Canadian Zinc: Positive Results from Underground Diamond Drill Program at Prairie Creek Mine

Press Releases

Vancouver, British Columbia, May 5, 2015 – Canadian Zinc Corporation (TSX: CZN;OTCQB: CZICF) (“the Company” or “Canadian Zinc”) is pleased to report that assays have been received for the first four drill holes of the current underground drill program at the Prairie Creek Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Exploration drilling from the underground drill station #8, in the 870m decline tunnel on section 51000N, is testing for new areas of mineralization in proximity to the mine workings and further detailing Inferred resources with the objective of converting part of the large Inferred Mineral Resource to the Indicated category for potential inclusion in an update of the Preliminary Feasibility Study scheduled to be completed later this year. All of the four holes intercepted the anticipated hosting structures.

In this particular area of the mine, the mineralization occurs either in the Main Quartz Vein (“MQV”), which is a high-grade, steeply dipping, fault structure that hosts the majority of the defined reserves and resources or in the Stockwork Zone (“STK”), which is a series of narrow high-grade veins occurring at an oblique angle to the MQV. All four holes intercepted significant MQV and STK mineralization.

Highlights of Drilling:

• The MQV structure was intersected in all four holes. Hole PCU-15-53 returned the highest grade intercept of 27.5% Pb, 30.5% Zn, 289 g/t Ag over an estimated true width of 3.03 metres.

• Multiple intercepts of STK mineralization were also intersected in all holes in the footwall of the MQV structure, except for PCU-15-54, which had to be abandoned in the MQV prior to penetrating the footwall rocks.

• The best STK intercept occurred in PCU-15-52 which assayed 7.2% Pb, 11.9% Zn, 89 g/t Ag over an estimated true width of 3.63 metres, and with other narrower intercepts withgrades over 20% zinc or lead in three of the four holes.

• The multiple intercepts of STK mineralization occur mostly outside, but adjacent to, the calculated Indicated Resource and this information will add to the STK database and improve resource modelling.

Assay results from the program are as follows:

		Drillhole		Mineral		From		To		Core		Est. True		Pb		Zn		Ag		Cu
				Style		(m)		(m)		Interval(m)		Width(m)		(%)		(%)		(g/t)		(%)
		PCU-15-52		MQV	105.50		107.50		2.00		1.96		14.29		6.05		203.5		0.542
		PCU-15-52		STK	119.32		123.32		4.00		2.72		2.36		5.14		61.0		0.172
		PCU-15-52		STK	129.24		134.60		5.36		3.63		7.17		11.93		89.2		0.163
		PCU-15-52		STK	135.70		137.70		2.00		1.35		5.83		16.82		51.0		0.056
		PCU-15-52		STK	149.05		153.50		4.45		2.94		4.47		4.14		49.6		0.063
		PCU-15-52		STK	158.22		159.72		1.50		0.98		1.03		7.99		23.2		0.074
		PCU-15-52		STK	161.60		162.60		1.00		0.65		7.76		21.20		67.0		0.054
		PCU-15-52		STK	173.01		174.01		1.00		0.65		1.37		8.33		43.0		0.153
		PCU-15-52		STK	176.80		177.88		1.08		0.71		2.54		7.22		41.0		0.094
		PCU-15-52		STK	191.60		192.60		1.00		0.66		0.38		3.87		18.7		0.064
		PCU-15-52		STK	193.80		194.58		0.78		0.52		5.91		6.82		65.0		0.077
		PCU-15-52		STK	196.00		197.00		1.00		0.67		0.78		3.71		12.2		0.023
		PCU-15-52		STK	206.00		207.00		1.00		0.66		0.45		6.91		8.9		0.017
		PCU-15-52		STK	210.00		211.00		1.00		0.66		0.11		2.51		58.0		0.131
		PCU-15-52		STK	214.48		215.48		1.00		0.66		5.01		5.57		57.0		0.072
		PCU-15-52		STK	220.10		221.10		1.00		0.66		9.87		23.50		115.0		0.181
		PCU-15-52		STK	238.50		240.49		1.99		1.31		1.98		4.35		17.0		0.013
		PCU-15-53		Vein	98.76		101.80		3.04		2.80		3.02		3.76		32.0		0.052
		PCU-15-53		MQV	103.33		106.38		3.05		3.03		27.47		30.45		289.4		0.070
		PCU-15-53		STK	124.66		126.60		1.94		1.42		0.32		4.11		6.5		0.012
		PCU-15-53		STK	130.76		132.28		1.52		1.11		8.66		5.14		76.0		0.028
		PCU-15-53		STK	149.20		152.50		3.30		2.39		2.81		20.81		117.8		0.494
		PCU-15-53		STK	153.62		154.67		1.05		0.76		0.54		12.10		62.0		0.297
		PCU-15-53		STK	161.26		162.86		1.60		1.15		0.45		16.90		41.0		0.198
		PCU-15-53		STK	173.43		178.00		4.57		3.27		8.17		11.03		79.2		0.120
		PCU-15-53		STK	189.00		190.00		1.00		0.71		3.71		3.05		30.0		0.038
		PCU-15-53		STK	193.00		194.00		1.00		0.71		2.37		5.25		25.0		0.020
		PCU-15-54		MQV*	167.34		176.70		9.36		6.63		5.95		6.87		112.0		0.328
		PCU-15-54		STK	181.90		182.57		0.67		0.43		3.94		7.69		84.0		0.214
		PCU-15-55		MQV	121.60		123.25		1.65		1.50		8.24		2.69		61.4		0.084
		PCU-15-55		STK	131.61		132.32		0.71		0.43		1.80		6.62		48.0		0.153
		PCU-15-55		STK	141.95		143.02		1.07		0.66		31.00		12.00		357.0		0.403
		PCU-15-55		STK	144.78		146.00		1.22		0.75		2.82		6.94		83.0		0.203
		PCU-15-55		STK	148.00		149.05		1.05		0.65		5.24		8.53		170.0		0.567
		PCU-15-55		STK	149.92		151.07		1.15		0.71		11.50		15.40		117.0		0.148
		PCU-15-55		STK	154.08		155.00		0.92		0.57		1.05		9.97		15.0		0.028
		PCU-15-55		STK	158.69		160.75		2.06		1.27		3.89		23.94		271.7		1.119

