Vancouver, BC - May 21, 2008- ValGold Resources Ltd. ("ValGold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received and filed on SEDAR the NI 43-101 report entitled "TECHNICAL REPORT, MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE AND PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF GARRISON GOLD PROPERTY" (the "Report "). The Report was prepared by Peter George, B.Sc., P.Geo. of A. C. A. Howe International Limited. Mr. George ("the Author") is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and has over 40 years experience in the mining industry including extensive experience in the gold exploration and mining sector in Canada. The Garrison Gold Property (the "Property") is situated in the Timmins-Kirkland Lake area of north eastern Ontario.
The Report contains concise details on the Property including its location, history, previous and current work, geology and mineralization styles, descriptions of ore and its metallurgy, and a preliminary assessment of the economic potential of the deposit. In addition, the Author has reported on the value of continuing the exploration of the project, emphasising the necessity of moving the project to the advanced stage of re-opening the underground workings to expand the known resources by more accurately measuring the size and grade of the zones. Another described attribute of the Property is the amount of existing underground development for which the zones containing the mineral resources are accessed by a decline, lateral workings and a service shaft all of which would have a replacement cost well in excess of ValGold's current market cap.
The Indicated and Inferred Resource estimates focused on four, laterally contiguous mineralized zones along the Munro Fault which is a splay from the regional Porcupine-Destor Fault ("PDF"). The results of the resource estimate were previously announced on April 8th 2008. The current estimate of the resources reflects a modest upgrading of the resources due to a minor correction applied by the Author and the resources are summarized in the following table:
Zone |
Indicated Resource |
Inferred Resource |
Tonnes |
Au g/T |
Ounces |
Tonnes |
Au g/T |
Ounces |
JP Zone |
236,100 |
7.69 |
58,380 |
812,400 |
4.66 |
121,750 |
JD Zone |
|
|
|
168,000 |
7.37 |
39,830 |
RP Zone |
12,100 |
10.91 |
4,260 |
124,300 |
5.05 |
20,170 |
East Zone |
4,900 |
3.58 |
560 |
451,100 |
4.47 |
64,790 |
TOTALS |
253,100 |
7.77 |
63,200 |
1,555,800 |
4.93 |
246,540 |
NOTE - Summation of ounces may not add exactly due to rounding
The Author concludes that the Property is a property of merit as defined in NI 43-101 and warrants additional expenditures. In addition, based on a preliminary economic assessment the Property has economic potential based on current knowledge of gold recoveries and current gold prices for an 11-year life-of-mine subject to the confirmation of the resources that can be categorized as proven and probable reserves.
The Preliminary Assessment is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would allow them to be categorized as mineral reserves and thus there is no certainty that the preliminary assessment will be realized.
The Author recommends that the Company plan an underground exploration and development program and budget for the JP Zone and adjacent JD and RP Zones. The program should include sufficient lateral development to provide access for drilling to upgrade sufficient inferred and indicated resources to indicated and measured resources that would justify a production decision. In tandem with the underground exploration program, the Company should do additional metallurgical test work to determine the optimum milling process for the refractory ores. In addition, the Company should initiate environmental studies in anticipation of needing to generate an environmental impact statement before permits could be granted for mining.
Furthermore, the Author recommends that the Company commence a study of the Garrcon Zone and once completed to layout a program and budget to test the potential for a bulk tonnage, open-pit operation. It is suggested by the Author that the Garrcon Zone has the potential to host a bulk tonnage target of up to 30 million tonnes ranging in grade from 1 to 3 g/T Au.
Project Summary
The Garrison Gold Property is located 40 kilometres (km) north of the Town of Kirkland Lake, 100 km east of Timmins and 8 km west of and on strike with St. Andrew Goldfields' Holloway and Holt-McDermott gold mines. Access to the property is by Ontario highway 101 that runs along the north boundary of the property. The mining leases cover approximately 3km of the famous PDF and a major splay, the Munro Fault Zone ("MFZ").
The gold mineralization on the property occurs as sulphide-rich bodies within the two major fault zones, and within the intervening Timiskaming sediments associated with quartz-pyrite vein stockworks. Sulphide mineralization within the MFZ forms a series of five high-grade shoots that occur near the footwall of the fault. Previous operators completed a total of 199 drill holes focusing primarily on gold zones over the 1.7 km long strike length of the fault zone and to a depth of 300m (1,000 ft). The individual mineralized shoots are estimated to be up to 300m (1,000 ft) in strike length, average 3.35m (11 ft) in thickness and contain gold associated with albite, sericite and pyrite alteration. An advanced underground exploration program was initiated on the J.P. gold zone in October 1995. The underground development included a 12 x 14-foot, 18-20-degree decline excavated to the 476-level.
Mr. Tom Pollock, P.Geo., ValGold's Vice-President, Exploration, is the Qualified Person for the project, and is responsible for all of the technical reporting in compliance with NI 43-101. Mr. Pollock has instituted and is responsible for ValGold's program of Quality Control and Assurance ("QC/QA"), using assay control samples and duplicates. The Author has reviewed and agrees with the technical content of this news release as an accurate representation of the report.
For information on ValGold and its portfolio of international projects, visit our website at www.valgold.com.
Stephen J. Wilkinson
President & Chief Executive Officer
For further information please contact:
Jeff Stuart, Investor & Corporate Communications
Tel: (604) 687-4622 Fax: (604) 687-4212
Email:
jstuart@valgold.com or
info@valgold.com
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release.
Caution concerning forward-looking statements: The information in this release may contain forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. This forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied in the forward-looking information. Factors that may cause actual results to vary include, but are not limited to, inaccurate assumptions concerning the exploration for and development of mineral deposits, political instability, currency fluctuations, unanticipated operational or technical difficulties, changes in laws or regulations, the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, changes in general economic condition or conditions in the financial markets and the inability to raise additional financing. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update this forward-looking information after the date of this release or to revise such information to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events except as may be required under applicable securities laws. The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.