MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA--(Dec. 18, 2007) - Mackenzie I. Watson, President and CEO of Freewest Resources Canada Inc. (TSX VENTURE:FWR) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that the Corporation has signed an agreement with Rockport Mining Corp. ("Rockport";) on their 100%-owned Golden Ridge property (the "Property"). The Property comprising 3,386 hectares, is located 80 kilometres west of the City of Fredericton in York County, New Brunswick and in the neighbouring Town of Amity, Maine, USA.
Under the agreement terms, Rockport is required to spend $1,600,000 on exploration on the Property over a 36 month period in order to earn a 60% interest. Upon Rockport earning its 60% interest, a joint-venture will be formed with further exploration and development costs shared by Rockport Mining Corp. and Freewest Resources Canada Inc. on a 60%-40% basis, respectively. During the earn-in period, Freewest will manage and coordinate all exploration programs as the operator.
About the Golden Ridge Property
During 1997 to 2004, Freewest discovered a spectrum of gold, antimony and base-metal mineralization associated with extensive alteration zones within the Poplar Mountain Volcanic Complex (PMVC). The PMVC is an Ordovician-age volcanic centre comprising dacitic subvolcanic intrusions as well as dacitic to andesitic volcanic flows and volcaniclastic rocks. The volcanic centre is 5 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide and outcrops in New Brunswick and in the State of Maine.
Massive sulphide clasts hosted in volcanic breccias were discovered by Freewest within the PMVC in New Brunswick and in Maine. Such sulphide clasts returned high-grade assays at several locales including 0.48% copper, 21.20% lead, 24.30% zinc, 13.70 oz/ton silver and 0.18g/t gold, 0.19% copper, 6.13% lead, 11.10% zinc, 3.15 oz/t silver and 1.10 g/t gold as well as 1.47% copper, 12.35% lead, 20.80% zinc, 10.80 oz/t silver and 0.23 g/t gold, respectively. The banded lead-zinc-silver-gold mineralization bears similarities to the world-class base-metal deposits of the Bathurst Mining Camp in northern New Brunswick. In an effort to pin-point source areas for the massive sulphide clasts, a detailed time-domain airborne electromagnetic survey was recently flown over the PMVC. A complete interpretation of the airborne geophysical survey commissioned by Freewest will be forthcoming shortly.
The Corporation also discovered multiple north-south-trending structures on the Property containing significant gold mineralization. Some of the better intercepts obtained in diamond drilling include 4.40 g/t gold over 6.00 metres, 2.26 g/t gold over 19.9 metres, and 1.71 g/t gold over 29.5 metres. All of the gold zones remain completely open-ended along strike and to depth. The presence of several un-explained gold-in-soil anomalies within the PMVC is strongly suggestive of the presence of additional sub-parallel zones of gold mineralization.
A map of the PMVC illustrating the location of the massive sulphide clasts, multiple gold zones and gold-in-soil anomalies is available on our website at www.freewest.com.
A complete compilation of all data is currently is in preparation to prioritize targets for an up-coming diamond drilling program, slated for the early spring.
Rockport Mining Corp. is a well-funded private mineral exploration corporation based in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. Freewest recently signed an agreement with Rockport on its Clarence Stream gold property in New Brunswick, consistent with Rockport's strategy of aggressive acquisition and development of New Brunswick's mineral resources (see Freewest news release of October 19, 2007).
Donald Hoy, P. Geo. (Ontario), Vice President of Exploration and a Director of Freewest Resources Canada Inc. is the Qualified Person on the Golden Ridge Property (under National Instrument 43-101) and is responsible for the preparation of this news release.
Freewest is a well-funded mineral exploration corporation exploring for gold, base-metals and uranium in Eastern Canada. Corporate information on the Corporation as well as detailed information on its properties can be accessed on the Internet at www.freewest.com. Freewest's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FWR.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Freewest Resources Canada Inc.
Mackenzie I. Watson
President and CEO
514-878-3551 or 1-888-878-3551
Fax: 514-878-4427
info@freewest.com
www.freewest.com
or
Rockport Mining Corp.
Henry A. Miller
Chief Executive Officer
506-529-8206
Fax: 506-529-8595
