=======================================================================
Re: News - Thursday, May 29, 2008
Infinito Announces New Crucitas Resource Estimate
=======================================================================
Infinito Gold Ltd. (the "Company") - The Company announces that it has
received an updated resource model based on a revised interpretation of
its Crucitas Project in Costa Rica produced by Hellman & Schofield
("H&S") of Sydney, Australia in the course of preparing an updated
resource estimate for the Project. The updated model significantly
increases the estimated resources. Portions of this work were completed
by R.J. Morris, M.Sc., P.Geo., a geological consultant based in British
Columbia.
The table below summarizes the new resource estimates produced by H&S
as of May 19, 2008, which does not include silver values.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
H&S Resource Estimate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated Inferred
Gold --------------------------------------------------------------------
Cutoff Tonnes Gold Ounces Tonnes Gold Ounces
g/t Millions g/t Millions Millions g/t Millions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.3 37.47 1.13 1.36 52.55 0.89 1.50
0.4 32.82 1.24 1.30 38.76 1.08 1.35
0.5 28.22 1.37 1.24 29.42 1.28 1.21
0.6 24.15 1.50 1.17 22.81 1.50 1.10
0.7 20.58 1.65 1.09 18.26 1.71 1.00
0.8 17.50 1.81 1.02 14.97 1.92 0.92
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The H&S resource estimate supersedes the estimate (the "Geostat
Estimate") on the same property as discussed in the technical report
that was prepared in early 2006 by Geostat International ("Geostat")
and filed on SEDAR on April 10, 2006. Both estimates relied on the
same geological data compiled largely by Placer Dome Inc. in the mid
1990's and reviewed by Geostat in preparing the Geostat Estimate. The
project has 251
Diamond drill holes, 27 geotechnical or ground water
holes and 90 auger holes for total drilling of just over 36,000 meters.
The project database is currently maintained by Industrias Infinito,
the project manager in Costa Rica.
The Geostat Estimate, produced in February of 2006, at a 0.5 g/tonne
cut off grade estimated an indicated resource of 25.09 million tonnes
containing 985,000 oz of gold at an average grade of 1.21 grams of gold
per tonne for the deposit. The inferred resource estimated by Geostat
at a 0.5 g/tonne cut off grade was 12.57 million tonnes containing
496,000 oz of gold at an average grade of 1.23 grams of gold per tonne.
A discussion of the significant differences in the interpretations of
the mineralization at the Crucitas Project and its impact on the
resource estimates appears below.
The Company is now in the process of updating its Feasibility Study
that was prepared using the Geostat Estimate and filed on SEDAR on
February 26, 2007. Micon International Ltd. ("Micon") who prepared the
initial study, has been retained to update their study to incorporate
the new resource model prepared by H&S together with updating capital,
operating costs and projected revenues to reflect the changes in costs
and the price of gold since the original study was prepared.
The new resource model does not vary significantly in total volume to
be mined from the previous model. The H&S model includes material
which was formerly shown as below cut off grade and designated as waste
in the Geostat model. This material is not in deeper or potentially
higher strip ratio areas and therefore has the potential to be
processed under a new mine plan without materially changing the area to
be disturbed by mining. If Micon's updated report concludes that this
material should be processed and does not thereby materially increase
the area to be disturbed by mining, it will likely have the effect of
extending the mine life and reducing the strip ratio without materially
impacting the size of the mine footprint or the tailings dam
contemplated in the original Micon study.
Comparison of Interpretations and Estimates
H&S assessed gold resources utilizing a block modeling approach based
on multiple indicator kriging ("MIK"). The background to this method
is discussed in Deutsch and Journel, 1988, "GSLIB: Geostatistical
Software Library and User's Guide". H&S has developed its own
implementation of MIK which has been in use in gold resource estimation
world wide for more than 10 years. Both Placer Dome and Geostat used
the method of ordinary kriging in their resource estimation.
The other major difference between the Geostat interpretation of 2006
and that of H&S was that the Geostat interpretation subdivides the main
bodies of mineralization based on an interpretation of generally north
trending, steeply dipping narrow structures which were assumed to
control the location of higher grade mineralization. H&S could not
find reasonable support for this interpretation either in the drill
core or in the spatial analysis of gold data.
