Latin American Minerals Inc. (TSX
VENTURE:LAT - News; the
"Corporation") announces that it has exercised its option to
acquire a 70% interest in the mining license (the "License") held
by Minera Guaira S.A.
("Minera Guaira")
near Paso Yobai, Paraguay.
Upon Minera Guaira receiving final government approval to the
transfer of this 70% interest in the License to the Corporation's Paraguayan
wholly owned subsidiary, the Corporation is required to release from escrow
the final option payment to Minera Guaira of approximately US$1.26 million, expected to
occur within 45 days. The parties will then enter into a 70/30 joint venture
agreement with the Corporation as operator. The party that does not
contribute its pro-rata share of costs will be diluted on a straight line
basis. The party whose interest is diluted to 15% or less will automatically
be reduced and converted to a 1% interest (this interest is required under
the terms of the License and is to be non-participating) and will receive a
3% net smelter returns royalty.
The property that is subject to the
License, and which is fully permitted for mining, covers the "Discovery
Trend" where the Corporation has excavated 11 mechanical trenches
comprising 450 metres and 47 diamond drill holes totalling 6,600 metres,
returning up to 26.6 gpt gold over 6.5 metres. This work has confirmed the continuity of the
gold mineralization to a depth of 100 metres and
remains open to depth. Sampling is currently in progress in order to better
quantify the grades and potential gold recovery values that can be expected
for this deposit, using a laboratory scale rod mill and Falcon L40 gravity
concentrator.
The Corporation also holds 100% of the
exploration concessions to the north of the Discovery Trend (the
"Northern Trend"), where initial auger hole testing has
demonstrated gold values similar to those of the Discovery Trend. The two
trends combined produce a large footprint gold system measuring approximately
9 km x 11 km, or approximately 100 square kilometers.
Miles Rideout,
the President and CEO of Latin American Minerals stated 'This is a very positive
step to consolidate the properties of this extensive, emerging epithermal
gold system. The support we have consistently received from Minera Guaira during the 3 1/2
years of our Option Agreement is acknowledged and appreciated.'
In conjunction with the decision to
exercise the option with respect to the License, the Corporation formally
terminated the option agreement with Minas Paraguay S.A. in connection with
its mining license following a careful review of the exploration results on
this property.
The Corporation further announces the
grant of stock options to acquire 1.1 million common shares to its Chairman
Richard Boulay. The stock options are exercisable
at $0.18 per share, with a term of five years and subject to the
Corporation's standard vesting schedule.
Dr. Waldo Perez is the Corporation's
internal "Qualified Person" under the requirements of National
Instrument 43-101.
About the Company:
Latin American Minerals is a mineral
exploration company that intends to develop its large Paso Yobai gold project in Paraguay.
The statements made in this press
release that are not historical facts contain forward-looking information
that involves risk and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements
of historical facts, which address Latin American Minerals' expectations,
should be considered forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on
management's exercise of business judgment as well as assumptions made by and
information currently available to management. When used in this document, the
words "may", "will", "anticipate",
"believe", "estimate", "expect",
"intend" and words of similar import, are intended to identify any
forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current view of
future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as contained
in Latin American Minerals' filings with Canadian securities regulatory
authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or
should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results could
differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements.
We undertake no obligation, and do not intend, to update, revise or otherwise
publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence
of any unanticipated events, unless required under applicable securities
laws. Although we believe that our expectations are based on reasonable
assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will materialize.
Neither the 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.
Contact:
Miles Rideout
Latin American Minerals Inc.
President and CEO
Argentina: (54-261) 439-9268
Toronto: (1-416) 902-8558 or 360 1921
www.latinamericanminerals.com |