Vancouver, B. C.,
December 18, 2007 - Exeter Resource Corporation (AMEX:XRA, TSX-V:XRC,
Frankfurt: EXB - "Exeter" or the "Company") reports the discovery of two new mineralized vein
sets on its 100% owned Cerro Moro gold-silver project in Santa Cruz Province,
Argentina. The discovery of the Silvia and Gabriela veins arose from Exeter's
drilling program to prioritise targets located beyond the known Escondida
vein system.
Results from the
new Silvia vein
system, located two kilometres east of the Escondida vein, include the
following significant results from reverse circulation drill holes:
- 3.0
metres
("m") (9.9
feet) at a gold equivalent grade* of 12.6 grams per
tonne ("g/t") (0.38 oz/ton), comprising
10.0 g/t gold and 159 g/t silver, from a down hole depth of 24.0 m (79 feet), in hole
MRC155;
- 3.0 m (9.9 feet)
at a gold equivalent grade* of 5.9 g/t (0.18 oz/ton), comprising 4.9 g/t gold and 62 g/t silver from a down hole
depth of 34.0 m
(112 feet),
including 1.0 m (3.3 feet) at a gold
equivalent grade* of 14.8 g/t (0.43 oz/ton), comprising
12.9 g/t gold and 113 g/t silver, in hole MRC156; and
- 3.0 m (9.9 feet)
at a gold equivalent grade* of 13.6 g/t (0.39 oz/ton), comprising 12.0 g/t gold and 97 g/t silver from a down hole
depth of 9.0 m
(29.5 feet),
in hole MRC188.
The new Gabriela vein system, a
predominantly silver discovery, located three kilometres northeast of
Escondida, is a structural zone some 800 metres long. Results
from the first six diamond drill holes, testing a 200 metre long segment
of the vein, include the following significant results:
- 2.1 m (6.9 feet)
at a gold equivalent grade* of 13.7 g/t (0.40 oz/ton), comprising 3.6 g/t (0.10 oz/ton) gold and 610 g/t (17.7 oz/ton)
silver from a down hole depth of 33.8 m (111 feet),
including 0.6 m (2.0 feet) at a gold equivalent grade of
28.7 g/t (0.83 oz/ton), comprising 7.4 g/t (0.22 oz/ton)
gold and 1,280 g/t (37.1 oz/ton) silver, in hole MD163;
- 9.9 m (32.5 feet)
at a gold equivalent grade* of 5.1 g/t (0.15 oz/ton), comprising 1.2 g/t (0.036 oz/ton) gold and 229 g/t (6.8 oz/ton)
silver from a down hole depth of 74.9 m. (247 feet),
including 2.8 m (9.2 feet), at a gold equivalent grade*
of 10..6 g/t (0.32 oz/ton) comprising 2.6 g/t (0.08
oz/ton) gold and 480 g/t (13.9 oz/ton) silver, in hole MD181; and
- 3.6 m (11.8 feet)
at a gold equivalent grade* of 11.3 g/t (0.33 oz/ton), comprising 2.9 g/t (0.08 oz/ton) gold and 506 g/t (14.7 oz/ton)
silver, from a down hole depth of 20.5 m (67.3 feet),
including 0.6 m (2.0 feet) at a gold equivalent grade* of
24.5 g/t (0.71 oz/ton), comprising 6.4 g/t (0.19 oz/ton)
gold and 1,090 g/t (31.6 oz/ton) silver, in hole MD183.
* Note: Gold
equivalent grade is calculated by dividing the silver assay result by 60,
adding it to the gold value and assuming 100% metallurgical recovery.
Exeter's
Exploration Manager Matt Williams commented: "These results clearly
demonstrate our ability to discover high grade mineralization well beyond the
known Escondida veins. With over 20 targets to drill in the current
reconnaissance program we are confident of making further discoveries.
