Sherwood Provides Drill Results On Chicago Properties, Hope Bay

Vancouver, B.C. - Sherwood Mining Corporation (TSX:SWM) today announced the results of its drilling programs which tested two of the four showings on the Chicago claims in the Hope Bay belt. This drilling program intercepted significant gold, silver and base metal values over narrow widths. The Chicago claims are held under option from Miramar Mining Corporation (TSX: MAE, AMEX:MNG).

Kell Showing

Sherwood completed three diamond drill holes totalling 251.5 meters at the Kell showing in the Chicago area. The Kell showings occur along the contact between mafic and felsic volcanics where mapping and sampling outlined an extensive area of strong alteration with associated sulphide veinlets or stringers consisting of pyrite with lesser base metal sulphides. This area also hosts a series of quartz veins that carry precious and base metal values. Channel and grab sampling of the veins in and around the Kell and Kell South showings has previously returned significant gold, silver and base metal values. Collectively, the geologic evidence supports the presence of a system having potential to host volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralization.

The Kell showing consists of a north-striking zone of quartz veins hosted in sericite-biotite-pyrite altered felsic volcanic rocks. The vein system is a zone that can be traced about 300 meters along strike, up to 50 meters wide and is open on both ends, where it is covered by overburden. The vein system consists of a series of steeply dipping veins where individual veins can be up to 1.5 meters wide. The veins consist of quartz with variable amounts of pyrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite.

Drilling at the Kell showing was designed to test the veining at the northern (04HCD-01 & -02) and southern (04HCD-03) ends of the trend. The first two holes were scissor holes testing a series of veins below where channel sampling had identified higher gold and silver values (the results of which were released September 14, 2004 ). The third hole tested a series of veins at the southern end of the trend below where channel sampling had identified higher gold and silver values.

All holes intersected veining with individual veins up to 1 meter in width. Higher precious metal values were associated with quartz veins that contained anomalous base metal sulphides. Highlights of the results are reported below.

Sherwood is evaluating these results in light of the overall potential of the Kell trend to determine what its next steps could be.

Hammerhead Showing

Sherwood drilled one hole (04HCD04) on a quartz vein system located about 1.5 km east of the Chicago area. The Hammerhead prospect consists of several quartz veins hosted in mafic volcanic rocks. The veins are poorly exposed with most of the area covered in low-lying hummocky ground with quartz vein in float or sub-crop. Grab samples previously reported from the area ranged up to 227.7 g/t gold.

A single 100-meter hole drilled to the test below the showing did not intersect the veining present at surface. This may be explained by the presence of several fault zones logged in the core, which may have offset the zone of quartz veining. No significant values were obtained. Additional work would be required to determine possible offsets by the fault zones before additional drilling could be considered.

Drill Hole Details

Hole 04HCD01 (75.5m): Drilled at 45 degrees to test the veining in the Kell showing. The hole intersected an intermediate to felsic tuff with possible lapilli and small fragments. Quartz veining with pyrite was intersected to a depth of 29m.

Hole 04HCD02 (101m): Drilled at 60 degrees to test the veining at the Kell showing. This hole encountered felsic to intermediate volcanics with moderate to strong sericite alteration and cut by narrow mineralized quartz veining with pyrite, tetrahedrite, galena and chalcopyrite.

Hole 04HCD03 (75m): Drilled at 45 degrees at the southern part of the Kell showing to test veining at depth.

Hole 04HCD04 (100m): Drilled at 45 degrees to test below Hammerhead showing, the hole the encountered mafic volcanic rocks, moderately silica and carbonate altered.  Narrow quartz veinlets were common although only weakly auriferous. 

Chicago Agreement

The Chicago Area consists of 11 claims covering 9,162 hectares located in the southwest portion of the Hope Bay Belt, and lies approximately 15 km southwest of Miramar 's Boston Camp. The Hope Bay belt in Nunavut , Canada , is being actively explored by Miramar and contains multiple gold deposits and showings.

Sherwood has an option to acquire a 60% interest in the Chicago Area of the Hope Bay Belt, encompassing the Chicago/Kell and Heku trends, which encompass the Kell, Kell South, Linear and Hammerhead showings. Miramar is conducting the exploration program on behalf of Sherwood.

For more information, including maps and a summary of previous exploration highlights from the Chicago Area, please visit the Company's website at www.northair.com/sherwood/ .

Miramar owns 10 million shares of Sherwood, representing approximately 40% of the issued shares of Sherwood.

Quality Assurance

The information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed by John Wakeford, P. Geo. Vice-President, and Exploration for Miramar Mining Corporation. The analytical method for the gold analysis is gravimetric assay, done by TSL Laboratories in Saskatoon , with metallic screen assays for all samples assaying over 10g/t gold. Silver and base metals are initially determined by ICP analysis, with over limits for silver determined by gravimetric assay and base metal over limits determined by atomic absorption spectrometry.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“D. Bruce McLeod”                  

D. Bruce McLeod, President

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
 

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