News

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Monday, May 16, 2016 – Canada Zinc Metals Corp. (TSX Venture Exchange: CZX) is pleased to announce it has received a new updated mineral resource estimate for the Cardiac Creek SEDEX Zn-Pb-Ag deposit on the Company’s 100% owned Akie property located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada.

Highlights of the updated resource include:

• Indicated resources have increased by almost 7 million tonnes to 19.6 million tonnes; a 55% increase when compared to the previous 2012 indicated resource estimate, with little change in average grades (at 5% Zn base case cut-off)
• Current resource distribution consists of 71% in the Indicated and 29% in the Inferred categories.  The previous, 2012 estimate had 44% in Indicated and 56% in Inferred categories (at 5% Zn cut-off)
• Drilling completed since 2012 has increased the confidence in the estimate, extending the limits of resources in the Indicated category in all directions (up and down dip and along strike)  
• Additional drilling in 2015 provides a continuous zone of 100 metre-spaced drill holes over the central part of the deposit and allows for the estimation of the majority of resources in the Indicated category
• The 2015 drill holes primarily concentrated in the delineation of resources in the central and upper parts of the deposit, returning results that are similar to the surrounding drill holes, demonstrating the continuous nature of the thickness and grade of the mineralization

Table 1: Estimate of Mineral Resources (5% Zinc cut-off)

Note: Mineral resources are not mineral reserves because the economic viability has not been demonstrated.

Table 2 shows the sensitivity of mineral resources at a variety of zinc cut-off grades.

Table 2: Sensitivity of Mineral Resources to Cut-off Grade

 Note: Mineral resources are not mineral reserves as the economic viability has not been demonstrated

Peeyush Varshney, President and CEO of the Company, commented: “This is another important milestone in the advancement of the Cardiac Creek deposit. Sound and aggressive infill drilling programs over the past three seasons has successfully achieved our goal of demonstrating the continuity of the resource in the central, high-grade area of the deposit. This success is reflected in the significant expansion of the Indicated resource.  The delineation of a majority of the resource in the Indicated category greatly increases the confidence in the deposit model and the Company is currently examining options for a PEA or possibly a pre-feasibility study as a next step. The deposit remains largely open at depth and along strike. Future drilling programs will test these areas for further expansion.”

The Company will file a revised National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) technical report on SEDAR within the mandated 45-day period of the date of this press release. The previous resource estimate is outlined in the report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report, Akie Zinc-Lead-Silver Project, British Columbia, Canada, dated April 27, 2012 (with an effective date March 14, 2012 - available on www.sedar.com).

The updated mineral resource estimate was prepared by Robert Sim, P.Geo with the assistance of Bruce Davis, FAusIMM. Mr. Sim is an independent Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 for the purposes of mineral resource estimates and was responsible for the 2008 maiden resource and the 2012 updated resource estimate.

The estimate of mineral resources incorporates all drilling conducted by CZX on the Cardiac Creek deposit since 2005 plus 29 holes drilled by Inmet Mining Corporation between 1994 to 1996. In total, there are now 139 drill holes on the Akie property with a total core length of 59,260 metres. Of these, 104 drill holes totaling 46,886 metres are within close enough proximity of the block model to contribute to the estimation of the mineral resource. The remaining 35 drill holes test the Cardiac Creek mineralized horizon over a total strike length of almost 7 kilometres, or other exploration targets on the property.

The spacing of drill hole pierce points into the mineralized horizon is variable, ranging from 40 metres to over 500 metres, with an average of approximately 100 metres in the central core of the resource area. The eight holes completed in 2015 provided additional, closer-spaced, definition of the central part of the deposit.

The Cardiac Creek mineralized horizon occurs as a planar, sheet-like zone of semi-massive to massive sulphides comprised of varying amounts of pyrite, sphalerite and galena (+/- barite) hosted in a black shale sequence which has been traced over a strike length of 7 kilometres and to a depth of 1,300 metres below surface. The mineralized zone ranges in thickness from less than 1 metre (where the deposit outcrops at surface) to as much as 40 metres, with an average true thickness of about 20 metres in the area of potential economic interest.

Methodology

Resource estimations were made from 3D block models based on geostatistical applications using commercial mine planning software (MineSight® v10.50-2). A nominal block size measuring 5 m x 10 m x 5 m was utilised with the longer axis parallel to the 315º azimuth strike of the deposit. The primary orientation of the drilling, at 050º azimuth, is designed to intersect the steeply dipping mineralized zone (-70º SW) at roughly normal angles from the hanging wall side of the deposit.

The resource estimate was generated using drill hole sample assay results and the interpretation of a geologic model which relates to the spatial distribution of zinc, lead and silver. Interpolation characteristics were defined based on the geology, drill hole spacing, and geostatistical analysis of the data. The effects of potentially anomalous high-grade sample data was controlled by limiting the maximum distance of influence during block grade interpolation. Grade estimates in the block model were validated using a combination of visual and statistical methods to ensure that the models are an appropriate representation of the underlying sample data. The resources were classified according to their proximity to the sample data locations and are reported, as required by NI 43-101, according to the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014). Resources in the Indicated category are delineated from multiple drill holes located on a nominal 100-metre grid pattern and must exhibit a high degree of continuity of mineralization between drill holes. Resources in the Inferred category include blocks in mineralized areas showing reasonable continuity and within a maximum distance of 150 metres from a drill hole.

The “base case” cut-off grade of 5% Zn is considered reasonable based on assumptions derived from operations with similar characteristics, scale and location. The distribution of Indicated and Inferred mineral resources, above a cut-off grade of 5% Zn, occurs as a continuous zone, which is favourable with respect to selectivity and other factors when considering possible mining options. The orientation, dimensions and location of the deposit indicates that it is potentially amenable to underground mining methods, and, as a result, the stated resource is considered to exhibit reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.

It is important to note that mineral resources are not mineral reserves because the actual economic viability has not been demonstrated. There are no known factors related to environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing or political issues which could materially affect the mineral resource.

The sample database used to generate the mineral resource estimate has been monitored using an industry standard Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QAQC) program including the blind insertion of standard reference material, blanks and duplicate samples run at umpire labs. The database also contains an extensive suite of density measurements conducted at a certified laboratory using the weight-in-air versus weight-in-water method.

The Akie Zn-Pb-Ag Project

The Akie property is located approximately 260 kilometers north-northwest of the town of Mackenzie, in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, and is road accessible. The Akie property is situated within the Kechika Trough, the southernmost area of the regionally extensive Paleozoic Selwyn Basin, one of the most prolific sedimentary basins in the world for the occurrence of SEDEX zinc-lead-silver and stratiform barite deposits.

Drilling on the Akie property by Canada Zinc Metals since 2005 has identified a significant body of baritic-zinc-lead-silver SEDEX mineralisation known as the Cardiac Creek deposit. The deposit is hosted by siliceous, carbonaceous, fine-grained clastic rocks of the Middle to Late Devonian Gunsteel Formation.

Ken MacDonald P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release. Robert Sim, P.Geo., of SIM Geological Inc., independent consultant to Canada Zinc Metals Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, is responsible for the information related to the mineral resource estimate presented in this news release.

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CANADA ZINC METALS CORP.

“PEEYUSH VARSHNEY”
                                                           
PEEYUSH VARSHNEY, LL.B
CEO & CHAIRMAN