Rockland hires Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. (CCIC) for Blue Lake project

On February 22, 2012 Rockland hired Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. (CCIC) to help create a 3-D exploration model on the Blue Lake Cu-Ni-PGM historic resource located in the southern Labrador Trough, Quebec. The Blue Lake deposits have a total historical tonnage of 4.03 Mt at 0.85% Cu, 0.52% Ni and 0.84 g/t platinum and palladium. This is a non-43-101 compliant resource established by drilling in the 1960's and 1980's. Rockland is working to develop a current mineral resource at Blue Lake and develop additional tonnage through exploration in the Blue Lake camp.

The priority objective is to "see" the important sulphide lenses at Blue Lake for the first time in a modern block model. This model will begin the data verification process, and provide an exploration platform to expand the known mineralization, unlocking the potential of this historic property.
CCIC will assemble all available historical reports and produce plans and sections of the deposit which will then be used to outline future exploration, including outlining a drill program to verify and expand on the historical resources reported to exist on the property.

George F. Sanders: "The Blue Lake Cu-Ni-PGM historic resource has close to 500 drill holes which Rockland is now compiling. Soon we will begin to visualize the Blue Lake massive sulfides in a modern context, along with the other Cu-Ni-PGM properties elsewhere in the Labrador Trough that came with the Blue Lake agreement. The historical data is looking good, and this new work will guide our drilling this coming summer."

Rockland adds Dr. James Mungall to team

On Feb 1, 2012 Rockland announced that Dr. James Mungall, P.Geo has been added a senior consultant.  Dr. Mungall occupies the Norman Keevil Chair of Ore Genesis at the University of Toronto and has published extensively on the magmatic sulfide deposits of the Sudbury and Raglan camps.  Jim is a practical field geologist who spends extensive time in the field with active junior mining exploration companies such as Rockland, and his experience in Québec's southern Raglan belt is directly applicable to promoting and expanding the known Cu-Ni-PGM historic resource base at Blue Lake.  Jim's widely sought-after expertise, and his broad experience, will guide the exploration for additional Cu-Ni-PGM resource discoveries in the camp.  Rockland controls many of the historic Hollinger North Shore Ltd. discoveries, including the: Glance, Chance, Alneau, Frederickson and Jimmick, all among the best mineral showings in the Labrador Trough.

Dr. Mungall was named Norman Keevil Chair of Ore Genesis at the University of Toronto in 2007.  He conducts research and offers consulting services in the field of magmatic ore deposits with an emphasis on Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits and chromitite.  He has published extensively on the magmatic sulfide deposits of the Sudbury and Raglan camps and has edited four books or special journal issues on Ni-Cu-Co-PGE deposits.  Dr. Mungall served for a year as Chief Geologist of Noront Resources Ltd during the early stages of discovery and resource definition at their Eagle's Nest Ni-Cu-PGE, Thunderbird V-Ti-Fe, and Blackbird chromitite deposits.

Rockland News: Retty Lake Cu-Ni-PGM Core Sampling Completed, Quebec

Rockland Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:RL) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that core samples from the 1,500 meter Retty Lake Cu-Ni-PGE drilling program have been submitted to a commercial laboratory for precious metals fire assay and multi-element geochemical analysis. The core was carefully saw-cut, and a half-split was retained at the IOS Services Géoscientifiques facility in Chicoutimi, QC for detailed logging and petrographic studies. The precious metals fire assay procedure to be used for palladium and platinum will be a more robust one assay-ton (50g charge) to insure the most reliable and repeatable results.

Gold fire assay results and multi-element geochemical results are also awaited from Rockland's Schefferville Gold Project, where 367 surface rock chip samples were collected from the new Rusty Acres area during an early summer 2011 field program guided by a detailed 50 meter-spaced heli-mag survey flown in May 2011.

George Sanders, P.Geo, a director of the Company, and qualified Person under NI 43-101 responsible for the technical content of this News Release states: "We all share the anticipation of the Retty Lake drilling results. The drill core was flown from Retty Lake to the nearby town of Schefferville when the drill was de-mobed, but remained in the queue to be transported via rail to the port of Sept-Îles for quite awhile. The intense iron ore development in the Schefferville area is exciting, and better infrastructure favours advancement of Rockland's two exploration projects located very close to Schefferville. There will be bottlenecks here and there as the service sector matures, but the first look at the rock samples from both projects is very encouraging."

