Silver Spruce to Begin Phase Two Diamond Drilling on Big Easy Gold/Silver Property, Eastern Newfoundland


BRIDGEWATER, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - June 7, 2012) - Silver Spruce Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SSE)

Highlights

  • Approx. 1,000m in 3-4 holes planned to test epithermal style mineralization
  • 2011 diamond drilling - best intersection
    • 0.87 g/t Au, 33.5 g/T Ag / 30.5m (228-258.5m) in BE-11-3
      • and 6.04 g/T Au, 114 g/T Ag / 1m (245-246m)
      • incl. 6.05 g/t Au, 174 g/T Ag / 1.5m (240.5-242m)
  • Adularia and boiling textures, typical of near-surface epithermal systems, noted in core re-logging

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is pleased to announce that Cabo Drilling of Springdale, NL has been awarded the contract for 1,000m of diamond drilling on its road-accessible, Big Easy gold/silver property in eastern Newfoundland. The drill will be mobilized in mid-June to test epithermal mineralization in an altered (silicified) zone, over an area of approximately 1.7 km by up to 300m wide. Seven drill holes totalling 1577m, the first drilling that has tested the area, all intersected significant gold/silver mineralization over a 1.2 km strike length in 2011 (news releases dated May 31 and June 7, 2011).

"This Phase Two follow-up drilling program is based on our 2011 drilling, a detailed structural interpretation of the mineralized zones by a consultant from Caracle Creek International Consulting, and a clearer understanding of the extensive epithermal system through the support of academic (Memorial University) and government (NL Department of Natural Resources) studies," says Peter Dimmell, President and CEO of Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

These studies show the following:

  1. Banded, "bonanza style" veins were intersected in the 2011 drilling with the best example in BE-11-7, the northernmost drill hole, where a banded, 0.3m vein gave 335 g/T (> 10 oz/T) Ag and 2.57 g/T Au from 231.3-231.6m.
  1. Adularia (potassium feldspar), sinter (hot spring silica deposits) and boiling textures are noted in the core and outcrop and indicate that the system lies at or near the paleosurface. This also indicates that higher grade "bonanza style gold/silver veins", if present, would likely lie at greater depths beneath the paleosurface than we have tested thus far.
  1. The banded, epithermal veins noted from the 2011 drilling generally lie at oblique angles to the core axis indicating that, while the drilling intersected bedding at good angles, it may have drilled down dip on the veins. This may indicate that the feeder systems for the hot spring(s), including the mineralized veins, may not have been tested properly by the 2011 diamond drilling program.

"The presence of adularia in crustiform vein and cockscomb breccia textures, silica pseudomorphs after bladed calcite, and silica sinters preserved from the paleosurface are all indicative of the class of low-sulfidation epithermal systems considered highly prospective for epithermal gold/silver deposits," notes Dr. Graham Layne, Associate Professor, Earth Sciences at Memorial University.

In addition to the diamond drilling, a combined airborne high resolution magnetic and VLF-EM survey is planned to cover the entire Big Easy property. The survey will give lithologic (rock type) and structural information on the Big Easy-ET trend which has been traced over 5 km plus, remaining open to the north and south along the trend.

The 121 claim (30 km2) original property, located near Thorburn Lake in eastern Newfoundland, was optioned from prospectors Alex Turpin and Colin Kendall. The agreement, to earn 100% interest subject to a 3% NSR with a 1.5% buyback for $1.5M, is for a total of $110,000 plus 1.6 M shares over three years. A yearly advance royalty payment of $20,000 per year, deducted from future NSR payments, is payable from the 4th anniversary on. Another 173 claims were added in 2011 after discovery of the ET zone, 3.5 km to the south, to bring the property to 294 claims (73.5 km2).

Plan maps for Phase One drilling and a compilation map for the property are shown on the Silver Spruce website at www.silverspruceresources.com.

This release has been approved by Peter M. Dimmell, P.Geo., President & CEO of Silver Spruce Resources Inc., who is a Qualified Person (QP) in NL and ON as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Silver Spruce is a diversified junior exploration company with a portfolio of rare earth (Pope's Hill, Pope's Hill JV (with Great Western Minerals Group), MRT, RWM and the Straits), gold silver (Big Easy), and for the longer term, uranium (CMBJV, Snegamook, Double Mer, Mount Benedict) projects in Newfoundland and Labrador. With interests in more than 4,000 claims totalling more than 1,000 square kilometres in Labrador, Silver Spruce is one of the largest landholders in one of the world's premier emerging rare earth and uranium districts. For additional information please visit the company's website - www.silverspruceresources.com.

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. The company seeks Safe Harbour.

Contact Information:

Gordon Barnhill, CFO & Director
Silver Spruce Resources Inc.
902.527.5700
902.527.5711 (FAX)
gbarnhill@silverspruceresources.com

For investor and media relations:
Paul Snow
Pilot Communications Inc.
709.753.0794 ext 31
709.753.0795 (FAX)
psnow@pilotcom.ca