ALTO-WESCAN JOINT VENTURE CONTINUES TO INTERSECT GOLD ON THE MUD LAKE PROJECT, BEARDMORE-GERALDTON GOLD BELT
Vancouver, B.C., February 21, 2008. Alto Ventures Ltd. (ATV: TSX-V) is pleased to announce results from Phase II diamond drilling completed on the Alto Ventures Ltd-Wescan Goldfield Inc. (WGF: TSX-V) Mud Lake Project located in the Beardmore-Geraldton gold belt in Ontario. Four holes intersected significant gold mineralization including 7.25 g/t across 1.0 m (see table below). This recently completed phase of drilling has greatly added to the geological knowledge of the mineralization and will be used for targeting the most prolific sections of the Mud Lake Shear Zone ("MLS") during Phase III work that will take place this summer.
The Mud Lake Property shares a common boundary with the Hercules Property, located to the north of Mud Lake, where Kodiak Exploration Ltd. continues to report significant gold mineralization from its drilling (see Kodiak news release dated January 14, 2008). To the south and southwest of Mud Lake, Ontex Resources Ltd. is exploring the Brookbank Gold Deposit which is reported to contain 629,900 ounces of gold (see Ontex news release dated January 23, 2008).
Nine holes (MUD08-22 to 30) were completed in January 2008 as part of a continuing program to evaluate the economic significance of a six kilometre segment of the MLS where previous work has identified 12 surface gold occurrences. The results from these holes and from earlier drilling clearly demonstrate the significant potential of the property. Further work is planned to test the gaps in information on the mineralization between drill holes along the MLS and to identify deeper targets. The Company is formulating an aggressive summer exploration program for Mud Lake to start after the snow and ice have receded from the area. The program will be carried out in conjunction with work on Alto's three other projects near Mud Lake and will include trenching, prospecting and geological mapping to be followed by diamond drilling.
To date, significant gold mineralization was confirmed in 13 of 30 holes and this is a high ratio of mineralized to non-mineralized holes when drilling Archean quartz vein systems for the first time. During these early exploration phases, drilling has only targeted those areas along the MLS where gold had been identified in surface bedrock exposures. The surface occurrences are isolated from each other and separated by distances of 300 m to more than 2,000 m with no exposed bedrock between them and no previous drilling. The drilling thus far has tested these gold occurrences at depths of only 10 m to 50 m below surface. Ore shoots in this type of geological environment extend to depths of 1,000 m to 2,000 m below surface in most of the major gold camps in the Canadian Shield including Red Lake, Kirkland Lake and Val d'Or.
The 2007 and 2008 drilling programs confirm that the MLS is a major zone of shearing and the gold intersections corroborate the strength of the gold system along the MLS. Past reported production of over 4.1 million ounces of gold in the Beardmore-Geraldton gold belt and recently reported positive results from drilling on adjoining properties, including the Hercules Property operated by Kodiak Exploration and the Brookbank Property operated by Ontex Resources, further confirm the strong exploration potential at Mud Lake.
Table of Significant Assay Results from the 2008 Mud Lake Drilling
|
Hole |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
Au (g/t) |
Zone |
|
MUD08-22 |
36.6 |
37.6 |
1.0 |
7.25 |
Oliver Severn |
|
MUD08-23 |
23.8 |
24.7 |
0.9 |
2.0 |
Oliver Severn |
|
MUD08-24 |
19.0 |
21.0 |
2.0 |
1.21 |
Clarke Showing |
|
MUD08-25 |
42.5 |
43.5 |
1.0 |
3.2 |
Clarke Showing |
Table of Significant Assay Results from the 2007 Mud Lake Drilling
|
Hole |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
Au (g/t) |
Zone |
|
MUD07-01** |
15.1 |
16.1 |
1.0 |
0.99 |
Trench 6 |
|
MUD07-03** |
15.3 |
16.0 |
0.7 |
3.2 |
Trench 6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MUD07-06**
Includes |
12.3
14.9
17.4 |
18.4
15.4
18.4 |
6.1
0.5
1.0 |
3.39
9.64
13.97
|
Oliver-Severn Zone 1 |
|
|
28.6 |
29.6 |
1.0 |
5.56 |
Oliver-Severn Zone 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MUD07-11** |
26.5 |
28.5 |
2.0 |
2.11 |
Clarke Zone 1 |
|
|
51.5 |
53.2 |
1.7 |
2.35 |
Clarke Zone 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MUD07-12** |
80.0 |
88.8 |
8.0 |
0.94 |
Clarke |
|
Includes |
82.8 |
84.8 |
2.0 |
2.16 |
|
|
MUD07-14* |
19.0 |
21.0 |
2.0 |
2.12 |
Showing #3 |
|
MUD07-16* |
21.1 |
21.6 |
0.5 |
6.34 |
Showing #4 |
|
MUD07-17* |
23.7 |
24.7 |
1.0 |
3.77 |
Showing #4 |
|
MUD07-19* |
61.3 |
62.3 |
1.0 |
1.44 |
Showing #5 |
* reported previously on January 29, 2008
** reported previously on March 20, 2007
In other news, Alto Ventures started a 4,000 m diamond drilling program on its Despinassy Property in Quebec. Previous work on the property delineated the DAC Deposit and a NI43-101 compliant mineral resource of 167,000 tonnes grading 6.88 g/t gold in the Indicated plus 445,000 tonnes grading 4.46 g/t gold in the Inferred categories (see Alto news release dated November 26, 2006). Drilling has also identified several other high priority targets along a six kilometre segment of the Despinassy Shear Zone including the Darla Zone where 19.5 g/t gold was intersected across 2.1m and several gold zones in Area 3. Area 3 is located three kilometres east of the DAC Deposit with drill intersected values of 4.6 g/t gold across 2 m in Zone 20 and 2.4 g/t gold across 6 m in Zone 21 (see Alto news release dated January 16, 2008). The current program will focus on testing the Darla Zone and Area 3.
Helicopter-borne VTEM Time Domain electromagnetic and magnetometer surveys consisting of 625 line kilometres were completed at Despinassy earlier this week and the results are pending.
Mike Koziol, P. Geo., P.Eng. and Alto's President and CEO is the Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved this news release.
Quality Assurance/ Quality Control
Core processing included descriptive logging and selection of samples for analyses. The NQ-size cores selected for analyses were sawed in half and one half was delivered to a commercial laboratory by Alto staff for analyses and the other half retained for future reference. Gold assays were performed at Accurassay Laboratories in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The gold assaying method uses a standard Fire Assay with AA finish technique on a 30 gram sub-sample taken from a 500 gram split from the submitted sample. Commercially prepared standards were inserted by Alto every 25 samples to ensure precision of the results. The laboratory ran internal check assays every 10 samples to ensure lab quality control.
Mineralized intervals reported are down-hole lengths as there is insufficient drill hole density to estimate true widths.
About Alto Ventures Ltd
Alto Ventures Ltd. is a gold exploration and development company with a portfolio of thirteen properties in the Canadian Shield. With a pipeline of quality projects, the Company's approach to maximizing opportunities while minimizing exploration risk is to attract well financed partners with the technical expertise to take the projects on to feasibility and subsequently production.
Alto's Management and Board of Directors have a long and successful track record of creating shareholder value through systematic exploration, acquisitions and discovery. The Company is currently active in Quebec where it is focussed on the Despinassy project in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and in Ontario in the Beardmore and Shebandowan gold districts.