TSX-V: AWS
VANCOUVER, May 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Robert L. Card, President of Arrowstar Resources
Ltd., ("Arrowstar" or the "Company") (TSXV: AWS), is pleased to
provide a report on the Company's progress over the past year and
an outline of our exploration plans for the next six months, ahead
of the Company's Annual General Meeting scheduled for June 13, 2012.
In early 2011, Arrowstar redirected its focus.
We have successfully executed on several transactions in the past
year and are continuing to look for new opportunities. We divested
our interest in the coal projects in Mongolia, and acquired some grass-roots gold
projects in Canada, as well
as three iron ore projects, two of which are in eastern
Canada, and one that is
further developed and located in south-eastern Alaska, USA. Part of the reason the Company has
brought its focus back to North
America is the ease to finance the projects. On March 7, 2012 Gulfside Minerals Ltd. changed its
name to Arrowstar Resources Ltd. With a solid portfolio of mineral
properties and a growing team of mineral transaction and
development experts, Arrowstar is well positioned to create
shareholder value and wealth in 2012, and beyond.
Our objective is the eventual development and
production of proven commercial mineral deposits and the strategic
divestiture of other assets at a profit for cash, or cash and
participation in those assets' growth potential by retaining an
equity stake in the buyer or a net smelter royalty. On April 30, 2012, the Company released their
audited Financial Statements for the year ending December 31, 2011. As of that date, Arrowstar had
Assets of Cdn$2,417,065 and Net
Earnings of Cdn$810,419. Net Earnings
per Common Share were Cdn$0.02.
Arrowstar is bullish on iron ore - The
interest is being fueled by strong global demand for steel and the
desire of China and other growing
Asian nations to diversify from traditional supply sources. North
American iron ore is regarded favorably on world markets and the
Canadian government is supporting international business
relationships. Arrowstar expects those trends to continue. In
August, 2011, we announced we had acquired options to three iron
ore projects. All three are in regions with active current or
legacy mining or exploration activity.
• Port Snettisham, Alaska. This is the Company's most
highly-developed project, consisting of 49 mineral claims located
30 miles southeast of Juneau,
Alaska. This project is a titaniferous (Ilmenite) magnetite
deposit on the Snettisham Peninsula. The first major effort to
explore the iron potential of the deposit was conducted in the
1950's by the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, who
drilled 11 holes, conducted a geophysical survey over the body, and
had beneficiation tests done on the ore samples. A section of 1900
feet of the deposit was explored to a depth of 1000 feet, totaling
6,546 linear feet of drill holes. In 1969, Marcona Corporation
optioned the iron ore deposit and carried out extensive exploration
including diamond drilling and metallurgical tests. Although there
has been no independent qualified independent person verification
and no NI 43-101 compliant report prepared, it was reported in the
Tokyo Press (Nihon Keizai, April 14,
1969) that Marcona Corporation and the Marubeni Company of
Japan, had developed plans to
pelletize two to four million tons of iron ore annually. In 1970,
Marcona completed a feasibility study on the deposit and announced
plans to put the deposit into production at a rate of 5 million
tons of concentrate per year over a 50 year mine life.
(State of Alaska, Mines Bulletin,
February 1970.) However, when the
iron ore prices declined, the plan did not materialize.
Arrowstar is currently preparing an exploration
plan for its Snettisham iron ore property including soil and rock
sampling, an outcrop and trench sample study, and a ground-based IP
magnetic and gravity study. The Company plans to be on the ground
by late May or early June, weather permitting. A diamond drilling
program directed by these two studies is planned for the end of the
summer and will put Arrowstar well on its way to verifying the
tonnage and grade by the end of 2012.
• Roberts Lake, Quebec. The Company's purchase of 128
claims at Roberts Lake, in northern Quebec along the extensive Ungava Bay Iron
Formation is part of this strategic plan. Roberts Lake is an
important acquisition from an industry leverage perspective. The
claim sits in close proximity to neighbouring Oceanic Iron Ore
Corp's (TSX-V: FEO) large Roberts Lake iron ore claims. On
January 23, 2012, Oceanic announced
better than expected assay results from the Kayak Bay deposit in
the Roberts Lake project area as part of their 2011 drilling
program consisting of approximately 11,500 meters of drilling in
the Hopes Advance project area, and 1,089 meters of drilling in the
Roberts Lake project area. Oceanic has indicated that the Roberts
Lake project area is expected to be the next area of focus for
their resource verification program. Arrowstar believes the
property's value is enhanced by its strategic location to the
Ungava Bay properties.
Arrowstar will be completing an initial sampling
and geophysical work program in 2012 and plans to have a work crew
on the ground this July, weather permitting.
• Rannie Lake,
Labrador & Newfoundland.
This is an important 43 square-kilometer iron ore property,
consisting of 172 claims in the Sokomon Iron Formation in a major
magnetite-rich zone. Rannie Lake has
a strategic importance similar to the Roberts Lake project. It is
surrounded by large properties owned by Altius Minerals Corp.
