PHASE 1 DRILLING PROGRAM NOW UNDERWAY ON BENZDORP PROPERTY,
SURINAME
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
June 17, 2003
Canarc Resource Corp. (CCM : TSX and CRCUF : OTC-BB)
(“Canarc” or the “Company”) announces
that a Phase 1 drilling program is now underway on the Benzdorp
gold property in Suriname. An estimated 3,000 m of core drilling
is planned in about 30 holes to test the gold mineralization in
five prospect areas: JQA, JQW, JQS, Pointu Kreek and Roche Kreek.
The JQA and Roche Kreek prospect areas host broad zones of porphyry-style
gold mineralization in diorite stocks that intrude the andesite
volcanics of the Benzdorp greenstone belt. JQA in particular
is a large target of stockwork vein and fracture mineralization
measuring at least 1,000m long by up to 500m wide, open in several
directions. Fine gold occurs within quartz-limonite veinlets
associated with potassic alteration and elevated copper and molybdenum
values in the deeper samples.
Canarc’s previous exploration work in the JQA prospect
area is suggestive of a large, multi-million oz, porphyry-style
gold target grading in the 0.5 gpt to 1.5 gpt range. Drilling
will initially test a 900m x 450m portion of the JQA prospect
with four fences of short angled holes (75m to125m deep) to evaluate
the saprolite mineralization already outlined by dozens of 10m
deep auger holes and several large trenches. Since saprolite
mineralization represents the near-surface, oxidized, soft, clay
altered portion of gold deposits in a tropical environment, it
does not normally need to be drilled, blasted and crushed for
mining and can be processed using simple gravity and flotation
methods to recover the gold. Therefore, it has lower costs
and higher profits than bedrock mineralization. At Benzdorp,
the saprolite can be as thick as 80m beneath the laterite-capped
hilltops or as little as 20 m thick below the gravel-filled valleys,
averaging about 50m thick.
An excellent example of saprolite gold mining in South America
is the Brasilia mine in Brasil owned by RTZ and Kinross. In
2002, the mine produced 223,000 oz gold from 18.4 million tonnes
saprolite ore grading 0.48 gpt gold with only a 79% recovery. Their
cash operating costs were a low US$167 per oz, mine output exceeded
50,000 tons per day, and a 50% expansion of the mill-rate is scheduled
in 2003.
The JQW, JQS and Pointu Kreek prospect areas host shear-vein
gold mineralization along northeast-trending structures crosscutting
the basaltic andesite volcanic rocks. This style of mineralization
is more typical of higher-grade gold mines in ancient greenstone
belts like the Ashanti mine in Ghana. Gold occurs with sulphide/oxide
minerals in quartz-calcite veins and replacements within the shear
zones.
The Pointu Kreek structure where partially exposed in trench
samples grades from 44 gpt over 2 m to 2.45 gpt over 17m and appears
to form the western boundary to the JQA prospect over a distance
of at least 1 km. The Phase 1 program will initially test
only one cross section line in each of the high-grade targets
with short scissor holes to ensure that any parallel, mineralized
zones are also intersected. The drill program is anticipated to
take about 75 days and initial assays are expected in August.
On Behalf Of The Board Of Directors
CANARC RESOURCE CORP.
/s/ Bradford J. Cooke
Bradford J. Cooke
President
For more information, please contact Gregg Wilson at tel: (604)
685-9700, fax: (604) 685-9744, email [email protected] or visit
our website, www.canarc.net. The TSX Exchange has neither
approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.
Suite 800 - 850 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada, V6C 1E1 Tel: (604) 685-9700 Fax: (604) 685-9744