TORONTO, May 19 /CNW/ - Alexandria Minerals Corporation (TSX-V: AZX; Frankfurt: A9D) reports today that it now has three drill rigs operating on its Cadillac Break properties in Val d'Or Quebec, with two drill rigs focused on its Akasaba project and one on its Sleepy project.
Alexandria is in the middle of a 24,000 m drill programme at Akasaba, with an eye to both expanding and better delineating gold mineralization there. Although focus will be primarily on progressively deeper drilling below the past-producing Akasaba Mine, where the Company has successfully expanded gold mineralization from 200 m to 1 km long and from 150 m to more than 300 m deep, efforts will also include testing further afield from the mine area. Company geologists have been re-interpreting historic drill data, and using downhole geophysics to help guide them in their planning.
Eric Owens, Alexandria's President and CEO, said, "Recent successful results have led us to expand our drill campaign. We have one of the best property portfolios in the Val d'Or district and we believe that aggressive exploration will create significant value."
To-date, the Company has completed some 29,000 m of drilling around the past-producing gold-silver mine over the last 18 months, and has intersected both shallow, wide zones of gold mineralization as well as narrower high grade zones, such as 1.91 g/t Au over 63.3 m, 7.74 g/t Au over 6.01 m, and 121.00 g/t Au over 0.70 m (see Press Releases, June 17, 2010; April 12, 2011; and October 20, 2010). Assay results are pending for some 20 holes. No current resource estimate exists on the property, but the Company plans to begin such a study in the coming months.
At Sleepy, a 3,800 m drill programme is underway to follow up on significant assay results received in February, as well as test encouraging targets 1 km along strike to the east. A small 3 hole drill hole programme this past winter included hole SAX-11-01, which intersected 3.81 g/t Au over 9.00 m (Press Release, March 1, 2011), and deepened gold mineralization there by 100 m to more than 400 m depth. Pending results, upon completion of this phase of drilling, the rig will move to Akasaba in an effort to accelerate delineation of that property.
The Sleepy Zone hosts an Inferred Resource of 1.5 million tonnes grading 3.0 g/t Au, for roughly 150,000 ounces of gold (Press Release, October 28, 2009), which is about 8 times the size of an historic (Pre- National Instrument 43-101) estimate of about 25,000 ounces when Alexandria acquired the property. Gold mineralization occurs in a distinct altered tonalite layer within the Vicour Gabbro Sill, along strike with the Sigma 2 Mine, located 5 km west of Sleepy, from which Placer Dome mined 200,000 ounces of gold in the early 1990's via open pit.
Drill results and resource estimates presented in this press release have all been previously released with regard to Alexandria's Akasaba and Sleepy properties, and have been reviewed by Dr. Eric Owens, PGeo, QP, and Peter Legein, QP.
About Alexandria Minerals Corporation
Alexandria Minerals Corporation is a Toronto-based junior gold exploration and development company with one of the largest property packages along the prolific, gold-producing Cadillac Break in Val d'Or, Quebec. The Company is currently focused on advancing its Akasaba gold-silver project, and has two NI 43-101 compliant gold resources: at Orenada, at a 0.5 g/t cutoff, the company has delineated 446,000 ounces of gold (Measured and Indicated), and 302,000 ounces of gold (Inferred); at Sleepy, the Company has delineated 150,000 ounces of gold (Inferred). Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., who has three producing gold mines in the region, owns roughly 10% of the Company.
WARNING: This News Release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of up-coming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Alexandria Minerals Corporation relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements.
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