Drill hole A-13-107 cuts 13.88% combined Zn+Pb & 14.39 g/t Ag over 7.24 metres

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Monday, December 16, 2013 – Canada Zinc Metals Corp. (TSX Venture Exchange: CZX) is pleased to announce drill assay results from two drill holes completed on the Cardiac Creek deposit; and one hole that tested the Cardiac Creek mineralized horizon 2.5 km southeast of the known deposit.

The 2013 exploration program had two main objectives: 4,000 metres of diamond drilling on the Akie property, and completion of the airborne Versatile Time Domain EM (VTEM) geophysical survey over the entire Kechika Regional claim package, including the Pie, Yuen and Cirque East properties recently optioned to Teck Resources Ltd. and Korea Zinc (see press releases dated September 9, 2013 and November 19, 2013).

The Akie property is the Company’s flagship exploration project and host to the Cardiac Creek SEDEX Zn-Pb-Ag deposit. The Kechika Regional Project, represented by a series of property blocks including Pie and Mt. Alcock, extends northwest from the Akie property for approximately 140 kilometres covering the highly prospective Gunsteel Formation shale. The southernmost project boundary is located approximately 260 kilometres northwest of the town of Mackenzie, in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. 

2013 Exploration Update

Please refer to earlier exploration updates for more detail on the 2013 Exploration Program at http://canadazincmetals.com/news/2013/

Diamond Drilling:

The Company completed 9 HQ/NQ drill holes, totaling 4,854 metres on the Akie property in 2013. The drilling program progressed in a sequential manner with two holes targeting the West Akie GPS Zone; followed by one hole each on the North Lead Anomaly and the South Zinc Anomaly. The program then shifted to the Cardiac Creek deposit for 4 drill holes totaling 2,350 metres. The final hole of the season was completed on the SE Zone located approximately 2.5 kilometres to the southeast and along strike of the Cardiac Creek deposit. A drill hole location map is provided on the company website.

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A total of 1,369 core samples, including QA/QC samples, were cut and sent to Acme Analytical Laboratories in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Samples are collected in accordance with accepted industry standards and procedures. Routine QA/QC analysis is conducted on all assay results, including the systematic utilization of certified reference materials, blanks and duplicate samples.

Results have now been received for the final three holes of the 2013 drill program. Drill hole A-13-107 tested the northwest side of the Cardiac Creek deposit; drill hole A-13-109 tested the down-dip and southeast edge of the deposit; and drill hole A-13-110 tested the Cardiac Creek horizon approximately 2.5 kilometresto the southeast of the deposit. Drill hole A-13-108 was abandoned due to excessive deviation. The hole was re-started as A-13-109 and successfully achieved its target.

Cardiac Creek Deposit

Drilling on the Cardiac Creek deposit was focused on several infill and expansion targets located on the northwest and southeast margins. These targets were selected to demonstrate the ongoing continuity of the high grade mineralization within the core of the deposit as well as expand its known limits. This plan is consistent with the recommendations contained within the revised NI 43-101 Technical Report entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report, Akie Zinc-Lead-Silver Project, British Columbia, Canada”, dated April 27, 2012, with an effective date of March 14, 2012. Previous drill results from the Cardiac Creek deposit were announced by the Company on November 25th 2013.

Drill hole A-13-107 was designed to test the continuity of the high grade trend of mineralization up-plunge. The targeted pierce point was located approximately 75 metres up dip of A-08-60A and along strike of A-06-38.

The drill hole passed through a thick sequence of Gunsteel Formation shale before intersecting the proximal facies characterized by thickly bedded pyrite mineralization at a depth of 524.38 metres. The transition into the Cardiac Creek zone occurred at a depth of 541.53 metres. The zone is broken into two distinct zones of bedded sulphides and barite separated by a thin shale interbed. The main Cardiac Creek zone was intersected from 541.53 to 568.14 metres and the lower footwall zone extended from 572.47 to 577.26 metres. The hole was shut down at a final depth of 626.36 metres in footwall siltstone of the Road River Group.

The overall envelope of mineralization extended from 534.07 to 577.26 metres and comprised a 32.92 metre interval (true width) grading 4.89% Zn+Pb and 7.72 g/t Ag. This envelope of mineralization includes both the main and footwall zone. The main Cardiac Creek zone returned 6.57% combined Zn+Pb and 10.15 g/t Ag over 20.28 metres including a higher grade core grading 13.88% combined Zn+Pb and 14.39 g/t Ag over 7.24 metres. The lower footwall zone returned 3.09% combined Zn+Pb and 4.93 g/t Ag over 6.98 metres including 5.60% combined Zn+Pb and 8.87 g/t Ag over 3.67 metres.