Prophecy Platinum's Wellgreen PGE-Ni-Cu property excites investors - good news for fellow explorers like Rockland

On July 14th, 2011 Prophecy Platinum (NKL-TSXV) announced their 43-101mineral resource estimate for its Wellgreen PGE-Ni-Cu property located in the Yukon Territory, Canada. Wellgreen deposit now contains a total inferred resource of 289.2 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.53 g/t platinum, 0.42 g/t palladium, 0.23 g/t gold (1.18 g/t PGM+Gold), 0.38% nickel, and 0.35% copper. Prophecy Platinum's stock moved form $0.77 cents to over $3.00! Rockland's Retty Lake Cu-Ni-PGM property is much earlier stage project, however holds potential for the discovery of economically important massive and disseminated Cu-Ni-PGE bearing sulphide deposits in the heart of  the Labrador Trough.

Complete news release here. 

Rockland Gold and Cu-Ni-PGM Exploration Update Labrador Trough Area

News release, July 19, 2011, Rockland Minerals Corp. (RL-TSX Venture) has provided an update with regard to its exploration activities in Labrador Trough area of northeastern Quebec. So far during the current field season Rockland has drilled the Retty Lake Cu-Ni-PGE (platinum group elements) property, and has flown a detailed heli-mag survey over the most promising portion of the Schefferville gold property to guide follow-up field mapping and sampling.

A total of 1,500 metres was drilled in the Northwest Retty Lake area with 10 holes that targeted known copper-nickel-platinum-palladium mineralization along a significant trend that is largely covered by Rockland claims. The target middle sill peridotite unit was intersected in all the holes, and significant disseminated chalcopyrite (copper mineral) was observed in broad zones of the host rock peridotite with highly favourable net texture of disseminated sulphides. The drill core was shipped via rail from Schefferville, Que., and has arrived at the core processing facility in Chicoutimi, Que. It is now being logged, saw cut and sampled, and assay results will be released as soon as possible after each batch of samples passes strict quality assurance/quality control protocols.

Follow-up fieldwork is now well under way on the northern block of Rockland Minerals Corp.'s Schefferville gold property, using recently flown data from a low-altitude draped heli-borne magnetometer survey on a 50-metre-spaced grid. The focus of Rockland's 2011 geological fieldwork is on the Rusty Acres area, which has never been drilled. Here, several clusters of plus-one-gram-per-tonne Au historic surface samples in outcropping rusty, iron-formations are seen on the compilation map. A total of 367 surface samples have been taken so far, and have been shipped for assay.

George Sanders, PGeo, a director of the company, is the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the technical content of this news release.

What are net-texture sulphides?

Rockland Minerals (TSX Venture: RL) recently provided an update on its drilling program at the Retty Lake copper-nickel-platinum-palladium property, in Quebec. In particular, Rockland mentioned observing very encouraging "net-textured" sulphides in this news release.

To provide a bit more insight into "net-textured" sulphides I have posted some info from Wiki-pedia.


"The morphology of Kambalda-type Ni-Cu-PGE deposits is distinctive because the nickel sulfide can be shown to be associated with the floor of a komatiite lava flow, concentrated within a zone of highest flow in the lava channel facies.

The lava channel is typically recognised within a komatiite sequence by;

• Thickening of the basal flow of the komatiite sequence
• Increased MgO, Ni, Cu, and concomitant decrease in Zn, Cr, Fe, Ti as compared to 'flanking flows'
• A 'sediment free window' where sediment has been scoured or melted from the basal or footwall contact of the komatiite with the underlying substrate
• A trough morphology, which is recognisable by a reentrant flat and steep-sided embayment in the footwall underlying thickest cumulate piles

The ore zone typically consists, from the base upwards, of a zone of massive sulfides, matrix sulfides, net-textured ore, disseminated and cloud sulfide."

Wiki goes on to say ....

"The massive sulfide is in some cases overlain by a zone of matrix sulfide. The ideal Kambalda type-section lacks matrix sulfides, which is interpreted to be because of either physical remobilisation, or because matrix ore will only form in quiescent magma conditions, and thus does not form in active channel zones except, perhaps, late in the eruption. However, most other komatiitic nickel ore sections contain matrix to net-textured ore.

Matrix sulfide ore, in high-grade metamorphic areas, is characterised by jackstraw texture, composed of bladed to acicular metamorphic olivine which resembles spinifex textured olivines, within a matrix of nickel sulfide. This texture is formed by metamorphism of the ore, which is interpreted to have been composed of olivine crystals floating in massive sulfide.

Net-textured ore is rarely observed, being the ideal condition of sulfide-silicate immiscibility. This texture is difficult to prove from the majority of komatiite mineralisation profiles, but is known from the Jinchuan intrusive, China, where nickel sulfide forms a network textured groundmass liquid in which olivine floats. Most net-textured ores in komatiites are considered metamorphic overprints.

Disseminated sulfide zones occasionally overly the matrix sulfide zone, grading upwards into barren ultramafic olivine adcumulate. These zones are rarely economic to mine in the majority of komatiites, except when close to surface."