(TSX-V: ALS) in partnership with Rio Tinto. Arrowstar plans to
begin a program of geophysics and on-the-ground sampling to
identify drill targets for next year's drill program and plans to
have a work crew on the ground this July, weather permitting.
Atlin, British
Columbia, Gold & Silver Properties - In the spring
of 2011, Arrowstar acquired four gold and silver exploration
properties near Atlin, BC:
Northern Treasure, Bryer, Golden Fleece and Argonaut. The Company's
Golden Fleece and Argonaut properties were sold in the fall of
2011, to Ocean Park Ventures Corp.
We began advancing the Northern Treasure and
Bryer properties this past summer which included geological
exploration as well as evaluating strategic alternatives. Because
of poor weather conditions, not as much work was done as had been
planned for and there were no meaningful results. However, on
January 5, 2012, neighbouring Brixton
Metals Corporation (TSX-V:BBB) announced its drilling program assay
results at its Thorn gold-silver-copper property which found a
substantial near-surface, high-grade mineralization zone. In 2011,
Brixton completed a drilling program of 21 holes (5,682m) at their
Thorn property. The Thorn property is immediately adjacent to
Arrowstar's Bryer property on two sides. This reinforces our
outlook that we are in a good area. Arrowstar expects to continue
the exploration work on the Bryer and Northern Treasure properties
this summer.
Cranbrook, British
Columbia, Gold & Copper Property - Arrowstar
recently signed an option agreement for the Harris gold-copper
property near Cranbrook, BC. The
property is surrounded by Teck Resources Ltd. (NYSE: TCK) and Eagle
Plains Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: EPL) which are doing active
exploration. Arrowstar expects to perform exploration work on the
Harris property this summer.
Reinforced Management Team - Arrowstar
has recently added key strategic expertise to its Board and
Management team. In November 2011,
Peter Arendt, PEng, a mining
industry professional, was appointed to the Board of Directors. As
the former president and CEO of Northern Iron Corp. and COO of G4G
Resources Ltd., he brings to Arrowstar extensive senior-level
management and site-based mining operations experience in the
development of iron ore projects. Mr. Arendt holds a Bachelor of
Engineering (Mining) degree and a Graduate Diploma in Business. He
is a Professional Engineer registered with the Association of
Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, and with the Association of
Professional Engineers, Geoscientists and Geophysicists of
Alberta.
In January 2012,
Phillip Thomas, BSc, MBus,
MAIG was appointed Vice President of Exploration. Mr. Thomas
brings solid expertise and a keen understanding of geophysics and
iron ore. He has the knowledge and experience to quickly
commercialize early-stage projects and solve exploration or
operational problems at any level. Mr. Thomas is a senior officer
of Vallenar Iron Company, Chile.
He has been involved with their magnetite iron ore project since
its inception, in 2005. A pilot plant was constructed in 2006, with
production commencing in 2007. Mr. Thomas holds a BSc in Geology
and an MBus in Business Marketing. He holds a Certificate in
Financial Analysis, and is a member of the Australian Institute of
Geoscientists.
Wind-up of Mongolia Coal Projects - In
October, 2010, we divested our five percent interest in ECM LLC, a
Mongolian corporation that holds the exploration license to the
Erdenetsogt property. We received US$500,000 as a down payment against a total
purchase price of US$2-million. The
US$1.5-million balance was received
by Arrowstar Resources, in October, 2011.
In early 2009, Arrowstar acquired an interest in
the Onjuul lignite project in central Mongolia. The Company conducted exploration in
2009, and then spent 2010 attempting to finance further development
of the property. Arrowstar decided to abandon its interests
and announced the sale of its exploration data to Lucky Strike
Resources Ltd. in October, 2011.
Arrowstar Resources: Positioned for Long Term
Growth - In summary, with a solid, diversified portfolio of
carefully selected mineral properties, a growing team of mineral
transaction and development experts in place and a strong pipeline
of new projects, Arrowstar is confident that it is well-positioned
to create shareholder value now and through 2012.
The Company invites all interested parties to
visit their website and to sign up to their email list, so as to
keep informed of their progress going forward. The Company plans on
issuing further news reports in the next several weeks with more
detailed plans for the exploration programs for its mineral
properties. Phillip Thomas, BSc,
MBus, MAIG, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed the
content of this release.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
Gulfside Minerals Ltd.
"Robert L. Card"
Robert L. Card
President
"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release."
Forward-Looking Statements: This document
includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements concerning AWS's
planned exploration programs and other statements that are not
historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as
"could," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may,"
"potential," "should," and similar expressions are forward-looking
statements. Although AWS believes that its expectations reflected
in these forward looking statements are reasonable, such statements
involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that
actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ from these forward-looking statements are disclosed under
the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the corporation's
periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators.
SOURCE Arrowstar Resources Ltd.