Mineralized breccia hit at Thorn (October 28, 2003)

Vancouver — Partners Rimfire Minerals (RFM-V) and Cangold (CLD-V) have discovered a polymetallic heterolithic breccia on the Thorn property southeast of Atlin, B.C.

The juniors set their sights on the Oban Breccia zone in the recently completed 875-metre drill campaign. The results are in for one of the eight-holes drilled with hole 19 returning 38.6 metres grading 1.22 grams gold and103.2 grams silver per tonne from 6.1 metres down hole. Included in this section is a higher grade portion running 1.97 grams gold, 190 grams silver, 1.3% lead and 0.77% zinc over 14 metres.

Mineralization is hosted in the breccia matrix and comprises up to 15% pyrite-sphalerite andboulangerite ( a lead-antimony sulphosalt).

“The grades intersected in THN03-19 compare very favourably with, and in many cases are significantlyhigher than the well-known bulk-tonnage silver-gold deposits around the world,” says Cangold’s President, Robert Archer. “It is also encouraging to see that there is significant potential for a high-grade depositwithin the core of the zone.”

The Oban prospect is only one of 17 mineralized zones identified on the property. The partners discovered the zone back in 2002, while investigating a multi-element soil geochemical anomaly. The discovery boulder returned 6,148 grams silver, 3.5 grams gold, 43% lead and 3.5% zinc.

Exploration over the Thorn property dates back to 1959 but the bulk of the mineralized zones were discovered by Julian Mining, the Canadian arm of Anaconda, from 1963-to-1966. The company outlined quartz-pyrite-tetrahedrite-enargite veins at sones B, C, D, F, I, L and M; structurally-controlled chalcopyrite-pyrite-quartzarsenopyrite veins and replacement zones (zones A, E, G and H) and areas of widespread, low-grade disseminated chalcopyrite (J, P and Cirque Zones). Julian ut down 4 drill holes in 1963 and 4 holes in 1965. The best results from the A zone graded 2.4% copper, 201 grams silver and 1.4 grams gold over 2.4 metres.

The next round of drilling came in 1986, when Inland Recovery and American Reserve Mining drilled eight holes from three location west of the B zone. The best results were 2.77 metres grading 3.78% copper, 2 grams gold and 153 grams silver.

Rimfire entered the scene in 2000 by staking a part of the property and optioning another part. In March 2002, Cangold, then First Au Strategies, optioned the property from Rimfire. Under the deal, Cangold can earn a 51% stake in the property by spending $1.2 million, issuing 250,000 shares, and paying $190,000 over three years.

The latest bout of drilling tested the 100-by-300-metre higher-grade core of the Oban soil anomaly. The north-trending anomaly is defined by values greater than 345 parts per billion gold, 22 parts per million silver, 1,655 ppm arsenic, 1,635 ppm lead, 177 ppm antimony and 488 ppm zinc. Fieldwork on the Oban Breccia zone has defined a strong northerly trend to the controlling structure.

A helicopter-portable backhoe exposed sericite-altered breccia peripheral to the soil anomaly but was unable to expose bedrock in the heart of the target, owing to overburden. Some 8 metres of bedrock were exposed at the outer edge of the soil anomaly, with trench results yielding up to 182 grams silver and 966 ppb gold.

The results for the remaining drill holes are expected by mid-November.