Raglan to Labrador Trough Presentation

Presentation by Rockland Minerals comparing the southern Raglan mineral belt and the rocks in the Labrador Trough, where Rockland has its Retty Lake Cu-Ni-PGM project (presentation here.) The Raglan Mine is a large nickel mining complex in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, Canada.  It is owned and operated by Toronto, Ontario based Xstrata Nickel (formerly Falconbridge Ltd.), a division of Swiss-based Xstrata plc.

Rockland Drills "Net-Texture" Sulfides in Ultramafic Rocks at Retty Lake Cu-Ni-PGE, Québec

For Immediate Release. Vancouver, British Columbia, May 31, 2011: Rockland Minerals Corp. (TSX Venture: RL) (the “Company”) has intersected several zones of disseminated sulfides within the targeted middle peridotite sill being drilled on the Retty Lake Cu-Ni-Pt-Pd Property.  In diamond drill hole number 849-05, drilled near the "Lac Retty Ouest" showing, Rockland geologists have observed very encouraging "net-textured" disseminated pyrrhotite and visible chalcopyrite (copper mineral) within a 14-meter basal zone of cumulate-texture ultramafic peridotite.  Rockland is currently half way through a planned 1,500 meter program, which commenced on May 15th, 2011.  After all drilling is complete, assaying of the mineralized core will begin.

Hole 849-03 encountered 60 meters of disseminated pyrrhotite with visible chalcopyrite -- in coarse cumulate- textured peridotite -- at the Lost Lake showing.  All of the drilling so far has intersected zones of layered massive sulfide and cross-cutting sulfide, within black shales.   These metamorphosed sediments at Retty Lake are intruded by mafic gabbros and ultramafic peridotites, in a setting very similar to the southern Raglan Cu-Ni-PGE mineralized belt in Québec's Ungava region to the north.
Upon completion of the drill program Rockland plans to transport the Retty core to the IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc.  processing facility where Rockland's geotechs will split and select mineralized segments for assaying. Assay results will be made available as completed.

George F. Sanders, P.Geo, a director of the Company, and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the technical content of this news release, states: "Our Retty Lake drilling program is progressing very well.  The 'net textured' disseminated sulfides within the lower portion of the middle peridotite sill are guides to discovery of more massive sulfide lenses, similar to the adjacent Blue Lake Cu-Ni-PGE cluster.  We have chosen to transport the drill core offsite for more precise logging, sawing and sampling.  This is the first drilling in this area since the 1960's, and Rockland intends to process it thoroughly, to unlock the Cu-Ni-PGE potential of these deposits.  Sample shipments and assaying will be expedited, and results will be released a soon as possible."

The Retty Lake property is on-trend with four adjacent copper-nickel-platinum group metal (PGM) lenses known as the “Blue Lake Deposits” -- originally outlined by Hollinger North Shore Exploration (Iron Ore Company of Canada) in the 1950's. Evidently, the Blue Lake Cu-Ni-Pt-Pd deposits were formed at or near the basal zone of the ("Middle") ultramafic peridotite, where the sill intrudes sulfur-rich metasediments.  This favourable stratabound horizon runs for some ten kilometers or more, throughout the Rockland property, in a northwest-southeast trajectory. Rockland is looking forward to discovery of additional base metal - precious deposits within its Retty Lake property.  Rockland is earning a 100% interest in the property from E.D. Black, Geologist.

Rockland Minerals Provides Retty Lake Cu-Ni-PGM Project Update

April 19, 2011, Vancouver, BC, Canada – Rockland Minerals Corp. (The “Company” or “Rockland”), (TSX.V: RL) is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing preparation for drilling at its Retty Lake Cu-Ni-Pt-Pd Property, northwest of Schefferville, Québec. Rockland has completed its fuel purchase order of Diesel and Jet-A for the 2011 program. Rockland recently announced that it had signed a drill contract with Cartwright Drilling of Goose Bay, Labrador to drill a minimum of 1,500 meters, of core holes at the Retty Lake for late May. The fuel barrels will now be flown to the Retty Lake area from Schefferville. Rockland has selected Air Saguenay of Jonquière, QC , for its fixed wing air capability and sourcing of the fuel.  Rockland is working with its turn-key service provider, IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc. (“IOS”) of Chicoutimi, Québec, to finalize the Retty Lake project logistics.

The Retty Lake property is on-trend with four known adjacent copper-nickel-platinum group metals (PGM) lenses known as the “Blue Lake Deposits” originally outlined by Hollinger North Shore Exploration in the 1950's. The Blue Lake Cu-Ni-Pt-Pd deposits were formed at or near the basal zone of a ultramafic peridotite sill, where it was intruded sulfur-rich metasediments.  This favourable horizon runs through the Rockland property in a northwest trajectory and Rockland is looking to discover additional lenses on the Retty Lake property. 

George F. Sanders, P.Geo, a director of the Company, and the Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the technical content of this news release.