The resource estimates produced by H&S are more closely aligned with
historical estimates produced by Placer Dome Inc. (Placer) and
Independent Mining Consultants (IMC). These are set forth below and
the information is taken from the Geostat Technical Report filed on
Sedar on April 10, 2006.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold Millions # of
Operator- Cutoff of Gold Estimation holes Gold in
Date Consultant g/t Tonnes g/t Method in Model k Ozs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Resource Categories
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sep-96 Placer 0.5 93.007 1.03 Ordinary 234 3080
Kriging
Aug-99 IMC 0.7 40.884 1.5 2S Indicator 341 1947
Kriging
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured and Indicated Resources Only
------------------------------------------------------------------
Aug-99 IMC 0.8 29.67 1.51 2S Indicator 341 1443
Kriging
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary of Selected Historical Resource Estimates
H&S advises that it has used a standard implementation of multiple
indicator kriging with block support correction for the estimation of
recoverable resources over the past ten years in many gold deposits
exhibiting varying and complex styles of mineralization. H&S considers
the MIK approach to be both robust with respect to the problems
presented by extreme grades in samples and provides estimates of
resources that are reasonably consistent with production over periods
of time as short as one to three months where appropriate ore control
methods are used.
H&S comments that the total resource estimates at a 0.3 g/t cut off in
their model are similar to those estimated by Placer Dome in 1996 at a
0.5 g/t cut off. At a 0.7g/t cut off, the H&S estimate is very similar
to that reported by IMC. The Geostat report suggests that the Placer
resource model of the mineralization was undertaken using the ordinary
kriging method and was essentially "unconstrained". Unconstrained in
this context means that the extension of the higher grade samples was
not constrained by wireframe boundaries which purport to define the
limits of the higher grade sample populations. The use of constraining
wireframes around higher grade sample populations is a common practice
in resource modelling in the mining industry, particular with the
inverse distance and ordinary kriging estimation methods. It commonly
leads to overestimation of the grade within the wireframe boundaries
and underestimation of grade outside the boundaries.
At the 0.5 g/t cut off, the total estimate of tonnage in the H&S model
is significantly larger than the corresponding Geostat Estimate. The
grade estimate is also higher. The H&S estimate of the indicated
resource tonnage at 0.8 g/t is similar to that of Geostat at the same
cut off grade but significantly higher in grade. In the opinion of H&S
the primary reasons for these differences in tonnage and grade are the
use of the tight wireframes to constrain the higher grade sample
population in the model construction, and the sample grade cutting
practices used by Geostat. Geostat used a cap of 25 g/t for all grades
of one metre samples. The impact of this capping may be relatively
insignificant in the smaller Botijas zone where the coefficient of
variation of the grades is comparatively small but it is likely to have
a greater impact in the larger Fortuna mineralized zone. Grade capping
is generally not used with the application of the MIK method because
the method has an inbuilt mechanism for controlling the extension of
higher grade samples.
Assuming that the grade capping and the tight wire framing are the main
reasons for the differences between the Geostat estimates and the H&S
estimates, it is reasonable to conclude that the interpretation of the
continuity of the gold mineralization and/or the structures controlling
the continuity is very important to the assessment of the resources in
this deposit. In the view of H&S, there is insufficient geological and
statistical support for the wireframe interpretation of Geostat to
justify its use in modelling the Crucitas gold resources. Relogging of
core carried out in 2007 by Infinito staff could not find geological
evidence to support the use of these wire frame constraints.
Recommendations
H&S recommends a program of infill drilling at 25 metres spacing on the
east-west drill sections for at least those resources to be accessed in
the first two years of mining. This infill drilling will improve the
quality of the resource estimates in this initial production period
leading to better scheduling and reconciliations. The H&S estimate
shows more than twice the volume of inferred resources as compared to
the Geostat report. The Company intends to conduct a significant
amount of drilling with the objective of bringing these inferred
resources up to an Indicated status for conversion to probable
reserves.
Qualified Person
The H&S resource estimate and the disclosure in this news release,
including the material comparing the interpretations of the
mineralization and the various resource estimates, have been prepared
by or under the supervision of Neil Schofield, M.Sc. MAusIMM, MAIG, an
independent Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Mr.
Schofield has consented to being named in this news release.
Verification work in support of the resource estimate was completed by
Moose Mountain Technical Services and was completed by, or under the
supervision of, Mr. R. J. Morris, M.Sc., P.Geo., an independent
Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Mr Morris has
consented to being named in this news release.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements
Certain statements in this press release address future events and
conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements.
These factors include, among others, the inherent risks involved in the
exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties
involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data,
fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or
unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the
availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the
possibility that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals
will not be received, and the availability of a qualified workforce and
third party contractors necessary for the development and operation of
a mine. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these
forward-looking information or statements if circumstances or
management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or
statements.
John Morgan, President
Infinito Gold Ltd.
"The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release."
=======================================================================
Copyright (c) 2008 INFINITO GOLD LTD. (IG) All rights reserved. For
more information visit our website at http://www.infinitogold.com/ or
send mailto:vvvinfo@infinitogold.com
=======================================================================
.
![]()