Emgold Expands Claim Position at Its Buckskin Rawhide Gold-Silver Property, Nevada
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 04/11/11 -- Emgold Mining Corporation (TSX VENTURE: EMR)(PINK SHEETS: EGMCF)(FRANKFURT: EML) -
Background
Emgold Mining Corporation ('Emgold' or the 'Company') announces that it has staked six additional unpatented mining claims at its Buckskin Rawhide Gold Property (the 'Property') in Nevada. The Property is located about 40 miles south of Fallon, Nevada and is located in the Rawhide Mining District. It is situated adjacent to Fronteer Gold Inc.'s Regent gold-silver deposit and to Rawhide Mining Company's Rawhide Mine. The six additional claims, totaling 120 acres, increase Emgold's total property holdings at Buckskin Rawhide to 52 unpatented claims, totaling 1,040 acres. The new claims cover an extension of the Black Eagle Fault, which contains the Black Eagle Vein. In January, 2011, Emgold announced results of initial surface sampling of the Black Eagle Vein which included two high grade gold chip samples assaying 9.0 and 7.4 ounces per ton ('opt') gold respectively (See Emgold's January 12, 2011 press release as www.emgold.com).
Emgold acquired the Property in December, 2009. Forty-six of the 52 unpatented mining claims are currently under a lease and option to purchase agreement with Nevada Sunrise LLC, a private company.
Buckskin Rawhide Geology and Mineralization
The Property is a volcanic-hosted, structurally controlled, epithermal gold-silver prospect in the Walker Lane gold belt of western Nevada. The Walker Lane is a regional shear zone and known gold trend that hosts large and small historic and currently operating gold-silver mines, including mines of the Comstock Lode, Tonopah District and Rawhide District. Buckskin Rawhide geology and mineralization is associated with structures from the Walker Lane along with lithologic units and structures of the Rawhide caldera.
The Black Eagle Fault is a prominent north-trending structure situated on the west side of Emgold's claim block. The surrounding bedrock is volcanic and includes latite and vent breccia. The gold-silver mineralization is related to the fault and occurs over a measured strike length of 1,100 feet (and open to extension). The Black Eagle Vein, in the Black Eagle Fault, consists of fault gouge, quartz veins, and silicified wall rocks overprinted with iron-manganese oxides. Within the Black Eagle Vein Emgold has identified a zone 300 feet in strike length that contains high grade gold. This zone is interpreted to be a steep dipping shoot. Significant samples, previously announced by Emgold in January 2011, are shown in the following Table of gold and silver assays.
Table of Gold and Silver Assays
Black Eagle Vein, Buckskin Rawhide Property, NV
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Assay 1- Gold Assay 2- Gold Assay 1-Silver Assay 2-Silver
Sample No. (opt) (opt) (opt) (opt)
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EBE 10-23 9.000 7.278/7.746 17.58 18.20
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EBE 10-24 0.994 0.863/0.972 7.21 6.90
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EBE 10-26 0.123 23.91
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EBE 10-27 0.220 3.04
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EBE 10-28 0.399 5.78
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EBE 10-29 7.347 7.403 (m) 7.39
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EBE 10-35 0.316 3.42
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EBE 10-40 0.859 0.744/0.786 1.05 1.07
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All samples are chip samples taken over 12 inch lengths. These are not true
widths across the vein.
(m) is a metallic screen fire assay.
Assay 2 column includes duplicate assays if conducted.
American Assay Laboratories, Inc. of Sparks, Nevada, conducted the laboratory analyses. Mr. Robert Pease, Chief Geologist of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, participated in and directly supervised the sampling program. The exploration results are preliminary in nature, are not conclusive evidence of the likelihood of the presence of a mineral deposit, but indicate the need for further exploration of the property.
Emgold Plans for Buckskin Rawhide
Emgold believes additional exploration activity is warranted on the Property, including a core drilling program on the Black Eagle Vein. Estimated cost of a first phase of drilling is US$500,000, which would include core drilling, core logging, and assaying. The Company plans to complete this work in 2011, subject to successful financing activities. If adequate mineralization were to be found in the first phase, more drilling would be necessary to define a resource.
Emgold's President Dave Watkinson stated, 'Our initial exploration results at the Property reinforce our opinion that the it has been under-explored. We think the Black Eagle Vein represents potential for definition of one or more high-grade shoots associated with the Black Eagle Fault. We decided to stake additional claims along the Black Eagle Fault to extend our land position over this prospective area. In addition to the Black Eagle Vein, other exploration targets have been identified on the Property that have yet to be examined.'
Information Regarding Emgold
Emgold is currently in the advanced stage of permitting the Idaho-Maryland Project, located in Grass Valley, CA. The Idaho-Maryland Mine was once the second largest underground gold mine in California and is reported to have produced 2.4 million ounces of gold at an average recovered grade of 0.43 ounce per ton. It is adjacent to the Empire Mine, Newmont Mining Corporation's first operating gold mine and historically California's largest underground gold mine. Empire mine is reported to have produced 5.8 million ounces of gold. The Grass Valley Mining District is reported to have produced over 17 million ounces of gold from 1850 to 1956. Both the Idaho-Maryland Mine and Empire Mine shut down in 1956 due to the fixed price of gold at US$35 per ounce and rising labor and supply costs after WWII.
The Idaho-Maryland Project contains an NI 43-101 compliant measured and indicated resource of 472,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 0.28 ounces per ton and an inferred resource of 1,002,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 0.39 ounce per ton, estimated as at March 1, 2007 (See Emgold's NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report titled 'Idaho-Maryland Mine Project' dated December 8, 2009 at www.emgold.com or, filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com).
Emgold has a number of earlier stage exploration properties including the Buckskin Rawhide Property in Nevada, the Stewart Property in British Columbia, and the Rozan Property in British Columbia. The Rozan Property is currently optioned to Valterra Resource Corporation. Pursuant to which option agreement Valterra is obliged to incur CDN$250,000 in cumulative exploration expenditures on the Rozan Property by year end 2011. Emgold has also completed a CDN $500,000 flow through financing which it intends to use to further explore the Stewart Property in 2011 as summarized in a March 22, 2011 news release.
Information in this news release that is of a scientific or technical nature was prepared by Mr. Robert Pease, Professional Geologist (California), Chief Geologist of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.
For more information about Emgold, the Idaho-Maryland Gold Project and the Buckskin Rawhide, Stewart, and Rozan Properties, please visit www.emgold.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
David G. Watkinson, P.Eng., President & CEO
This release was prepared by the Company's management.
Sampling outlined in this press release is preliminary in nature and not conclusive evidence of the likelihood of the occurrence of a mineral deposit. This news release may include certain statements that may be deemed 'forward-looking statements'. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address the mineral resource estimates, are forward-looking statements and are based on a number of assumptions, including but not limited to the assumptions underlying the estimated resources outlined in the Company's Technical Report dated December 8, 2009, are and remain valid, that the demand for and price of gold remains constant or increases and does not experience a material decline, and that the Company will be able to raise the capital required to conduct drilling on the Property and to hold and develop the Idaho-Maryland Project. 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 the availability of capital and financing, changes to the price of gold, the price of the Company's shares, the costs of labour, equipment and other costs associated with exploration, development and mining operations, exploitation and exploration successes, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update its forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. 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.emgold.com.
U.S. 20-F Registration: 000-51411
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Emgold Mining Corporation
David G. Wakinson, P.Eng.
President & CEO
604-687-4622 or Toll Free: 1-888-267-1400
info@emgold.com
www.emgold.com