TXR Terrax Minerals Inc

TSX-V: TXR

Frankfurt: TX0

VANCOUVER, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ - TerraX Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: TXR; Frankfurt: TX0) has received the results of fieldwork conducted in September and October on its wholly-owned Stewart gold-copper property in Newfoundland. Results include:

• discovery of the Forty Creek showing, a collection of angular blocks of quartz vein material with local sulphides in the northeastern part of the property.  Several blocks up to 1 metre ("m") across occur within a 200 square m area.  A grab sample from one block assayed 59 g/t Au and 2290 g/t Ag.  This sample also had the highest values of Pb (>0.5%), Zn (0.44%), Hg, Sb and Se of all the samples collected by TerraX;
  
  
  
  
• anomalous gold assays obtained over 725 m in soils, with this anomalous zone open for 150 m to the southeast because of the presence of swampy ground that precluded further sampling; and
  
  
  
  
• the exposed area of hydrothermal alteration at Stewart has now been determined to be larger than originally thought, with a strike length on the order of 6 km, and a width varying from 400 m to 1.4 km.

TerraX has expanded its land position at Stewart due to the discovery of the Forty Creek showing and to cover two anomalous gold samples (68 and 115 ppb Au) collected on open ground south of the Forty Creek showing.  An additional 30 claims (7.5 sq km) were staked.

TerraX has an aggressive exploration program planned for Stewart that includes comprehensive soil and lake sediment sampling in January 2011, followed by airborne and/or ground geophysics, with the goal of defining drill targets for the summer of 2011.

The objective of 2010 fieldwork at Stewart was to delineate the full extent of the large, previously known hydrothermal alteration/mineralization system and to prospect the entire property.  Lesser emphasis was placed on examination of the core of the system. 

A total of 138 samples were collected for assay and for determination of pathfinder elemental abundance, and 145 samples were analyzed with a Terraspec instrument for identification of key alteration minerals.  Gold assay results ranged from below detection to 59 g/t, with 15 samples being 20 ppb Au or higher. The exposed area of hydrothermal alteration has been determined to be larger than originally thought, with a strike length on the order of 6 km, and a width varying from 400 m to 1.4 km.  This is based on field identification of alteration, distribution of illite/muscovite as determined by a Terraspec instrument, and anomalism in elements such as Cu, Pb, Mo, As and Sb.  The western 1.5 km "core" of the alteration system is anomalous in Cu, Au, Pb and Mo, has local development of quartz stockworks and sheeted veins, and is considered to be deeper in the hydrothermal system.  A 600 m section of the core zone has been tested by seven shallow drill holes by past operators; the bulk of the hydrothermal system has not been drill tested.  The outer parts of the system contain phyllic to advanced argillic alteration, including high temperature minerals such as pyrophyllite and dickite. Such minerals are common in high temperature advanced argillic zones such as those that overlie porphyry systems.  Gold values from surface grab samples collected by TerraX within this hydrothermal system ranged up to 473 ppb Au.

A 1.1 km line of soil samples was collected over the Stewart showing in the core of the alteration system to validate previous soil results.  Samples were spaced 25 m apart.  Anomalous gold results were obtained over 725 m, and the anomalous zone is open for 150 m to the southeast because of the presence of swampy ground.  Within this anomalous interval of 30 samples, 26 were higher than 20 ppb Au, with a high of 640 ppb Au and an average of 160 ppb Au. Background values beyond this interval reached a high of 9 ppb Au (most were below detection). Within the same interval, Cu, Mo, Pb, Zn and Se were also clearly anomalous.  These results are considered to be very encouraging, and validate the use of soils as an exploration tool at Stewart.

The Stewart property is comprised of 203 claims located 30 km north-northeast of the town of Marystown on the Burin Peninsula.  The property features an east-northeast striking, 6 km long by up to 1.4 km wide epithermal to porphyry style alteration zone with extensive low-grade gold-copper mineralization.  Historic drill intersections reported at Stewart include of 102 m @ 135 ppb Au and 385 ppm Cu, and 63 m @ 0.25 g/t Au as well as trench intersections of 219 m @ 92 ppb Au and 193 ppm Cu and 12 m @ 555 ppb Au and 826 ppm Cu.  This drilling was confined to less than 10% of the currently known extent of hydrothermal alteration. 

For more information on the Stewart property, please visit our website at www.terraxminerals.com.

The technical information contained in this news release has been verified by Dr. Tom Setterfield, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined in "National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties."  The historic information provided has not been verified by TerraX and is for reference only.

About TerraX Minerals

TerraX Minerals Inc. is one of the major landholders of prospective ground in the burgeoning Marmion Batholith gold district near Atikokan, Ontario, host to Osisko Mining Corporation's (TSX:OSK) Hammond Reef gold deposit which contains a National Instrument 43-101-compliant inferred resource of 259.4 million tonnes at 0.8 grams per tonne Au (approximately 6.7 million ounces of gold). The Brett Resources Technical Report on this deposit is available on SEDAR. TerraX is actively exploring three wholly-owned gold exploration projects, the Sunbeam-Pettigrew, Blackfly and Central Canada properties, all of which are located within 20 km of the town of Atikokan, 180 km west of Thunder Bay, and are within 19 km of the Hammond Reef gold deposit.  

TerraX also recently optioned the ~50.5 sq km Stewart gold-copper property in the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland, which is part of the Avalon terrane, a geologic structure which can be traced from eastern Newfoundland through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into New England, the Carolinas and northern Georgia. The Avalon terrane hosts several epithermal/porphyry gold-copper deposits, including the past-producing Hope Brook deposit, presently being explored by Castillian Resources Corp.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"JOSEPH CAMPBELL"

Joseph Campbell, P.Geo

President

Neither the 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.

SOURCE TerraX Minerals Inc.