FAIRBANKS, AK, and VANCOUVER, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Gold recovery and processing operations at the Nolan Gold Mine, located North of Fairbanks, Alaska are nearing completion. To date over $1,000,000 of large jewelry grade gold and collector's nuggets have been recovered and polished for sale. These nuggets are among the finest the area has yielded.
In addition to the jewelry grade gold mentioned above, Silverado is currently making preparation to extract the 3/16" and smaller gold from concentrates. Once this gold is extracted, the company will polish it to further enhance its value. While this extra treatment requires more work than smelting, the value of the end product is 20% higher than the untreated gold.
According to Silverado's President and CEO, Garry Anselmo, "We are excited about the recovery of the gold this year, as well as the new discoveries we have made on our properties. More importantly, we are extremely pleased with the results of the time we spent this year establishing the infrastructure necessary to allow us to fully focus on gold recovery during the next season. We have always considered the Swede Channel and its Sister channels to be a multi-year project. Last winter the majority of our mining effort was spent developing the underground infrastructure rather than actual gold ore production. This infrastructure included a haulage way, trucks and front end loader turnarounds, explosive storage, ore pad, settling ponds, water delivery systems, roads, and the completion of an extremely efficient 680 yard per day gold washing sluice facility (gold recovery plant). Last winter Silverado mined only 25% of the gold bearing gravel in the channel, leaving the remaining 75% of the gold ore for this winter's operation.
In addition to the Swede Channel, we have located other gold channels which cause gold to accumulate on ancient hillside "benches" as the channels drain gold down the mountain from its source. One such source is the Solomon Shear, a five mile long gold bearing silicified shear zone from which all drainages (creeks and rivers) are carrying nugget gold. These benches will substantially increase our gold resources and eventually our gold reserves. As well, we have identified three other sub-parallel benches that run about 1.5 - 2 miles in length. They are all gold collectors and the information gained from this year combined with data gathered in previous years has completed the model. These four benches on this section of the Nolan, will allow us to placer mine for another 4 to 5 years at a minimum. These benches make up only a small portion of the total Nolan gold project.
Anselmo continued, "We are engaged in an aggressive rotary drilling program to compliment our previous placer gold drilling programs. All of these results are now being incorporated to generate 3-D computer models which indicate massive stretches of gold-bearing frozen gravel on our properties. In the past year we have expanded our Nolan property by acquiring an additional 8 square miles of land for a total land holding of 11 square miles in the Koyukuk District. Our samples from our newly discovered bench (the second of four identified benches) have yielded the following pan assay results:
Notes: All drill holes are done with a Becker Reverse Circulation Drill; all azimuths are 0 and inclinations are -90 (vertical); drill pipe extends to drill bit (no drill cuttings exposed to hole wall); all drill cuttings from each 5' section are passed over a drill mounted sluice with recovered heavy media (sulfides, heavy rock particles +/- gold) bagged, labeled, and transported to our onsite lab for panning and immediate assay turn around. Gold observed is weighed and noted. Only results of 0.01 troy ounces or better per bank (in place) cubic yard are listed here.
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Rotary Drill Intersection Sample Troy Ounces RDH # IDFS SW TOG/
Hole # Depth From Width Gold Per Bank BCY
Surface Cubic Yard
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TC 20 10-15 FEET 5 FEET 0.01 MB 70 30-40 10 0.03
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TC 21 15-20 5 0.03 MB 72 50-55 5 0.48
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TC 27 10-15 5 0.01 MB 74 40-45 5 0.03
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MB 01 35-40 5 0.06 MB 79 45-50 5 0.16
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MB 02 30-35 5 0.04 MB 001 25-30 5 0.01
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MB 03 25-35 10 0.02 MB 009 35-45 10 0.17
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MB 14 25-30 5 0.01 MB 010 30-35 5 0.01
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MB 15 30-35 5 5.76 MB 016 95-105 10 0.04
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MB 18 30-35 5 0.09 MB 018 95-105 10 0.07
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MB 21 30-35 5 0.01 MB 019 85-90 5 0.01
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MB 24 30-35 5 0.01 MB 020 80-85 5 0.01
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MB 29 50-55 5 0.01 MB 022 95-100 5 0.24
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MB 31 30-35 5 0.23
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MB 34 45-50 5 0.05
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MB 36 25-30 5 0.01
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MB 40 60-65 5 0.01
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MB 52 30-35 5 0.03
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MB 55 30-35 5 0.02
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MB 68 25-30 5 0.04
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The drill locations of the higher assay values, being 5.76 / 0.09 / 0.23 / 0.05 / 0.48 / 0.16 / 0.17 / 0.07 / 0.24 are contiguous and constitute an area 500 feet long which is situated on the newly discovered bench just above Mary's Bench and is sub-parallel to it. These drill results are the richest and most consistent gold assays encountered on our property to date. Part of the pay zone appears to be amenable to open-cut mining which is considerably less expensive than underground mining. As other ore zones have been discovered nearer the existing underground workings of Swede Channel, continuing drilling will determine whether this new high grade bench area will be mined in 2007 or 2008.
We continue our busy 2006 year and look forward to increasing our production and discovery into 2007 and beyond. Our gold mining operation is now focusing primarily on completing gold recovery, and we continue to move forward with our LRCWFuel project. Most of the 'behind-the-scenes' work with government authorities has been completed on the fuel project, and we anticipate a very exciting announcement either in August or September," concluded Mr. Anselmo.
This press release was prepared by Edward J. Armstrong, Certified Professional Geologist; who is a qualified person as defined under the standards of Canadian National Instrument policy 43-101.
To learn more about Silverado Gold Mines Ltd., visit us online at www.silverado.com or contact Bob Dynes, Investor relations, toll free at 1-800-665-4646.
This Press Release may contain, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on management's expectations and beliefs, and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from the results implied herein. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements made in this Press Release.
CONTACT: SILVERADO GOLD MINES LTD., Mailing Address: 505-1111 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6E 4M3, CA, (800) 665-4646 or (604) 689-1535, F: (604) 682-3519, pr@silverado.com, www.silverado.com; Field Address: P.O. Box 83730, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99708, USA
SOURCE Silverado Gold Mines Ltd.