VENTANA ADDS ANOTHER DRILL FOR
DEEPER DRILLING AT LA BODEGA
Vancouver, B.C., March 17, 2009 – Ventana Gold Corp.
(TSX: VEN) (“Ventana�� or “the
Company��) has received delivery of an additional drill from its current drill
contractor, Terramundo Drilling Inc. in order to accelerate and expand the
3,400-metre diamond core drilling program under way at its flagship La Bodega
gold property in northeast Colombia. The new drill, which has arrived on site
and will commence drilling in the next few days, is a Fordia Silver Bear A-5,
capable of drilling NQ core to depths of 1,300 metres.
The current drill program is planned to test the
down-dip and along-strike extensions of strong gold mineralization encountered
in previous holes at the La Mascota zone, such as hole 47 which cut two high
grade intercepts (separated by eight metres) of 20.3 metres of 11.62 grams per
tonne gold followed by 56.5 metres of 6.60 grams per tonne gold.
The La Mascota zone is one of several areas on the La
Bodega property where Ventana has discovered encouraging gold mineralization.
La Mascota has shown remarkable continuity of high-grade gold values over true
composite widths of 20 to 80 metres, and remains open along strike in both
directions and at depth. Mineralization has been tested to date over a strike
length of 625 metres and to a depth of 100 metres. The objective of the current
drill program is to test the La Mascota mineralization to a depth of 200
metres. However, with the addition of the Fordia A-5 Drill, Ventana will be
able to test the La Mascota zone to greater depths of up to 500 metres.
Ventana CEO Richard Warke said: “With the immediate
availability of this additional drill, Ventana will both accelerate the current
drill program and be positioned to further expand the mineralization
encountered at La Mascota. If successful, we expect this program to
dramatically enhance the potential resource base of the project.��
Ventana has been actively drilling at La Bodega since
acquiring the property in 2006 and by the end of 2008 had completed 105 holes
totalling 25,457 metres, outlining a new mineralized zone in the process. A
drill hole location map and a complete listing of drill intercepts from the
first 94 holes are available at http://www.ventanagold.com/.
Quality Control
Drill results have been reviewed, verified and
compiled by Ventana’s Vice President of Exploration, Jon Lehmann, L.P.G., a
qualified person for the purpose of NI 43-101. Mr. Lehmann has over 25 years of
mineral exploration experience, is a Licensed Professional Geologist in the
State of Washington and a member in good standing of the Canadian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy.
Ventana utilizes a rigorous QA/QC program with respect
to sampling procedures including chain-of-custody tracking of core until
shipment to the analytical laboratory. Core is sawn in half with one half
shipped to an independent prep lab and samples shipped for analysis to ACME
Analytical Laboratories Ltd., an ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025 certified
laboratory in Vancouver, B.C. The remainder of the core is stored in a secured
storage facility for future assay verification. Blanks, duplicates and
certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor
laboratory performance and mineralized intervals are re-assayed at Inspectorate
America Corp. analytical laboratory in Sparks, Nevada.
Independent NI 43-101Technical Reports were prepared
by EurGeol Miller O’Prey, PGeo, for the La Bodega project and the nearby
California-Vetas project to provide a review of the exploration activities that
have occurred on the projects. These reports are dated June 14, 2008 and are
posted on the company’s web site at http://www.ventanagold.com/. Ventana plans to complete a NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate in
2009.
About Ventana
Ventana holds rights to 4,518 hectares of exploration
property in the California-Vetas gold district in Colombia, of which 3,710
hectares are wholly owned with the remainder under option to acquire a 100%
interest. The Company has been drilling at La Bodega, a property lying adjacent
to Greystar Resources’ Angostura gold-silver deposit, and has an ongoing gold
exploration program in the California-Vetas gold mining district. The Company
plans to complete a 43-101 mineral resource estimate at La Bodega in 2009.
For additional information please go to http://www.ventanagold.com/or contact:
Meghan Brown, Investor Relations Manager
Phone: (604) 687-1717
Email: mbrown@ventanagold.com
Forward-looking Statements
The statements that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to vary materially from targeted results. Such risks and
uncertainties include those described from time to time in Ventana’s latest
quarterly report and management discussion and analysis. Ventana assumes no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise.
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