Astur Gold Wins Tender for La Codosera Gold Property in Extremadura, Spain
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 04/01/11 -- Astur Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE: AST)(FRANKFURT: CDC) ('Astur Gold' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce that it has been successful in a bidding process for the La Codosera project, consisting of five mining concessions totaling 1,851 hectares (approximately 20km2) in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura Autonomous Region, Western Spain. La Codosera is only 40km away from the provincial capital of Badajoz, and 80km from the capital of the Extremadura Autonomous Region, Merida. The Extremadura region is known as a leader in mining industry support in Spain. The permits are for the concessions of Afra, Buenavista, Brena, Monteviejo, and Sierra Lugar. Despite available historical data, the area has been insufficiently explored and may represent significant potential for gold mineralization in Spain.
Cary Pinkowski, CEO & Director commented, 'We are pleased to have won the tender process for this land package in Badajoz, Spain. The historical data indicates that there is excellent gold exploration potential. By adding these exploration assets, in concert with the development of our flagship Salave deposit in Northern Spain, we are leveraging our Spanish exploration expertise and human resources.'
LA CODOSERA GEOLOGY
The La Codosera area is regionally situated on the southern boundary of the Paleozoic Center Iberian Zone, on the border with the Ossa Morena Zone. The mineralized zones and historic workings are situated within a network of quartz veins, and breccias associated with a major NW-SE trending shear zone. The gold occurs as free gold (up to 300um diameter) and associated with sulphides within shear and fracture hosted quartz veins. The sulphides are oxidized to depths ranging from 50-100m below surface.
PREVIOUS WORK ON LA CODOSERA
The La Codosera area is a historic gold district in Spain, mined by Romans about 2,000 years ago. There are more than 13 outcropping gold occurrences within an area of more than 4km2 that has historically been mined by the Romans. Gold mineralization within veins and breccias are believed to be related to a regional northwest trending shear zone proximal to felsic intrusive rocks.
La Codosera was historically a State gold reserve, which later hosted sporadic exploration programs by the Institute of Geology & Mining of Spain ('IGME') from 1984 to 1993. The IGME invested a total of approximately 100 million pesetas (approximately EUR600,000) to investigate the existence of gold in the La Codosera area. Historical work includes trenching, drilling, soil geochemistry, and minor geophysical work. Preliminary review of historical data has been done by the Company, which is to be followed by more detailed analysis and validation.
There has been 8,445 meters of core drilling in 54 diamond holes completed on the property. Highlights of the historic drill intersections on the La Codosera property are shown in the Table 1. The intercepts listed below were calculated using a 0.50 g/t Au cut off grade.
Table 1: Selected Drill Results from La Codosera Property
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From To Thick Au Grade
DDH (m) (m) (m) (g/t)
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C-27B 44.1 54.1 10.0 3.64
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C-27B 71.7 76.3 4.6 2.34
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NG-11 33.2 35.2 2.0 2.49
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C-30 25.4 27.7 2.3 6.44
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C-36 17.0 33.0 16.0 1.46
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C-27 40.0 48.0 8.0 2.97
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NG-01 31.5 33.5 2.0 3.44
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NG-08 19.6 23.6 4.0 5.93
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C-24 52.5 56.15 3.65 3.54
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NG-05 27.3 39.3 12.0 2.38
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C-32 20.4 27.5 7.1 2.74
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C-30 2.0 4.5 2.5 1.27
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NG-15 11.35 27.35 16.0 1.09
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Approximately 6,000 meters of trenching has been done in the area. Extensive channel sampling consisting of 2m continuous samples returned gold values as high as 33.16 g/t. In total, 18 samples returned gold values greater than 5 g/t Au, and 121 samples returned gold values between 1 and 5 g/t Au. Highlights of the historic trenching results on the La Codosera property are shown in Table 2. The intercepts listed below were calculated using a 0.50 g/t Au cut off grade.
Table 2: Selected Historic Trenching Results from La Codosera Property
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From To Thick Au Grade
Trench (m) (m) (m) (g/t)
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K-53B 0 4 4 7.20
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K-78 18 24 6 11.46
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K-27 22 32 10 3.37
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K-27 50 58 8 3.44
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K-76 8 10 2 8.36
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K-108 66 78 12 4.21
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K-28 0 16 16 2.68
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K-101 26 32 6 2.70
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K-101 62 72 10 2.66
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K-53 6 28 22 1.76
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K-74 2 10 8 2.14
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K-24B 12 24 12 1.79
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PATH FORWARD FOR LA CODOSERA
The recently acquired permits cover all of the historic target areas, including those areas investigated by the IGME. The Company has committed to spend EUR880,497 over a 3 year period to maintain the property in good standing. Over the coming months the company intends to conduct a detailed review and compilation of all available historic information, culminating in the preparation of a NI 43-101 technical report and recommendations for further work in the coming year.
Property location maps and historic data for the La Codosera Property can be reviewed on the Company's website at http://www.asturgold.com/projects/la_codosera_gold/.
Brian McEwen, P. Geol. is the qualified person as defined in NI 43-101 and has reviewed the content of this press release. The information presented has been supplied by others and has not been validated by Astur Gold.
ABOUT ASTUR GOLD
The Company is developing its 100% owned flagship Salave Gold Project in northern Spain. Salave is one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Western Europe. The property has a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate containing 1,683,000 oz of gold in the Measured & Indicated category (2,155,000 tonnes grading 3.88 g/t Au Measured and 15,790,000 tonnes grading 2.79 g/t Au Indicated) with an additional 338,000 oz of gold in the Inferred category (3,770,000 tonnes grading 2.8 g/t Au).
There is excellent exploration potential at Salave, with four of the principal high grade zones of mineralization open at depth. Additional exploration areas to the west have also yet to be tested. Previous metallurgical tests indicate gold recoveries in the order of 90% are possible. The region boasts excellent infrastructure and a history of mining that will help support future mine development. Astur Gold is advancing Salave towards production and cultivating an enduring partnership with the people of Asturias in developing economic prosperity for the region.
Salave is subject to NI 43-101 report, 'Technical Report on Salave Gold Deposit, Spain', dated February 25, 2010as well as 'Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Salave Gold Project, Asturias Region, Spain' dated February 12, 2011. Both documents are available on SEDAR and the Company's website.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Astur Gold Corporation
Investor Relations
(604)694-1600
(604)694-1663 (FAX)
www.asturgold.com