VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Strongbow Exploration Inc. (SBW: TSXV) has been notified by Westhaven Ventures Inc. (WHN: TSXV) that an exploration drilling program is underway at the Shovelnose gold property located adjacent to the Coquihalla highway approximately 30 km south of Merritt, British Columbia. The 800 m program will evaluate several never before tested priority targets including the Line 6 and MIK epithermal gold showings, where gold mineralization is hosted within siliceous tuff-hosted epithermal-style quartz veins. Previous mechanized trenching of the showings has produced encouraging mineralized intervals, including 20 m grading 0.8 g/t gold, 16.0 m grading 1.4 g/t gold, and 6.0 m grading 5.1 g/t gold. Drilling is being carried out by Foraco Drilling Ltd. of Kamloops, BC, and is expected to be completed by early November.
Initial exploration work completed earlier this fall by Westhaven resulted in the identification of two new prospective target areas. As a result, an additional 5,287 ha of mineral claims were staked, increasing the size of the Shovelnose property to approximately 16,000 ha. Approximately 1,000 soil samples and 169 rock samples were collected for geochemical analysis. Analytical results for these samples are pending, however Westhaven has initiated a second phase of prospecting and silt sampling within the newly staked areas of the property. This work is designed to follow up a BC government Regional Geochemical Survey (RGS) silt sample that assayed 100 ppb gold and 2,700 ppb mercury. This sample is located approximately 9 kilometres to the northeast of the MIK showing and adds a new exploration facet to the Shovelnose property. Approximately 25 silt samples will be taken to help delineate areas of interest on the newly acquired claims.
Westhaven’s exploration programs are part of an agreement under which Westhaven can earn up to a 70% interest in the Shovelnose property. Under the terms of the agreement, first announced in a Strongbow news release dated January 25, 2011, Westhaven can earn an initial 51% interest by incurring $1.5 million in exploration expenditures over a three year period and issuing a total of 300,000 common shares to Strongbow. Within 12 months of having earned its 51% interest in the property, Westhaven will have the option to increase its total property interest to 70% by issuing an additional 500,000 shares to Strongbow, and incurring an additional $1.5 million in exploration expenditures.
Exploration of the Shovelnose property is supervised by Kristopher J. Raffle, P.Geo (BC) Senior Geologist for APEX Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, who is the qualified person for the project as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
STRONGBOW EXPLORATION INC.
/s/“Kenneth A. Armstrong”
Kenneth A. Armstrong
President and CEO
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