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Pele Mountain Resources Inc. (TSX Venture symbol: GEM) ("Pele"
or the "Company") today provided an update on its Ardeen and East Highland gold projects. Pele is pursuing
strategies to unlock value at its gold projects as it focuses on the
sustainable development of its Eco Ridge Mine Uranium and Rare Earths
project.
Australian-based Coventry Resources Ltd. ("Coventry")
has notified the Company that it has satisfied all conditions necessary
to complete its initial 51-percent earn-in at Pele's Ardeen
Gold Project, along the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt
in Northern Ontario. Furthermore, Coventry has advised Pele that it
intends to increase its project interest to 75-percent by making additional
required exploration expenditures by January 2013, and then forming a joint
venture with Pele. Coventry will continue as the project operator
during the option period and plans to resume exploration at Ardeen in the spring.
In late 2009, Coventry completed a 53-hole, 6,435-metre diamond drill
program at Ardeen, targeting along strike and
down-plunge extensions of known high-grade gold mineralization, returning
assays of up to 11.6 metres of 27.0 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 41.1 g/t silver. More than
12,000 metres of drilling at Ardeen
by Pele in the 1990s also returned numerous high-grade gold intercepts.
Coventry has completed its initial earn-in, and the Ardeen
project is now 49 percent owned by Pele Gold.
Pele also announced that it has received updated engineering plans for
the extraction of a high-grade, near-surface bulk sample which is expected to
return up to 2,500 ounces of gold at the 'A' zone at East Highland. In
the late-1990s, approximately 3,800 tonnes of
material was mined from a shallow open pit at the 'A' Zone, returning an
average gold grade of about 5 grams per tonne
(g/t). Plans for the bulk sample include widening and deepening the
existing pit under the existing closure plan. The selection of a mill for
processing ore from the bulk sample has not been finalized.
Pele President and CEO Al Shefsky stated,
"We continue to seek a qualified partner to explore and develop our
Highland gold properties as we concentrate on the development of Eco
Ridge. We believe that Highland has excellent potential for near-term
cash flow opportunities as well as the delineation of significant gold
resources."
Pele also announced results from drilling at the 'A' zone which was
planned, performed, and paid for by an arm's-length third party.
Drilling sought to extend the known mineralized zone to the east through a
series of shallow core holes totaling approximately 500 metres.
The results extended the high grade ore zone in the pit by an additional 5
meters and also confirmed that the shear zone which hosts the A zone mineralization
remains open to the east.
Drill results can be viewed on Pele's website at www.pelemountain.com/pdfs/AZone
Extension.pdf
Pele's Highland gold properties are located approximately 100 kilometres southeast of Hemlo
in Northern Ontario, along the Michipicoten
Greenstone Belt, home to several past producing gold mines including the
million-ounce plus Renabie Mine and where Richmont Mines Inc. is currently operating the Island
Gold Mine. East and West Highland are 100-percent owned by Pele Gold
Corporation ("Pele Gold"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Company.
Pele also announced today that further to the Company's press release
announcing certain option grants to directors, officers, employees and
consultants of the Company on December 21, 2010, Pele confirms that it
granted to an officer of the Company, 300,000 stock options exercisable at $0.325
per share on January 1, 2011 and 50,000 stock options exercisable at $0.43
per share on February 1, 2011. All of the forgoing stock options
expire on December 31, 2012.
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Peter Dimmell, P.Geo. (NL, ON), a
Pele Director and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.
About Pele
Pele Mountain Resources is focused on the sustainable development of its Eco
Ridge Mine Uranium and Rare Earths project, located in the Elliot Lake mining
camp of Ontario. Pele's expert team of technical personnel, advisors, and
consultants is working to optimize mining, processing, and waste management
techniques at Eco Ridge. With well-understood geology, excellent regional
infrastructure, and strong local support, Eco Ridge provides an ideal
location for a safe, secure, and reliable long-term supply of Uranium and
Rare Earths. Additionally, Pele has, or is actively seeking, qualified
strategic partners to advance its other high-potential exploration projects,
including high-grade gold properties at Highland and Ardeen.
Pele's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "GEM".
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. Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking
statements, such as estimates and statements that describe Pele's future
plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that Pele or
management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since
forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their
very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in
each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such
statements. The economic viability of the 43-101 mineral resource at Pele's Elliot
Lake Project has not yet been demonstrated by a preliminary feasibility
study.
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