Minaurum Announces Acquisition of Santa Marta Copper-Gold-Silver VMS Project
Minaurum Gold Inc. (the "Company" or "Minaurum") announces that the Company has entered into an agreement with Minera Zalamera, S.A to acquire a 100% interest in the Santa Marta copper-gold project in Oaxaca state, Mexico. The Project concession block covers 7,100 ha and lies approximately 2 hours driving time from the port of Salina Cruz. A paved highway and electric lines come within a 20 minute drive of the property.
Santa Marta occurs in a belt of upper Jurassic to lower Cretaceous metavolcanic rocks and appears to represent a volcanogenic massive-sulfide (VMS) deposit with potential for significant gold-silver-copper-lead-zinc mineralization.
A small open pit on the property (the Santa Marta mine) was active during the late 1960s and produced an estimated 50,000-70,000 tons. According to a mining engineer's report from the time, the Santa Marta mine produced mineralization averaging 1.7% copper over 33 meters of sampling, with up to 2.0 g/t gold and 37 g/t silver. A sample of hand-sorted mineralization reportedly contained 8.1% copper, 5.0 g/t Au, and 645 g/t Ag. Recent sampling by Minera Zalamera confirms this data.
A silica-rich horizon, interpreted as a volcanic-exhalative lens, assayed 0.8 to 1.0 g/t gold across sample widths of up to 4 meters. The old mine lies near the southern end of a 600-meter-long north-northeast-trending ridgeline of gossanous metavolcanic rocks, which may indicate continuity of mineralization seen in the open pit. Deeply weathered gossan exposures range from 800 to 3,000 ppm Cu where sampled by Minera Zalamera.
"Minaurum is very pleased to acquire this underexplored VMS property" stated Darrell Rader, Minaurum Gold's President and CEO. "Santa Marta's reported grades, its favorable geologic setting, and its position relative to well-developed infrastructure, make it an excellent district-scale exploration target".
For 2010, the Company plans a program of reconnaissance geologic mapping and geochemical sampling, and an airborne magnetic and electromagnetic geophysical survey at Santa Marta, followed by detailed mapping and sampling in prospective areas. These efforts will be carried out with the intention of developing targets for drilling in 2011.
To exercise the Option, Minaurum shall be required to make a total of $150,000 in cash payments, issue a total of 1,075,000 common shares of stock and incur a total of $2,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Project over a five year time period.
Minaurum Gold is a gold and silver explorer focusing on the acquisition and development of precious metals deposits in Mexico. The Company is currently advancing the Adelita, Aurena, Capilla, Vuelcos del Destino, El PĆ³rfido and Jackie Projects. These projects have been optioned from some of the most successful project generators in Mexico; David M. Jones and Dr. Peter K.M. Megaw with his associates in IMDEX Inc. and Minera Cascabel. Drilling is currently underway at the Adelita Project in southern Sonora State.
Qualified Person: Mr Stephen R Maynard, M.S., C.P.G., has acted as the qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 for this disclosure and supervised the preparation of the technical information in this release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Darrell A. Rader"
Darrell A. Rader
President and CEO
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
1500 - 409 Granville St.
Vancouver, BC V6C 1T2
Telephone 778 330-0994
info@minaurum.com
www.minaurum.com
Forward Looking Statement: Some of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control, including, but not exclusively, statements regarding potential mineralization, exploration results, completion of work program and studies, and future plans and objectives of the Company. Resource exploration, development and operations are highly speculative, characterized by a number of significant risks, which even a combination of careful evaluation, experience and knowledge may not eliminate, including, among other things, unprofitable efforts resulting not only from the failure to discover mineral resources but from finding mineral deposits which, though present, are insufficient in quantity and quality to return a profit from production.