"The
discovery of the Gabriela silver vein, a zone with minor gold values relative
to the high silver grades, was unexpected and will have exploration
implications going forward
"We have over
40 full time staff, including eight geologists, and three drill rigs working
at Cerro Moro at present. Two rigs have been assigned to drill the Escondida
- Loma Escondida zone extensions and, given our success in tracing those
veins to the northwest, testing of the 1.6 kilometre long
target zone immediately to the southeast of the Escondida is our first
priority.
"A fourth
drill rig will be added in the New Year when the current back-log of assay
samples has cleared and our interpretations confirmed. We would see that rig
dedicated entirely to detailed resource definition drilling"
To enlarge the above
map, please click on it
Significant gold
and silver results from the Silvia
and Gabriela
Prospects include the following:
|
Drill
Hole Number
|
From
(m)
|
To
(m)
|
Width
(m)
|
Gold
(g/t)
|
Silver
(g/t)
|
Gold
Equivalent
(g/t) *
|
Gold
Equivalent
(oz/t)
|
|
Silvia Prospect
|
|
MRC155
|
24.0
|
27.0
|
3.0
|
10.0
|
159
|
12.6
|
0.37
|
|
MRC156
|
34.0
|
37.0
|
3.0
|
4.9
|
62
|
5.9
|
0.17
|
|
including
|
36.0
|
37.0
|
1.0
|
12.9
|
113
|
14.8
|
0.43
|
|
MRC186
|
64.0
|
65.0
|
1.0
|
2.2
|
3
|
2.3
|
0.07
|
|
and
|
73.0
|
75.0
|
2.0
|
11.6
|
85
|
13.0
|
0.38
|
|
MRC188
|
9.0
|
12.0
|
3.0
|
12.0
|
97
|
13.6
|
0.39
|
|
Gabriela Prospect
|
|
MD163
|
33.8
|
35.9
|
2.1
|
3.6
|
610
|
13.7
|
0.40
|
|
including
|
34.2
|
34.8
|
0.6
|
7.4
|
1,280
|
28.7
|
0.83
|
|
and
|
46.5
|
47.5
|
1.0
|
1.2
|
358
|
7.2
|
0.21
|
|
MD164 §
|
41.7
|
42.6
|
0.9
|
1.3
|
243
|
5.3
|
0.15
|
|
MD181
|
71.9
|
72.3
|
0.4
|
3.7
|
614
|
13.9
|
0.40
|
|
and
|
74.9
|
84.8
|
9.9
|
1.2
|
229
|
5.1
|
0.15
|
|
including
|
82.0
|
84.8
|
2.8
|
2.6
|
480
|
10.6
|
0.31
|
|
and
|
88.9
|
89.4
|
0.5
|
1.9
|
326
|
7.3
|
0.21
|
|
and
|
109.0
|
110.0
|
1.0
|
1.7
|
216
|
5.3
|
0.15
|
|
MD183
|
20.5
|
24.1
|
3.6
|
2.9
|
506
|
11.3
|
0.33
|
|
including
|
21.5
|
22.1
|
0.6
|
6.4
|
1,090
|
24.5
|
0.71
|
|
including
|
22.6
|
23.0
|
0.4
|
6.0
|
990
|
22.5
|
0.65
|
|
and
|
25.4
|
30.9
|
5.5
|
1.3
|
161
|
4.0
|
0.12
|
|
including
|
25.9
|
27.3
|
1.4
|
2.2
|
374
|
8.4
|
0.24
|
|
including
|
29.5
|
30.0
|
0.5
|
2.6
|
144
|
5.0
|
0.15
|
|
MD184
|
23.8
|
24.6
|
0.8
|
1.8
|
260
|
6.2
|
0.18
|
* Gold equivalent
grade for silver in this news release is calculated by dividing the silver
assay by 60 and assumes 100% metallurgical recovery.
# MRC denotes a
reverse circulation percussion drill hole, and MD denotes a diamond drill
hole.
§ Drill hole
MD164, actually intersected mineralization greater than 0.5 g/t gold in the
interval 2.0 - 3.5
metres, however given that the core recovery in this
interval was significantly less than required for reporting purposes this
interval was assigned a gold grade of zero.
