Mineralized breccia hit at Thorn (November 14, 2003)

Vancouver Systematic exploration over the Thorn property by partners Rimfire Minerals (RFM-V) and Cangold (CLD-V) has resulted in the discovery of a polymetallic heterolithic breccia some 130 km southeast of Atlin in northwestern BC.

The juniors set their sights on the Oban Breccia zone in the recently completed 875-metre drill campaign. Five of the eight holes drilled into the zone returned promising values with hole 19 returning 38.6 metres grading 1.22 grams gold and 103.2 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.

"The grades intersected in 19 compare very favourably with, and in many cases are significantly higher than the well-known bulk-tonnage silver-gold deposits around the world," says Cangold’s President, Robert Archer.

Holes 21 and 22 tested the mineralization 20 and 95 metres down dip, respectively, with hole 21 being drilled at -45 to the northeast. This hole returned 40.7 metres grading 118.8 grams silver and 0.83 grams gold. Included in this section is a higher grade portion running 173.1 grams silver and 1.2 grams gold over 25.2 metres. Hole 22 was drilled vertically from the same location, intersecting 30.6 metres of lower grade material before cutting 110.1 grams silver and 0.68 gram gold over the final 77.8 metres of the hole. This zone includes two higher-grade intersections separated by a 21 metre lower grade interval. The upper interval assayed 159.4 grams silver and 0.84 gram gold over 19.6 metres, while the lower zone assayed 264.9 grams silver and 1.72 grams gold over 7.1 metres.

Hole 20 was drilled from the same site as hole 19 but in the opposite direction, intersecting 53.3 metres of 65.6 grams silver and 0.31 gram gold.

Moving 25 metres northwest of hole 21 and 22, hole 23 returned 62.1 metres grading 69.2 grams silver and 0.32 gram gold. Included in this section was an 11.1 metre section running 206.1 grams silver and 0.34 gram gold.

Hole 16 was collared 85 metres north of hole 23, while holes 17 and 18 were drilled 170 metres northwest of hole 23. These holes intersected weakly anomalous silver, gold, lead and zinc values..

" The Oban discovery has now been confirmed at depth and along strike to the northwest," says Rimfire’s president, David Caulfield. "Drilling further to northwest has not explained the strongly anomalous silver and gold values found in soils, nor the high grades obtained from rock sampling in that region."

Mineralization within the Oban Breccia occurs both as rinds around large clasts and as disseminated to massive sulphides and sulphosalts replacing the matrix. The higher-grade core, roughly 20-25 metres wide within a lower grade envelope, appears to have an overall width of about 60 metres and dips 65-75 degrees to the southwest. Higher-grade silver-gold-lead-zinc mineralization is typically associated with zones of increased sulphide/sulphosalt content, commonly forming rims on breccia fragments.

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 Thorn property consists of 394 contiguous claim units covering 9,850 hectares some 130 km southeast of Atlin. The Golden Bear Mine lies 50 km to the southeast, and provides the closest road access to project.