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Wednesday, March 19, 2008 | www.valgold.com
Ticker Symbol: VAL - TSX Venture Exchange
SEC 12g3-2(b) exemption 82-3339 |
Valgold Receives Positive Initial Gold Mineral
Resource Estimate For The Los Patos Discovery
Vancouver, March 19, 2008, ValGold Resources Ltd. ("ValGold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received the initial NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate prepared by Micon International for its 100%-owned Los Patos gold deposit.
"ValGold's Los Patos gold discovery is the first to be tested of eight high-priority targets on the 6½ km long Los Chivos shear zone," commented President and CEO, Stephen Wilkinson, "and it is quite possible that ValGold is on the leading edge of a significant new mining development. It is important to point out that the modest gold resource is hosted within the Los Patos alteration zone, which is far from being fully delineated and remains open both along strike and to depth."
As part of the preparation of its resource report, Micon constructed a grade-block model for the mineralization found at Los Patos and completed its estimate of the proportion of the mineralization that could be contained within the outline of a potential open pit. The data for the block model and open pit was derived from 6 surface trenches, 28 Diamond drill holes completed by ValGold and 8 drill holes drilled by Gold Fields in the 1990s.
The outline of the potential open pit shell was constructed initially using a base case gold price of US$650 per ounce, being the approximate trailing average gold price for the last 24 months. The other open pit parameters are summarized in Table 1. In addition, a series of potential open pit shells were calculated to test for sensitivities to gold prices utilizing a range of prices from US$450 per ounce up to US$925 per ounce. The base case pit shell is the defining measure for the mineral resource estimate and shows a compliant Indicated Mineral Resource of 1.1 million tonnes grading 2.94 g/T Au containing approximately 105,000 ounces. (See Table 2) There are Inferred Mineral Resources in the saprolite above the Indicated ounces consisting of 126,000 tonnes grading 1.19 g/T Au containing approximately 4,800 ounces. In addition, mineralized material is known through drilling below the base case pit shell, intersected by the 11 deepest 2007 drill holes. Table 3 is a comparison of the estimated tonnages and grades contained within the various potential open pit shells for each gold price.
ValGold anticipates that the full NI 43-101 report on the main zone of the Los Patos gold deposit should be received before the end of April 2008. Following that the Company is planning to resume its exploration work with Diamond drilling to expand the limits of the Los Patos in addition to testing the other high priority gold targets along the highly prospective Los Chivos shear zone. The drilling will be undertaken in tranches of approximately 5,000m and will be ongoing into 2009.
Figure 1. Three-Dimensional View Showing the Solid Model of the Rock-Hosted (yellow) and Saprolite-Hosted (purple) Gold Mineralization, Los Patos Project.
Table 1. Conceptual Open Pit Parameters, Los Patos Project
Item |
Value |
Gold Price |
$US650/oz |
Exchange Rate (CAD/USD) |
1.10 |
Cut-off grade |
0.5 g/t Au |
Metallurgical Recovery 1 |
Oxide: 93%
Fresh: 89% |
Inter-ramp angles 1 |
Oxide: 43˚
Fresh: 52˚ |
Density 1 |
Oxide: 1.8
Fresh: 2.8 |
Operating Cost -- Mining 1 |
$USD2.00 |
Operating Cost -- Milling 1 |
$USD6.00 |
Operating Cost -- G&A 1 |
$USD3.00 |
1 Note: Input parameters are notional only for the purposes of outlining a potential open pit shell.
Further work will be required to confirm the assumptions stated.
Table 2. Classified Mineral Resources for the Base Case Pit Shell
US$650/oz Pit Shell (Base Case) |
Material |
Tonnes |
Au Grade
(g/T) |
Contained
Ounces Au |
Indicated (Fresh Rock) |
1,106,900 |
2.94 |
104,639 |
Inferred (Saprolite) |
126,000 |
1.19 |
4,821 |
Total |
1,232,900 |
2.76 |
109,415 |
Los Patos Project Summary
Los Patos is the main gold occurrence discovered to date, situated within ValGold's Increible concessions located in the El Callao Mining District. The Increible concessions - 1, 3 and 5 cover an area totaling approximately 150 km2 and contain several gold occurrences, most of which have seen minimal past exploration work. The Los Patos occurrence is hosted within highly sheared volcanic rocks along the Los Chivos Shear Zone, a major regional structure that has been traced across the entire breadth of the Company's Increible 3 concession for a distance of 6.5 km.
During the summer of 2007, ValGold drilled 35 core holes on the Los Patos occurrence and its satellite zones. The drilling outlined a mineralized zone having a minimum strike length of 160 metres ("m") traceable down plunge for 280m. The average true width of the Los Patos zone is estimated to be in the order of 19.5m (64 ft). The Los Patos mineralization appears to be continuous from surface downwards and remains open in all directions. A second drill program is planned for 2008 to expand the Los Patos mineralization and to drill test the other gold occurrences along the Los Chivos Shear Zone.
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.
For further information on this property, our Company and its portfolio of international exploration projects and joint ventures, visit our website at www.valgold.com.
Stephen J. Wilkinson
President & Chief Executive Officer
Jeff Stuart
Investor Relations
ValGold Resources Ltd.
Tel: (604) 687-4622 Fax: (604) 687-4212
Email: info@valgold.com
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release. This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements." All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and those actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.valgold.com.
Table 3. Comparison of Estimated Tonnages and Grades by Open Pit Shell, Los Patos
Material |
Tonnes |
Au Grade (g/T) |
Contained Ounces Au |
US$450/oz Pit Shell |
Fresh Rock |
756,900 |
3.22 |
78,367 |
Saprolite |
99,900 |
1.32 |
4,420 |
Total |
856,800 |
3.00 |
82,650 |
US$550/oz Pit Shell |
Fresh Rock |
1,008,900 |
3.09 |
100,241 |
Saprolite |
114,300 |
1.25 |
4,594 |
Total |
1,1123,200 |
2.90 |
104,736 |
US$650/oz Pit Shell (Base Case) |
Fresh Rock |
1,106,900 |
2.94 |
104,639 |
Saprolite |
126,000 |
1.19 |
4,821 |
Total |
1,232,900 |
2.76 |
109,415 |
US$750/oz Pit Shell |
Fresh Rock |
1,237,100 |
2.83 |
112,572 |
Saprolite |
135,000 |
1.14 |
4,949 |
Total |
1,372,100 |
2.67 |
117,798 |
US$850/oz Pit Shell |
Fresh Rock |
1,286,100 |
2.75 |
113,723 |
Saprolite |
137,700 |
1.13 |
5,003 |
Total |
1,423,800 |
2.60 |
119,032 |
US$925/oz Pit Shell |
Fresh Rock |
1,389,700 |
2.77 |
123,777 |
Saprolite |
141,300 |
1.11 |
5,043 |
Total |
1,531,000 |
2.61 |
128,486 |
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