Orvana Minerals Corp.: Copperwood Drilling and Surface/Mineral Rights Acquisitions
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 11/04/10 -- Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX: ORV), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Orvana Resources US Corp ('ORVANA USA'), announced today the start of an 8,000-foot (2,500 metre) drill program at its Copperwood copper project, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA. The purpose of the drilling is 1) upgrade resources along the eastern, western, and northeastern edges of the Copperwood deposit, 2) better define geology to improve mine planning, 3) provide samples for final metallurgical testing, and 4) place exploratory water monitor wells in strategic positions for long-term control during any future mine operation.
'The data generated from this drill program will allow us to collect additional information to complete the requirements of the mine-permit application and the prefeasibility study,' said Dr. Bill Williams, VP Corporate Development of Orvana Minerals Corp ('Orvana'), who was also recently appointed President of ORVANA USA. 'We are on track to submit both documents during the Spring of 2011.'
ORVANA USA recently signed a 30-year mineral rights lease on 566 acres (226 hectares) east of Copperwood. Also, ORVANA USA purchased the surface rights on this acreage, as well as approximately 1,200 contiguous acres (480 hectares), to provide alternatives for infrastructure and access. During the 1950s, Bear Creek Mining Company drilled 23 diamond holes within this area, which has no historical resource estimate. AMEC E & C Services Inc. ('AMEC') has been retained to evaluate whether a resource estimate can be classified as NI 43-101-compliant based on the re-assaying of core samples from these holes.
On 9 July 2009, historical resource estimates of 45.5 million tonnes of 1.23% copper were reported for three of the Copperwood satellite deposits, which are located in areas where ORVANA USA has options to lease mineral rights, and AMEC is also evaluating this mineralization for NI 43-101 compliance.
Copperwood is a sedimentary stratiform copper deposit hosted by the Precambrian Nonesuch Formation and is analogous to the White Pine mine, located 30 kilometres to the east, where nearly 2 million tonnes of copper was produced between 1953 and 1996. On 22 March 2010, Orvana announced NI 43-101-compliant measured and indicated resources of 19.4 million tonnes of 1.86% copper. On 13 September 2010, a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was released and results encouraged advance of the project. ORVANA USA has completed the requisite sampling for the Environmental Impact Assessment and is finalizing the compilation and interpretation of the data; additional sampling will be completed prior to the submission of the miner-permit application. The project has received endorsements, conditioned by compliance to all guidelines set forth in the regulations, from the municipalities of Ironwood, Wakefield, and Bessemer; the townships of Ironwood, Wakefield, Bessemer, and Marenisco; the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners, Economic Development Commission, and Chapter of the Michigan Townships Association; the Ontonagon County Board of Commissioners; the Iron County Development Zone Council; the Gogebic Range Water Authority; and the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission, as well as various state and federal public officials.
ORVANA USA will hold voluntary informational meetings in Michigan at the Wakefield VFW on Tuesday, 16 November and at the Gogebic County Community College on Wednesday, 17 November starting at 7:00PM. All interested parties are cordially invited to attend and learn about the project.
The historical resources cited herein were completed prior to the implementation of NI 43-101 standards and they should not be relied upon. Orvana is not treating these historical estimates as current mineral resources. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have a demonstrated economic viability.
The information presented herein was completed by or under the supervision of Dr. Bill Williams, VP Corporate Development of Orvana Minerals Corp, who is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About Orvana
Orvana Minerals is a gold producer with a strong balance sheet and is transforming itself into a multi-mine gold and copper producer. Orvana's primary asset is the El Valle/Boinas-Carles ('EVBC') gold-copper project in northern Spain, which is expected to be in production early in 2011. Orvana owns and operates the Don Mario gold mine in Bolivia where the company is developing the fully permitted copper-gold-silver Upper Mineralized Zone ('UMZ') deposit, which is expected to commence initial production during the fall of 2010. In addition, Orvana is advancing its Copperwood copper project in Michigan, USA. Additional information is available at Orvana's website (www.orvana.com).
Contacts:
Orvana Minerals Corp.
Natalie Frame
Investor Relations
(289) 200-7640
Orvana Minerals Corp.
Dr. Bill Williams
Vice President, Corporate Development
(480) 522-7925
Orvana Minerals Corp.
Roland Horst
Chief Executive Officer
(416) 369-1629
ask_us@orvana.com
www.orvana.com