Fri Jul 11, 2003
Tournigan Completes Acquisition of Kremnica Gold
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Tournigan Gold Corporation (TVC:TSX.V) has completed the acquisition of the Kremnica Gold project, located in the Slovak Republic, from Argosy Minerals Inc. Funding of the $500,000 acquisition cost was provided through a loan from Quest Capital Corp.
With the acquisition of Kremnica Tournigan has acquired a project containing over one million ounces of gold. This adds a substantial resource to the company's portfolio of advanced stage exploration/development gold projects in Europe.
Kremnica is a large Tertiary age volcanic hosted epithermal gold system where historic production from around 1300 to 1971 totaled 1.5 million ounces of gold and 6.7 million ounces of silver from both underground and surface workings. The Slovak Geological Survey began definition of a large tonnage open pittable resource in the Sturec area in the
1960s. This process was continued by Argosy with drilling in 1996 and 1997. Their work extended the known limits of mineralization and identified new targets both north and south of the main resource. In 1998, an independent consultant estimated the resource at Kremnica to be 15.6 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.91 g/t gold and 15.0 g/t silver at a 1.0 g/t gold cutoff and 22.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.54 g/t gold and 12.5 g/t silver at a 0.5 g/t cutoff. (See Tournigan's news release of June 26, 2003 for full details)
A number of target areas have been identified adjacent to the current resource and, in the view of Tournigan management, these areas have the potential to significantly increase the size of the Kremnica resource. Furthermore, Tournigan's acquisition includes a 14.5 square kilometre exploration licence that extends 6 kilometres south from the Kremnica mine along the north-south oriented structure that controls the gold mineralization. This licence holds the potential for an entirely new gold discovery as it contains broad zones of strong hydrothermal alteration and highly elevated gold-arsenic-antimony-mercury values indicative of the upper levels of a large epithermal precious metal system. This mineralization may represent higher levels of the Kremnica gold system with Kremnica type mineralization existing at depth.
Tournigan is focused on European gold exploration and production. Currently, the company has an active gold exploration and development program in Northern Ireland. Two drills are working on the property as well as ongoing geophysical and geochemical surveys and trenching. The object of much of this work is to extend the size of the Curraghinalt gold deposit where past operators have defined a resource containing 255,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 16.96 g/t gold. (See footnote for details). In addition, as part of the company's plans to bring the Curraghinalt into near-term production, Tournigan has recently received a Scoping Study on Curraghinalt from GBM Mineral Engineering Consultants. This study will be used to start the permitting process for the Curraghinalt mine.
You are invited to visit the Tournigan website at www.tournigan.com
Footnote: In May 1997 the Curraghinalt resource was calculated by the Dublin based CSA group as being 468,097 tonnes at an average grade of 16.96 g/t gold; this equates to 255,000 ounces of contained gold. Kent Ausburn, VP Exploration, is Tournigan's qualified person for Curraghinalt and he has reviewed the reliability of this resource. Dr. Ausburn holds a PhD in Geology, is a Registered Geologist in the State of California and has been a member of the Society of Economic Geologists for 23 years.
TOURNIGAN GOLD CORPORATION
"Michael Hopley"
Michael Hopley, Chief Operating Officer and Director
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business, including risks inherent in mineral exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
For further information please contact:
Damien Reynolds, President
Tel: (604) 683-8320
Garry Stock, Executive VP
Tel: (604) 683-8320
