WEST
VEIN SURFACE CHIP SAMPLING AVERAGES 162.2g Au/t
Silver values up to
218.0g Ag/t
Sona Resources Corp. is pleased to report assay results from the surface and
underground sampling program on the West and Southwest veins, and the final
drill results on the Southwest Vein at its 100 percent owned Elizabeth Gold
Deposit Property (?Elizabeth?), located in the Lillooet Mining District of
south-central British Columbia, approximately 220 kilometres
north of Vancouver.
?The results from the surface and underground sampling
program of the West and Southwest veins are very positive,? states
John P. Thompson, Sona?s President and CEO. ?We have also expanded the Southwest Vein mineralization to
the southwest, with high-grade gold drill intersections. Our ongoing focus
remains to complete our underground drifting program, to further define the
continuity of the mineralization, and to move us closer to a production decision.?
West Vein surface sampling
In 1939, prospectors first discovered gold at the
Elizabeth property, in an area referred to as the ?Jewellery Box,? because of
the rich assay values and abundant visible gold observed in the quartz veins.
The area contains a 30-metre strike length of quartz veining that is exposed at
surface at the currently known northeastern end of the West Vein.
During the 2010 exploration program, Sona collected a total of 10 chip and 10 grab samples
along the strike length. Assay values for the chip samples ranged from trace to
675.2g Au/t over a narrow width of about 0.2 metres,
with 64.3g Au/t over an occasionally larger width of up to 1.2 metres. The arithmetic average grade of the chip sampling
was 162.2g Au/t, and the average width was 0.35 metres.
The grab samples assayed from nil to 160.1g Au/t, with an average of
52.9g Au/t over the strike length.
Six chip samples and four grab samples assayed greater
than 31.0g Au/t: the high-grade chip samples averaged 79.8g Ag/t, while
the grab samples averaged 53.7g Ag/t. The highest-grade silver value was
218g Ag/t in a chip sample that also graded 675.2g Au/t.
West Vein Surface
Grab and Chip Sampling
|
Sample no.
|
UTM
east
|
UTM
north
|
Elevation
(m)
|
Gold
(g Au/t)
|
Silver
(g Ag/t)
|
Vein width
(m)
|
8R189542
|
531620
|
5653924
|
2,275
|
1.2
|
0.3
|
grab
|
E83480
|
531613
|
5653928
|
2,273
|
0.0
|
0.4
|
grab
|
E83483
|
531613
|
5653923
|
2,274
|
3.1
|
1.0
|
0.25
|
E83490
|
531613
|
5653911
|
2,275
|
1.2
|
1.2
|
0.25
|
E83492
|
531613
|
5653906
|
2,279
|
16.6
|
2.7
|
0.50
|
E83489
|
531613
|
5653913
|
2,275
|
14.5
|
2.9
|
grab
|
E83487
|
531613
|
5653916
|
2,274
|
28.4
|
6.1
|
0.25
|
E83493
|
531612
|
5653899
|
2,282
|
64.3
|
14.7
|
1.20
|
8R189545
|
531618
|
5653898
|
2,277
|
51.1
|
18.3
|
grab
|
E83486
|
531613
|
5653918
|
2,274
|
32.1
|
26.2
|
0.20
|
E83485
|
531613
|
5653919
|
2,274
|
129.1
|
36.0
|
0.15
|
E83488
|
531613
|
5653915
|
2,274
|
160.1
|
40.0
|
grab
|
8R189544
|
531616
|
5653897
|
2,278
|
143.6
|
64.5
|
grab
|
E83491
|
531613
|
5653910
|
2,275
|
204.6
|
76.0
|
0.32
|
8R189540
|
531617
|
5653923
|
2,273
|
157.6
|
92.1
|
grab
|
E83484
|
531613
|
5653922
|
2,274
|
467.2
|
108.0
|
0.20
|
E83482
|
531613
|
5653925
|
2,273
|
675.2
|
218.0
|
0.15
|
E83479
|
531613
|
5653929
|
2,273
|
0.1
|
<0.2
|
grab
|
E83481
|
531613
|
5653926
|
2,273
|
0.1
|
<0.2
|
grab
|
8R189541
|
531622
|
5653930
|
2,274
|
0.4
|
<0.2
|
grab
|
West Vein underground sampling
In the late 1950s, Bethlehem Copper Mines drove the
Upper Adit underground workings along a portion of
the West Vein, approximately 55 metres below the
Jewellery Box Zone. During 2010, Sona
completed chip sampling on the back of the underground drift, on 3.0-metre centres over a strike length of 33 metres.
Initial results from the sampling were released on October 7, 2010,
and reported values of up to 1,401g Au/t, averaging 10.2g Au/t over a
width of 0.72 metres (the highest value in the
mean calculation, reduced to the second-highest assay value of 35g Au/t).
Subsequently, an additional 12 underground chip
samples from the West Vein were collected between the first set of samples,
with a 3.0-metre sample separation and at either end of the 33-metre strike
length. The new samples returned assays varying from 0.5g Au/t over
1.2 metres to 213.6g Au/t over 1.2 metres, with an arithmetic average of 20.9g Au/t. The
exposed quartz vein pinches and swells, varying in width from 0.2 metres to 2.3 metres and
averaging 1.1 metres in width.
