News

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Thursday, May 17, 2012 – Canada Zinc Metals Corp. (TSX Venture Exchange: CZX) is pleased to announce the Company is in receipt of a NI 43-101 compliant technical report entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Pie Property” dated May 4, 2012 and authored by Tanya Strate, P.Geol., an independent qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101. The Technical Report highlights the SEDEX ZN-PB-AG prospectivity of the property, documents the results of field work completed on the property in 2011, and makes recommendations for further work, including drill testing of several zinc-lead-silver mineralization targets.

The Pie property is located in northern British Columbia, Canada, midway between Teck Resources/Korea Zinc’s Cirque deposit (located 10 kilometres to the northwest), and the Company’s 100% owned Cardiac Creek deposit (located 10 kilometres to the southeast). The Company’s Akie claims are contiguous with the Pie property on its northern boundary. The Cirque and the Cardiac Creek deposits are hosted by Gunsteel Formation shale, the same prospective shale sequence present on the Pie property.

Highlights and Recommendations of the Report

1. Geological mapping has defined a new prospective panel of Gunsteel Formation shale and demonstrated evidence of SEDEX (sedimentary exhalative) style mineralization including barite nodules, laminated pyrite and iron oxides at West Pie.
2. Soil and silt geochemistry surveys outlined continuous zinc-silver +/-lead anomalism over the entire 8 kilometre strike length of the West Pie panel, open along strike.
3. Rock samples returned up to 7.48% zinc and 3.5% copper in a grab sample of vein material at West Pie, north of the Creek 1 showing. Channel chips cut with a portable rock saw returned up to 2,200 ppm zinc at the Creek 1 showing.
4. Interpreted Gunsteel Formation shale present at the West Pie property, which also host the GPS bedded barite showing, is situated directly along strike from Teck Resources/Korea Zinc’s joint-ventured Cirque deposit.
5. Soil and silt geochemistry surveys outlined silver +/- zinc+/- lead anomalism at East Pie showing, open along strike.
6. An orientation survey using hydrogeochemistry was completed to identify pathfinder barium sulphate to vector into areas with SEDEX style anomalies. This field test method shows strong potential for future surveys.
7. Drill targets have been defined at the West Pie Creek 1 and Creek 2 showings.
8. Drill targets have also been defined at the Main showing testing the down dip extent of mineralization encountered by Ecstall Mining in 2006.
9. An airborne VTEM geophysical survey is recommended to be completed over the entire property.
10. A 2nd phase of drilling is proposed contingent on the results of Phase I, and on the results of the VTEM survey.

Work in 2011 included GIS compilation and analysis of historical exploration data, targeted geochemical surveys including a trial of barium chloride hydrogeochemistry, geological mapping and prospecting of prospective black shales of the West Pie panel and of nickel-in-silt anomalies at East Pie. Mapping of the West Pie area defined a significant panel of interpreted prospective Gunsteel Formation shale encompassing 8 kilometers of strike length. Historically the West Pie area had seen little exploration activity and was only recognized as prospective Gunsteel Formation shale as recently as 2009. This renewed interest was due to the discovery of the GPS bedded barite showing situated directly along strike of the West Pie panel of black shales.

The extent of the West Pie panel was mapped in 2011, followed by a comprehensive 14.9 line kilometre soil sampling program over the entire area. The resulting zinc-in-stream, -soil and -rock anomalism extends along the entire 8 kilometre strike length of the panel, ranging between 100 to 750 metres wide. In addition, nodular barite, laminated pyrite, and widespread iron oxide ‘rust’ occurrences have been discovered within the West Pie panel, indicating the presence of SEDEX activity in the area. Channel sampling, using a portable rock saw, was completed on the Creek 1 and Creek 2 occurrences, returning anomalous zinc-silver and zinc values at Creek 1 and Creek 2 showings, respectively. The basal and most prospective portion of the Gunsteel Formation lies unexposed along the West Pie valley floor.

In the East Pie area, prospecting, mapping and selective soil sampling was completed over an area of high tenor zinc, nickel and thallium-in-silts anomalism. The area is host to numerous iron oxide seeps. A silver +/- zinc geochemistry anomaly was defined, with 250 metre width, over 1.2 kilometre strike length, and is open along strike.

The report recommends exploration drilling on three showings; Creek 1, Creek 2 and the Main showing. These targets would involve approximately 1,500 metres of drilling in three drill holes, in Phase I. Drilling is proposed at the Creek 1 and Creek 2 showings to test the base of the Gunsteel Formation shale; down dip of nodular barite and anomalous soil and rock geochemistry on surface. Additional drilling is proposed along strike from historical drilling at the Main showing on the Central Pie panel, in order to test down dip of historical intercepts with SEDEX style mineralization.

A major airborne VTEM geophysical survey is recommended over the entire Pie property. The signature of sulphide mineralization targets will be developed by using the VTEM data obtained from surveying the nearby Cardiac Creek deposit. A second phase of 2,000 metres of drilling is recommended to test targets generated by the VTEM survey, and to follow up of West Pie and Main showings, contingent on the results of the first phase. The proposed VTEM survey is an airborne geophysical survey method successfully used on other SEDEX properties to detect the presence of the conductive sulphide mineralization within similarly conductive host units.

About the Pie Property:

The Pie zinc-lead-silver property is situated within the southernmost area (Kechika Trough) 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.

In 1978, Riocanex identified mineralization hosted by siliceous, carbonaceous, fine grained clastic rocks of the Middle to Late Devonian Gunsteel Formation on the Pie property. Drilling by various operators in 1980, 1982, 1994 and 2006 focused on testing surface geochemistry at the Main and Main Pb showings, located on the Central Pie panel of Gunsteel Formation shale. Nodular barite and distal laminated pyrite mineralisation was intersected in the drilling and results indicated the presence of highly anomalous zinc. Since 2009 the exploration focus has shifted to other parts of the property including West Pie and East Pie.  Drill targets at West and Central Pie are recommended for 2012.

In addition to the Pie property, Canada Zinc Metals Corp. controls a large contiguous group of claims which comprise the Kechika Regional project. These claims are all underlain by geology similar to that on the Akie property (Cardiac Creek deposit) and Cirque. This project includes the 100% owned Mt. Alcock property, which has yielded an historic drill intercept of 8.8 metres grading 9.3% Zn+Pb, numerous zinc-lead-barite occurrences, and several large regional base metal geochemical anomalies.

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.

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