| January 6, 2010 |
| Aurizon Mines Reports First Resource Estimate at Alexandria's Joannes Township Property, Quebec |
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 6, 2010) - Alexandria Minerals Corporation (TSX VENTURE:AZX)(FRANKFURT:A9D) reports that Optionee Aurizon Mines Ltd. has released an updated National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 compliant resource estimate on its Joanna project in Quebec, which includes Inferred Resources of 1,080,000 tonnes grading 1.2 g/t gold, for 42,000 ounces of gold on Alexandria's Joannes Township claims.
Alexandria's property straddles the Cadillac Break some 20 km east of Noranda, Quebec, and is located 100 meters east of Aurizon's proposed open pit for its Joanna gold deposit, which hosts mineral reserves of 26,050,000 tonnes grading 1.22 g/t Au, totaling 1,022,600 ounces of gold at a cutoff grade of 0.5 g/t Au (see Aurizon Press Release, November 11, 2009).
Aurizon has optioned 19 claims from Alexandria, and in order to complete the terms of the Option Agreement and earn 100% interest on Alexandria's property, Aurizon must issue shares valued at $1.6 million to Alexandria by December 2010, and complete exploration work totaling $650,000. An initial payment to Alexandria totaling $400,000 of combined cash and shares was completed in December 2008.
Eric Owens, Alexandria's President and CEO, states, "We are excited by Aurizon's continued success because there are many similarities between their Joanna deposit and our Orenada deposit in Val d'Or. Both are near-surface, bulk-tonnage deposits located in and adjacent to the Cadillac Break, hosted in the same rock types, with the same geological and alteration patterns. Their success provides us with further encouragement as we continue to advance our Orenada Project."
Aurizon has identified four mineralized trends on the property: 1) Zone S, the main zone about 50 m south of the Cadillac Break, which includes an intersection of 2.63 g/t Au over 6.33 m (N-S horizontal width); 2) Zone SS, further to the south, with up to 1.63 g/t Au over 4.63 m; 3) Zone FS, also to the south of the Cadillac Break, with up to 2.55 g/t Au over 5.84 m; and 4) Zone F on the Cadillac Break itself, with up to 0.79 g/t Au over 6.17 m.
The resource estimate is provided in a report that can be viewed at www.aurizon.com, entitled "Technical Report Mineral Resource Estimation, Joanna Gold Deposit, Aurizon Mines Ltd., November 2009 Update", prepared by SGS Geostat Ltd. of Blainville, Quebec. The Qualified Persons for the study and report, Claude Duplessis, Eng., and Michel Dagbert, P.Eng, indicate the following Inferred Resources at various cut-off grades:
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Cut-off Grade Avg. Grade Ounces
g/t Au Tonnes g/t Au Gold
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0.5 1,080,000 1.2 42,000
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1.0 590,000 1.5 29,000
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1.5 190,000 2.3 14,000
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A total of 30 mineralized intercepts in 18 drill holes (6 old and 12 new by Aurizon in 2009) were used in the estimation, with a minimum intercept length of 1.5 m and an average intercept length of 5.9 m. Intercept assays were not capped as the highest value is 8.97 g/t Au. Because the number of drill holes is too few to model 3D mineralized solids, a 2D polygonal model was used in which cells of influence, with dimensions of 25mx25m, were drawn around intercepts on a given zone and projected onto the East-West vertical longitudinal section. Where multiple splits occur in a given zone, these were added such that the total horizontal thickness equaled the sum of the horizontal thicknesses of the splits.
The results presented in this press release have been reviewed by the company's Qualified Persons, Eddy Canova, PGeo, and Dr. Eric Owens, PGeo. Resources classified as Inferred are not economic as defined by NI 43-101 standards, and there is no guarantee that an economic deposit underlies the Company's property. More work by the Company or the Optionee, and validation by an independent Qualified Person, will be required to determine whether such an economic deposit is present on these claims.
WARNING: This News Release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of up-coming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Alexandria Minerals Corporation relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements.
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. | |