The results are tabulated below. This drill hole provides valuable infill information in the northwestern area of the deposit and confirms the continuity of the internal high grade zone defined by previous drilling within the core of the deposit. More drilling is warranted in this area to provide additional infill information and to continue to expand the known strike length of the deposit which is open to the northwest. In addition, the continued development of a lower, or footwall zone, to the main Cardiac Creek horizon is an encouraging sign for the Company.

Drill hole A-13-109 was designed to test the extent of mineralization down dip of A-11-92 and along strike from A-95-16. The drill hole collared into a thick sequence of Gunsteel Formation shale containing an extensive, well mineralized interval of distal facies laminated pyrite and nodular barite from 434.67 to 520.9 metres and from 526.91 to 565.79 metres. The proximal facies, consisting of thickly bedded pyrite and nodular barite, was intersected at 577.51 metres and transitioned into the Cardiac Creek Zone from 634.07 to 655.58 metres. A second weakly developed zone was intersected over 9.79 metres from 667.66 to 677.45 metres and a thin massive sulphide lens was present along the contact between the Gunsteel Formation and the Paul River Formation. The hole was shut down in typical Road River Group calcareous siltstone at a final depth of 746.46 metres.

The hole intersected an extensive interval of mineralization grading over 1.34% combined Zn+Pb and 3.02 g/t Ag* over 41.91 metres (true width) from 615.56 to 677.45 metres that contained several zones of higher grade mineralization. These inclusive intervals are outlined in the table below. The results from this drill hole and those surrounding it confirm the local grade and continuity of the deposit and warrant additional drilling to extend the known strike and dip extents of the deposit to the southeast.

(*) Ag values below detection were given a value half of the detection limit for the purposes of weighted averaging.

Drill hole A-13-110 was designed to test the Cardiac Creek horizon approximately 2.5 kilometres along strike, southeast of the deposit and down-dip of mineralization encountered in hole A-96-22. The hole collared in Gunsteel Formation shale which continued to a depth of 364.77 metres before passing into a thick 80.19 metre interval of siliceous black silty shales of the Paul River Formation. A thin 5.28 metre interval of the Silurian siltstone was intersected at a depth of 444.96 metres. The hole passed through a large fault zone at the base of the Silurian siltstone before moving into a previously unknown thrust panel of Gunsteel Formation shale. This second panel of Gunsteel Formation shale continued to a depth of 544.20 metres where the hole transitioned back into Silurian Siltstone. The hole was shut down at a depth of 578.82 metres.

Thin intervals of weakly developed mineralization were intersected at 291.04 and 306.78 metres consisting of nodular to laminar barite and faint but thickly bedded pyrite. This mineralization corresponded to a broad interval of zinc enrichment extending from 288.00 to 314.90 metres returning 0.11% Zn. With the discovery of a previously unknown thrust panel of Gunsteel Formation shale the Company will re-evaluate the drill holes in the immediate area to determine whether follow-up targets are warranted.

Peeyush Varshney, President & CEO of the Company, commented, “The four drill holes completed this season on the Cardiac Creek deposit successfully achieved two exploration goals; the confirmation of  geometry and continuity of the overall resource envelope and the refinement of our knowledge and understanding of the high grade zone. Holes 105 and 107 were infill holes targeting extensions of the high grade zone. Both were very comparable to the surrounding pierce points. Holes 106 and 109 targeted the edges of the inferred resource in areas that we expected would represent a continuation of grade. The results successfully achieved this expectation. The new drill results from Cardiac Creek will be incorporated into a planned update for the geological and resource model.

Overall, we are very pleased with the 2013 exploration program. We successfully tested all planned drill targets on the Akie property with excellent results from the Cardiac Creek deposit and encouraging results from several outlying coincident exploration targets on Akie, including West Akie, North Lead, SE Zone and South Zinc. We executed on a comprehensive airborne geophysical program that provides detailed VTEM coverage for the entire Kechika Regional Project. We were also successful in attracting Teck Resources and its JV partner, Korea Zinc, as new investors in the Company and as new partners on the Pie, Yuen and Cirque East Properties. The compilation and analysis of the 2013 exploration data is ongoing and we have commenced preliminary planning for next season.” 

The Akie Zn-Pb-Ag Project

The Akie property is situated within the Kechika Trough, the southernmost area of the regionally extensive Paleozoic Selwyn Basin and 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 SEDEX mineralization 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.

The Company has outlined a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource at Cardiac Creek, including an indicated resource of 12.7 million tonnes grading 8.4% zinc, 1.7% lead and 13.7 g/t silver (at a 5% zinc cut-off grade) and an inferred resource of 16.3 million tonnes grading 7.4% zinc, 1.3% lead and 11.6 g/t silver (at a 5% zinc cut-off grade). 

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