the Surluga deposit as well as many gold-mineralized shear systems and tensional vein sets.

Examples of historic and recent drill intersections in the hanging wall and footwall of the Surluga Deposit which are not included in the current resource statement include:

Hanging Wall

  • 2 metres @ 13.65 g/t gold (Minto shear system - SD-15-07),
  • 12.16 metres @ 3.39 g/t gold (Minto shear system - U1509L5),
  • 2 metres @ 5.66 g/t gold (Minto shear system - SD-14-06), and
  • 4.12 metres @ 3.32 g/t gold (Unnamed shear zone - S214).

Footwall:

  • 1 metre @ 51.7 g/t gold (tension quartz veins - SD-15-11),
  • 10.27 metres @ 3.01 g/t gold (Hornblende shear zone - U0007L7), and
  • 9.85 metres @ 3.16 g/t gold (Hornblende shear zone - U1116L3).

Summary

The updated technical report and revised resource estimate highlight many key features of the Surluga Deposit:

  • Better grade of the overall resources with an increase in size of the inferred resource;
  • The sensitivity analysis, which provides a direct comparison with the historical resource at a 0.5 g/t cut-off, shows a 17% increase in the total gold content and a 10.7% increase in the grade for the gold zones of the Surluga Deposit;
  • Better definition of the high-grade zones of the deposit that remain open at depth will most likely have a positive influence on the economics of the deposit; and
  • Potential to significantly improve grade and economics of the Surluga Deposit through additional verification and subsequent inclusion of the many gold zones located in the hanging wall and footwall that have been excluded in the current resource statement.

Notes to Resource Table on Page 1

  1. Tonnes and oz rounded to nearest thousand.
  2. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated eventual economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues, although the Company is not aware of any such issues.
  3. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as an Indicated or Measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them.
  4. The mineral resources were estimated using the Canadian institute of Mining, metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council.
  5. Resources have been estimated by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. This Press Release has been reviewed and approved by Elisabeth Ronacher, PhD, P.Geo. of Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience and Sébastien Bernier, P.Geo. of SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., both Qualified Persons for the NI 43-101 Technical Report. The technical report for this resource estimate will be filed on SEDAR by June 15, 2015. Please note that Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves have not demonstrated eventual economic viability.

Qualified Person

Quentin Yarie, P.Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical portions of this news release outside the scope of the Independent Technical Report and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company's exploration programs.

About Red Pine Exploration Inc.

Red Pine Exploration Inc. is a gold and base-metals exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RPX".

For more information about the Company visit www.redpineexp.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/rpx0611fig1.pdf.

To view Figure 2, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/rpx0611fig2.pdf.

(1) The reader is cautioned that the figures presented in this table should not be misconstrued as a Mineral Resource Statement. The reported quantities and grades are only presented as a sensitivity of the deposit model to the selection of cut-off grade.

Contact Information:

Red Pine Exploration Inc.
Quentin Yarie
President & COO
(416) 364-7024
qyarie@redpineexp.com

Red Pine Exploration Inc.
Mia Boiridy
Investor Relations
(416) 364-7024
mboiridy@redpineexp.com
www.redpineexp.com