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Eagle Plains
Commences Fieldwork on
Iron Range Project
Cranbrook,
B.C., 05 May, 2004: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (EPL:TSX-V)
has commenced fieldwork on the Iron Range
project located in the Goat River area 15km NE of Creston,
B.C.. The property consists of 144 units (8,700 acres)
owned 100% by Eagle Plains and holds no underlying royalties
or encumbrances. The property is well situated with
respect to infrastructure, with a high pressure gas
pipeline, high voltage hydro-electric line, railway
and major highway located within property boundaries.
The Iron Range deposits were originally staked in 1897
and were covered by Crown Grants held by Cominco Ltd.
and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Past work on the Iron
Range deposit by Cominco focused on the considerable
iron oxide resource with trenching and very shallow
(20m depth) diamond drilling along the Iron Range Mountain
ridge. Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. staked the current
claims immediately after the Crown Grants reverted in
2000.
Mineralization on the Iron Range property occurs within
the Iron Range fault zone and varies from massive lenses
of hematite and magnetite to hematite-magnetite breccia
bodies within a strongly albitized alteration halo.
The Iron Range Fault system represents a major structural
feature that is markedly different from other structures
in the area in terms of deformation and alteration.
The Iron Range deposits are directly linked to this
structure which has a strike length of at least 90 kilometers.
The mineralized zone on the Iron Range Property is exposed
over approximately 4 kilometers strike length and is
up to 150 meters wide. Structural, mineralization and
alteration relationships indicate that the property
has potential for both Olympic Dam type Cu–Au-U-REE
deposits and Sullivan type sedimentary-exhalative deposits.
The Olympic Dam deposit in Australia is known as the
worlds largest multi-mineral ore deposit, while the
nearby Sullivan deposit was a world class silver-lead-zinc
deposit which saw continuous production for over 100
years, closing in December, 2001.
Eagle Plains Resources retained Lucas Marshall, Ph.D.
in 2002 to undertake a compilation study on the Iron
Range area and to oversee fieldwork that year. Results
of his work conclude that the Iron Range geochemistry
compares favorably with that of other Olympic Dam type
deposits. In addition, geochemical sampling in an area
of the property known to contain the Sullivan time horizon
returned highly anomalous lead and zinc values over
1.5 km, providing the impetus for additional staking
during 2003 and 2004.
2004 exploration activities will consist of geological
mapping and geochemical surveys over areas of interest
recently delineated by a 690 line-km airborne geophysical
survey completed in early April (see News Release April
1st, 2004). The survey was conducted by Geotech Geophysical
Ltd., and consisted of airborne magnetometer and time-domain
electromagnetic (EM) instrumentation. Doug Anderson,
P.Geo. has been contracted to provide a geologic map
of the recently-acquired area of the property, and will
guide the geochemical survey. Mr. Anderson is considered
an expert in his field, having worked for Cominco and
others for some 25 years in the search for another Sullivan.
The project as a whole will be supervised by C.C. Downie,
P.Geo., Exploration Manager of Eagle Plains, who is
identified as a Qualified Person under National Instrument
43-101.
Eagle Plains Resources continues to conduct research,
acquisition and exploration projects in western Canada.
Through a network of experienced prospectors, consultants
and contractors in addition to seasoned employees and
a well-rounded Board of Directors, the Company has assembled
a diverse portfolio of gold and base-metal properties.
Eagle Plains seeks to attract joint-venture participation
on its properties, thereby leveraging exploration spending
to the ultimate benefit of the Company’s shareholders.
In recent years, Eagle Plains has completed option agreements
with Billiton, Rio Algom, Kennecott, NovaGold/SpectrumGold
Inc., Viceroy Resource Corp. and numerous other junior
exploration companies, resulting in nearly 13,000m (43,000’)
of drilling and over $5,000,000 in exploration spending
on its properties since 1998.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Signed
Tim J. Termuende, P.Geo.
President and CEO
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