* Hole abandoned within the MQV due to technical difficulties. Overall recoveries in PCU-15-54 were approximately 40%. In general, recoveries for all holes averaged approximately 70% from the MQV and 100% for the STK.

Underground Exploration Program

The planned program will comprise about 6,000 metres of diamond drill coring over 21 holes on four, 50-metre sections from three existing diamond drill stations. These initial four holes cover only the upper 300m panel of the mine resource on the 51000N section. The next three deep holes also from this section are awaiting analytical results.

Drilling is presently continuing on the third hole of a proposed ring of six holes on the adjacent 51050N section from underground drill station #9 in the decline tunnel of the 870m Level.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

The drill core samples were cut by diamond saw and securely, through chain of custody, shipped to AGAT Laboratories for initial multi-element assay by ICP-OES analysis. Further assays and analysis was completed where appropriate standards, duplicates and blanks were inserted and included within the analysis.

Alan Taylor, P. Geo., Chief Operating Officer & Vice President Exploration and a Director of Canadian Zinc Corporation, is responsible for the exploration program, and is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 and has approved this press release.

About the Prairie Creek Mine

The Prairie Creek Mine contains a partially developed infrastructure including an almost complete flotation mill, workshops, accommodations, and support facilities. The Company holds a Type “A” Water Licence which, along with previously issued permits and licences, permits the operation of a mine at Prairie Creek. An update Resource Estimate was recently completed by AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) in March 2015 (refer to March 26, 2015 press release) with overall results as follows:

OVERALL RESOURCE ESTIMATE: MARCH 2015

TOTAL MQV+STK+SMS	TONNES	Zn %	Pb %	Ag g/t
MEASURED	1,279,000	13.2	11.6	211
INDICATED	5,309,000	9.5	9.0	131
MEASURED & INDICATED	6,588,000	10.2	9.5	147
INFERRED	7,078,000	11.7	9.6	177

 

The on-going underground diamond drill program is mainly targeting MQV and STK zones with the goal of upgrading part of the Mineral Resource from Inferred to an Indicated classification and in testing for new areas of mineralization in the proximity to the mine workings. The additional Indicated Resources could then be incorporated into a new mine plan to support a longer mine life.

The Company plans to update the 2012 Preliminary Feasibility Study following completion of the current program of underground drilling.

For further information contact:

John F. Kearney
Chairman &
Chief Executive
(416) 362-6686
220 Bay Street,
Suite 1200
Toronto, ON M5J 2W4

Alan B. Taylor
Vice President Exploration
& Chief Operating Officer
(604) 688-2001
Suite 1710 – 650 West Georgia Street,
Vancouver, BC V6B 4N9
Tollfree:1-866-688-2001

Steve Dawson
Vice President
Corporate Development
(416) 203-1418
220 Bay Street,
Suite 1200
Toronto, ON M5J 2W4

E-mail: invest@canadianzinc.com
Website: www.canadianzinc.com

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