Quality Control
and Assurance
Drill widths
presented above are drill intersection widths and may not represent the true
widths of mineralization.
Gold assay results
presented above are preliminary and have been calculated using a 0.5 g/t gold
cut-off grade, with no cutting of high grades. Reverse circulation drill
samples are collected using a cyclone in one metre intervals; most samples
are then composited into three metre samples. All diamond drill core samples
are split on regular metre intervals or on geological contacts and represent
sawn half HQ-size core. Samples were prepared at the ALS Chemex preparation
facility in Mendoza and assayed by fire assay
(50 gram
charge) at the ALS Chemex laboratory in Chile, both ISO-9001:2000 certified
laboratories.
Check assaying of
all samples assaying greater than 1.0 g/t gold is completed by ALS Chemex. Samples
returning greater than 10 g/t gold and/or greater than 100 g/t silver are
assayed using gravimetric analyses. Standard and blank samples are used
throughout the sample sequence as checks for the diamond drilling reported in
this release. Standard, blank and duplicate samples are used throughout the
sample sequence as checks for the reverse circulation drilling.
Assaying by the
screen fire assay method has been implemented in conjunction with standard 50 gram fire assaying,
for diamond drill cores that contain visible gold. The procedure for screen
fire assaying involves crushing and sieving of a nominal 1,000 gram sample to a
particle size of 100 microns. All material which does not pass through the
100 micron sieve is then assayed. Two fire assays are undertaken on the
undersize material as a check on homogeneity. The total gold content is then
calculated.
Matthew Williams, Exeter's Exploration
Manager and a "qualified person" within the definition of that term
in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects,
has supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this
news release.
About Exeter
Exeter Resource
Corporation is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the
discovery and development of gold and silver properties in South America.
The Cerro Moro Gold-Silver Project
(100% owned by Exeter) in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina is generating high
grade to 'bonanza grade' drilling results from an extensive epithermal vein
system, located 130
kilometres (80 miles) east of the Cerro Vanguardia gold
mine. Drilling will continue through 2008 using as a minimum three drill
rigs. Our focus is to establish a high grade gold-silver resource amenable to
open pit mining.
In Chile, the
Company has started a major drilling program on the Caspiche gold porphyry project,
located between the Refugio mine (Kinross Mining Corp) and the giant Cerro
Casale gold project (Barrick Gold Corp and Kinross Mining Corp).
As a result of
recent political developments in Mendoza
Province, Argentina,
the further development of the advanced Don Sixto Gold Project has been put on hold. The
Company has filed suit in the Mendoza Courts to challenge the
constitutionality of new legislation, which has the effect of banning
conventional mining in the province.. The Company will continue to work with
authorities in Mendoza, and with representatives of other mining companies,
to effect legislative amendment.
In 2008, Exeter will drill other gold-silver targets in
prospective regions of Patagonian Argentina and Chile . The Company gained a
broad foothold in the region through separate strategic alliances with Cerro
Vanguardia S.A. (an AngloGold Ashanti subsidiary), and Rio Tinto Mining and
Exploration Chile.
You are invited to visit the Exeter web
site at www.exeterresource.com.
EXETER
RESOURCE CORPORATION
Bryce Roxburgh
President and CEO
|
For further information, please contact:
B. Roxburgh, President or
Rob Grey, VP Corporate Communications
Tel: 604.688.9592 Fax: 604.688.9532
Toll-free: 1.888.688.9592
|
Suite 1260, 999 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC Canada V6C2W2
exeter@exeterresource.com
|
Safe Harbour Statement - This news release contains
"forward-looking statements", within the meaning of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the
Company's belief as to the timing of its drilling programs on its projects
and results from mineral samples from its Cerro Moro project. These
statements reflect the Company's current belief and are based upon currently available
information. Actual results could differ materially from those described in
this news release as a result of numerous factors, some of which are outside
of the control of the Company.
THE TSX VENTURE
EXCHANGE DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY
OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE