Eurasian Minerals Consolidates Land
Position of Over 2,200 Square Kilometers on Emerging Koonenberry Gold
Belt in Australia
Vancouver, British Columbia, February 17, 2011 (TSX Venture: EMX) -- Eurasian Minerals Inc.
(the "Company" or "EMX") is pleased to announce the
consolidation of over 2,200 square kilometers of mineral rights in the
highly prospective and under-explored Koonenberry gold belt of New South
Wales, Australia. The Koonenberry project consists of thirteen contiguous
exploration licenses acquired either directly by EMX staking, or through
agreements with other parties. Koonenberry's potential to host a
district-scale discovery is underscored by the substantial quantity of
gold nuggets recovered across the area by local prospectors. These gold
occurrences, and other prospective targets, are covered by EMX's dominant
land position along 100 kilometers of the Koonenberry belt's strike
length.
The Company has begun reconnaissance scale exploration programs across
the property position. The initial results are strongly encouraging, and
demonstrate the presence of gold in bedrock exposures within the project
area. Please see attached map and www.eurasianminerals.com for more information.
Project Background. The Koonenberry project lies adjacent to the
northwest trending, regional scale Koonenberry fault that bounds the
eastern edge of the Curnamona Craton ("Broken Hill Block").
Gold was first discovered within the Koonenberry belt by prospectors
using metal detectors, with unconfirmed reports of more than 10,000
ounces being recovered from the near-surface soil profile in recent
years. Much of the recovered gold occurs as multi-gram to multi-ounce
nugget specimens with attached angular "reef" quartz,
suggesting a nearby primary source.
The Koonenberry gold belt is a new discovery with no records of previous
hard rock gold mining in the area despite excellent access, flat
topography and relative ease of exploration. The geological features of
the Koonenberry belt are remarkably similar to the orogenic deposits of
the Victorian Goldfields, also located in southeastern Australia. The
Victorian Goldfields have produced more than 2,500 metric tonnes of gold
(80 million ounces Au) (Phillips and Hughes, 1996).
Exploration Programs. EMX's exploration objective at Koonenberry
is to identify the bedrock source of gold nuggets that have been found
within the project area. The nuggets principally occur within a corridor
measuring 25 by 10 kilometers in the south-central portion of the property.
There are over 100 documented gold nugget occurrences in this corridor,
with some locations yielding multiple nuggets that individually can range
in size to over 100 ounces. The northwest trend of occurrences is
parallel to the regional structural fabric, and is associated with soil,
BLEG and stream sediment gold anomalies, as well as pervasive alteration
and quartz veining.
The majority of the prospective terrain at Koonenberry remains untested,
with only 10% of the project area having undergone first pass,
reconnaissance level evaluation by EMX to date. This preliminary work
identified a second set of northwest trending BLEG gold anomalies
measuring approximately 10 kilometers along trend in the north-central
portion of the property. The Company is currently conducting a
systematic, project-wide exploration program of regolith mapping from
satellite imagery, geological mapping, stream and bedrock geochemical
sampling, and airborne geophysical surveys. The results from these
programs will be integrated and used to select priority follow-up targets
for trenching and scout drill testing.
Land Package. EMX's consolidation of a commanding land position
along the Koonenberry gold belt resulted from a patient program of
staking exploration licenses and negotiating agreements with four key
license holders over a period of more than two years (also see August 3,
2010 Company news release). The final agreement to complete the land
package was with Rockwell Resources Pty Ltd. ("Rockwell"), a
privately owned Australian exploration company, to earn a 100% interest
in the Kayrunnera exploration license. Under this earn-in and purchase
agreement, EMX will make a series of payments to Rockwell totaling
$200,000 over two years as a combination of a) $100,000 cash and b)
shares of EMX stock equal in value to $100,000 (pending approval of the
transaction by the TSX Venture Exchange). EMX also has a $1.1M, three
year work commitment. Once 100% ownership is vested by EMX in the
property, Rockwell's interest reverts to a 2% NSR, at which time EMX has
the right to buy 1.0% of the NSR for $5M. The residual 1.0% NSR can be
purchased by EMX for a further $8M at anytime thereafter. All dollar
amounts are in AUD.
Comments on Sampling, Assaying, and QA/QC. EMX exploration samples
are collected in accordance with accepted industry standards and
procedures. Samples are typically submitted to ALS Chemex in Brisbane
(ISO 17025 accredited). Gold is analyzed by fire assay with an ICP AES
finish, and multi-element analyses determined with aqua regia digestion
and ICP MS/AAS techniques. BLEG analysis is by ICPMS for gold, silver,
copper, and other elements. Routine QA/QC analysis is conducted on all
assay results, including the systematic utilization of blanks and field
duplicates.
Other Company News. EMX is pleased to announce the appointment of
Valerie Barlow as the Company's Corporate Secretary. Ms. Barlow has a
Bachelors Degree in Economics, and over ten years of corporate,
accounting, and investor relations experience in the mining industry.
EMX is exploring and investing in a first class mineral property and
royalty portfolio in some of the most prospective, but under-explored
mineral belts of the world.
David Royle, B.Sc. (Hons), FAusIMM, CP, the designated QP within the
meaning of 43-101, has reviewed and approves the content of this release.
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For further information contact:
David M. Cole
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (303) 979-6666
Email: dave@eurasianminerals.com
Website: www.eurasianminerals.com
Valerie Barlow
Corporate Secretary
Phone: (604) 688-6390
Email: valerie@eurasianminerals.com
Neither
TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization
of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Forward-Looking
Statement
Some of the statements
in this news release contain forward-looking information that involves
inherent risk and uncertainty affecting the business of Eurasian Minerals
Inc. Actual results may differ materially from those currently
anticipated in such statements.
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