VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 18, 2012) - Paget Minerals Corp. (News - Market indicators), ("Paget" or the "Company") announced today the initiation of Phase 1 drilling at the San Ricardo Gold-Silver Project located within the prolific porphyry and epithermal gold-silver-copper belt of northern Sonora State, Mexico. Paget has an option to earn up to 60% of the 38,100-hectare property from Sundance Minerals Ltd. ("Sundance") (see press release dated 11 September 2012).

David F. Volkert, President and CEO of Paget, stated, "The option agreement on the San Ricardo Project underscores Paget's strategy of geographic diversification through partnerships with established teams. Northern Sonora provides year-round work complementing our British Columbia drilling and reconnaissance programs. The 800 meters of diamond drilling planned at the Santa Cruz Target will be the first ever completed, testing both high-grade underground vein and lower grade open pit potential."

THE PROJECT

The San Ricardo Project area covers a total of 38,100 hectares in northern Sonora State. The region hosts large Cu-Mo porphyry deposits, including Cananea and Creston, among others, and a number of epithermal gold-silver deposits, including the San Francisco (Timmins Gold), Mercedes (Yamana Gold) and Santa Elena (SilverCrest Mines). Excellent road access and infrastructure provide for year-round exploration. (Click here for regional location map: http://www.pagetminerals.com/i/maps/SR-Location-Map.jpg)

Preliminary reconnaissance within the Property has identified multiple high-grade gold targets as well as areas with bulk tonnage potential at the Santa Cruz Target. Drilling will be the first ever completed at Santa Cruz and will follow up on earlier exploration that focused on four known sub-parallel, high-grade veins and an area of stockwork mineralization located at the intersection of three of the veins. The area contains scores of historic mine workings and historic small scale leach production. 

Gold mineralization on the Santa Cruz Target occurs as granite-hosted, stockwork, shears and veins with both high-grade underground and lower grade open-pit potential. Paget and Sundance have completed detailed mapping as well as collecting 730 samples, including underground channel, surface rock chip and trench channel samples. Underground sampling along 300m of the minimum two kilometer-long Santa Cruz vein shows results from 1.0m @ 0.29g/t to 2.0m @ 46.4g/t gold. Fifty-one of the 83 saw cut-channels in mine workings assayed more than 4g/t Au and average 12.2g/t Au over 2.5 meters.

The weighted gold-grade averages (all true widths - oxide mineralization) of sampling on 8 different levels along 15-54m sections of the vein are: 1.4m @ 1.9 g/t, 2.4m @ 5.3 g/t, 2.5m @ 5.5 g/t, 2.6m @ 7.1 g/t, 2.0m @ 10.8 g/t, 2.0m @ 11.2 g/t, 2.4m @ 12.7 g/t and 2.9m @ 22.9 g/t. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth.

The Santa Cruz, Intermedia and Mina Antigua vein structures intersect forming an exposed 150m x 200m triangular area of mineralized hematite stockwork and fracturing. Trench and surface rock-chip sampling results within this mineralized area suggests open-pit potential with all samples averaging 0.72 g/t gold. The topography within the stockwork trench area and the immediate underground workings is favorable for possible inclusion of high-grade veins in a pit outline. Significantly, silver values range from anomalous to 452 g/t.

Click here for maps of the project and a complete list of surface and underground sample results: http://www.pagetminerals.com/s/Mexico.asp?ReportID=544397&_Type=Mexico-Sundance-Minerals-Ltd.&_Title=Maps-Figures

About Paget Minerals Corp.

Paget Minerals Corporation is a publicly traded resource company focused on mineral exploration and the advancement of the company's priority Ball Creek Project in British Columbia. The company hosts a 52,442-hectare, contiguous mineral tenure package in the Golden Triangle - Iskut Mineral District located just 8km west of Highway 37 and only 36km northwest of the new Northwest Transmission Line Substation at Bob Quinn and neighbors three major mine development projects in the Golden Triangle -- Galore Creek, Schaft Creek and Red Chris. In 2012, Paget has focused its BC exploration program on the Ball Creek Project, as well as advancing its exploration in Mexico. Paget also maintains its equity position in Trident Gold Corp. exploring for gold in Colombia. David Volkert, President and CEO, serves as the Qualified Person under the definitions of NI 43-101.

On Behalf of the Board of Paget Minerals Corp.,

David F. Volkert, President & CEO