Drilling Completed at Strongbow's Shovelnose Gold Property, BC


Strongbow Exploration Inc. (SBW: TSXV) is pleased to provide an update on its exploration properties in Canada and the southeastern United States.

Shovelnose gold property (British Columbia)

Strongbow has been notified by Westhaven Ventures Inc. (WHN: TSXV) that a 5 hole, 778 m exploration drilling program has been completed at the Shovelnose gold property. Two drill holes further evaluated the Tower showing where drilling in 2011 identified a broad alteration system (55.8 m grading 0.21 g/t Au). Two holes tested targets associated with the Tower Creek valley that separates the Tower showing from the Mik gold showings, and the final hole of the program evaluated a separate, 1100 m long northwest trending structural/geochemical target located 720 m to the north of the Tower showing. All five drill holes encountered intervals of silicification ranging from several metres to 120 m in apparent thickness, with locally developed banded and stockwork quartz veining and quartz breccias displaying textures typical of low sulphidation epithermal systems. Assay results from the drill program are pending. Westhaven is funding the costs of the current drill program as part of an option to earn up to a 70% interest in the property.

Midway and Ridgeway gold projects (South Carolina)

Strongbow is pleased to report it has concluded seventeen amendment agreements with landowners at the Midway project. The amendments extend the term of underlying option agreements on each property for a period of two years (to December 2016 or December 2018) and have also reduced annual holding costs for calendar year 2013. With the amendments in place, as well as the planned relinquishment of several other properties, Strongbow expects to retain 22 option agreements covering approximately 1,800 acres with an annual 2013 holding cost of $49,500, representing a reduction of 80%. The retained properties represent the core of the Midway project and the areas believed to host the greatest potential for discovery of a gold deposit similar to the adjacent Haile gold mine deposits that are currently in the mine permitting stage.

The Company has also received results from follow up geochemical sampling of two priority targets at the Ridgeway property. The targets are located within 350 m and 1,100 m of, and along strike from, the Ridgeway mine's north pit which produced approximately 750,000 ounces of gold during the 1990's. The new results have confirmed the robust nature of these targets which are located on properties that were not subject to drilling during exploration and development of the Ridgeway mine.

Petrographic and structural analyses have also been completed at both the Midway and Ridgeway gold projects. The petrographic study, including electron microprobe analyses, focused on characterizing minerals associated with hydrothermal alteration identified in drill core. This work, combined with new interpretations of the structural geology of both project areas has refined the exploration targets identified to date. In particular, this work has refined the expected location of important stratigraphic contacts between volcanic and sedimentary rock units. These volcanic-sedimentary contacts represent an important first order control in gold mineralization at both the Haile and Ridgeway gold mines, located adjacent to and along strike from Strongbow's properties.

Snowbird nickel project (Saskatchewan/Northwest Territories)

The Company continues to evaluate opportunities to advance the district scale Snowbird nickel project. The project hosts the Nickel King deposit, as well as a number of nickel-copper showings and untested drill ready targets hosted within mafic to ultramafic intrusions. Recent work by Government geoscientists has identified additional, previously unknown mafic and ultramafic intrusions in the region. Government has also published age dating information that, combined with Strongbow's exploration data, suggests the Nickel King intrusions are of similar age to intrusions hosting mineralization at other important nickel camps around the world, including the Thompson and Raglan areas in Canada. This potential age correlation helps to underscore the prospective nature of the Snowbird Nickel project. A presentation highlighting the Snowbird project has been posted on the Company's website at www.strongbowexploration.com.

David Gale, P.Geo. (BC), Vice-President of Exploration for Strongbow and a qualified person under NI 43-101 has read and takes responsibility for the technical information in this release.

STRONGBOW EXPLORATION INC.

/s/"Kenneth A. Armstrong"
Kenneth A. Armstrong
President and CEO

For further information, please contact:

Ken Armstrong
President & CEO
Tel: 604 668 8355
Email: info@strongbowexploration.com
Website: www.strongbowexploration.com
 

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this release.

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