West Vein Upper
Drift Chip Sampling ? Intermediate Sampling
|
Sample no.
|
UTM
east
|
UTM
north
|
Elevation
(m)
|
Gold
(g Au/t)
|
Vein width
(m)
|
7R102509
|
531599
|
5653886
|
2,220
|
1.0
|
0.9
|
7R102508
|
531600
|
5653887
|
2,220
|
1.9
|
1.0
|
7R102507
|
531600
|
5653889
|
2,220
|
2.4
|
1.1
|
7R102506
|
531601
|
5653891
|
2,220
|
31.1
|
1.2
|
7R102505
|
531602
|
5653893
|
2,220
|
1.3
|
2.0
|
7R102503
|
531603
|
5653895
|
2,220
|
5.3
|
1.0
|
7R102504
|
531602
|
5653895
|
2,220
|
0.5
|
1.2
|
7R102502
|
531606
|
5653899
|
2,220
|
1.0
|
2.3
|
E83495
|
531608
|
5653902
|
2,220
|
0.6
|
0.4
|
E83497
|
531608
|
5653908
|
2,220
|
6.0
|
0.8
|
E83498
|
531608
|
5653912
|
2,220
|
15.0
|
0.8
|
E83499
|
531607
|
5653916
|
2,220
|
2.2
|
0.2
|
Southwest Vein surface sampling
Due to the abundance of loose talus rock on the steep
slopes, the Southwest Vein is not always identifiable on surface. However, five
grab samples, taken from the visible quartz vein outcrops over short distances
around the anticipated trace of the Southwest Vein, returned assay values from
0.1 to 11.2g Au/t.
Southwest Vein drill results
The final three drill holes at the Southwest Vein targeted
an area along a 70-metre strike length, at a depth averaging approximately
150 metres, to trace out a northeasterly
extension of the mineralized quartz vein. All three holes intersected
lower-grade gold values, as detailed in the following table:
Hole no.
|
From
(m)
|
To
(m)
|
Core
length
(m)
|
Gold
(g Au/t)
|
E10-73
|
197.07
|
203.30
|
6.23
|
0.3
|
including
|
201.79
|
203.30
|
1.51
|
0.5
|
E10-74
|
197.31
|
199.36
|
2.05
|
0.5
|
E10-75
|
176.01
|
178.50
|
2.49
|
1.4
|
|
190.42
|
191.36
|
0.94
|
1.4
|
Note: true widths are less than
core lengths.
Recent developments
The 2010 Elizabeth exploration program has been
completed, and all the drill core and sample assay results have been reported.
The known Southwest Vein strike length has now been traced over about 400 metres. The Southwest Vein outcrops on surface, has been
drilled down to a maximum of 200 metres, and is
open in both directions along strike and at depth. The 2010 drilling extended
the gold mineralization at the southwestern end of the vein with drill holes
E10-65, E10-67 and E10-69, which assayed 6.5g Au/t over a 6.70-metre core
width, 96.4g Au/t over 2.50 metres, and
85.4g Au/t over 4.03 metres, respectively.
The new portal at the southwestern end of the
Southwest Vein has been timbered, and the adit into
the mountain has been started. The work has been halted for the season and will
resume in January 2011. Sona plans to drive the new
underground openings for approximately 25 metres,
where it expects to reach the Southwest Vein. Upon intersecting the vein, the crew will then turn and drift along it for up to 350 metres. Chip samples from the face will be taken on every
round, or approximately every 2.0 metres.
QA/QC
Drill core was
logged and split on site, and half-core samples were analyzed using metallic
screening gold fire assaying and 30-element ICP multi-acid digestion, at the
independent EcoTech Laboratory in Kamloops, B.C. The
surface and underground grab and chip samples were similarly analyzed at EcoTech. A QA/QC program consisting of duplicate samples,
insertion of known standards and check assaying was used.
Review
The content of this news release has been reviewed by John P. Thompson, P.Eng., a
Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101, with the ability and authority
to verify the authenticity and validity of the data.
About Sona Resources Corp.
Since its inception in 1990, Sona
has engaged in exploration activities at its mineral properties in Canada and
the United States, as well as small-scale gold production at its flagship
property, the 100 percent owned Blackdome Gold Mine
(?Blackdome?), in south-central British Columbia,
250 kilometres north of Vancouver. At Blackdome, the indicated mineral resources are estimated to
be 144,500 tonnes, grading 11.29g Au/t and
containing 52,600 ounces of gold, and the inferred resource is estimated
to be 90,600 tonnes, grading 8.79g Au/t
(news release dated May 4, 2010). At its 100 percent owned Elizabeth Gold
Property, 30 kilometres south of the Blackdome Gold Mine, Sona has
outlined an inferred gold resource of 522,900 tonnes,
grading 12.3g Au/t and containing 206,100 ounces of gold (news
release dated June 8, 2009).
Sona aims to bring its fully permitted Blackdome
mill back into production over the next three years at a rate of 200 tonnes per day, with feed from the former-producing Blackdome Gold Mine and the Elizabeth Gold Deposit
Property. A positive Preliminary Economic Assessment by Micon
International Ltd. (news release dated May 28, 2010), at a gold price of
$950 per ounce over an eight-year period, has estimated pre-tax cash flow
of $27 million and pre-production capital costs of $21 million.
Sona holds 100 percent interests in
two other promising properties: The Callaghan Project is located in Nevada,
within 80 kilometres of several producing mines,
and is underlain by the Roberts Mountain Thrust, a major structural setting for
gold deposits. The Montgolfier Project is located in Quebec, 40 kilometres east of the multimillion-ounce Casa Berardi Mine gold deposit.
This news release
contains certain forward-looking statements, and such statements involve risks
and uncertainties. The results or events predicted may differ materially from
actual results or events. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date
of this news release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws,
the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or
any other occurrence.
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adequacy or accuracy of this release.