Jan 24 2011
Mr. George Salamis, President and CEO of Edgewater Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:EDW)(OTCQX:EDWZF) has provided an update on the exploration work and results on the Company's Enchi Gold Project in Ghana.
Work crews have returned from the holiday break and exploration activity has resumed. Drilling equipment has been mobilized (News release December 8th, 2010) and drilling has now commenced. A 12,000m drill program is planned. The targets for this phase of drilling are the three principal gold zones at Enchi; Boin, Nyamebekyere, and Sewum. Additional drill rigs have been contracted and will be mobilized in the next two weeks.
In addition the on-going exploration program at Enchi includes line cutting, soil sampling, road upgrading and trenching. This work is designed to test new areas, further define existing anomalies, expand previously defined zones, and advance the three principal mineralized zones to resource estimation.
Highlights of Boin Trench Results include:
- 17.0m @ 1.07 g/t from KBTR029,
- 8.0m @ 1.23 g/t from KBTR032,
- 17.0m @ 0.62 g/t from KBTR033 and
- 18.0 m @ 1.41 g/t including 6.0m @ 3.06 g/t from KBTR034.
Concurrent with the trenching program Edgewater has completed an extensive program of line cutting and soil sampling. This work has tested an extensive area in the central portion of the Project covering an area 25km by 10km. Primary targets are a series of structures sub-parallel and east of the Boin Zone and strike extents of structures identified in the Sewum Zone. Exploration completed in the last five months includes more than 320km of cut lines and more than 6200 soils samples.
Soil sample results have outlined numerous anomalous gold trends;
- the largest of these gold in soil anomalies is located in the south-eastern section of the gridded area and measures 4.2km in length and averages 0.5km wide.
- also in the southern portion a further five anomalous gold trends have been defined ranging in length between 2.5km and 3.5km and averaging 0.25km to 0.75km in width. Two of these anomalies occur associated with the main shear zone while the others are interpreted to be related to sub-parallel splays in the adjacent volcanics and sediments.
- in the central portion new targets identified include a broad highly anomalous gold in soil area within the sediments measuring 2.5km by 1.0km and;
- in the northernmost portion (Akyemfo area) results have outlined a gold anomaly with dimensions of 3.0km by 0.5km - 1.0km.
Cumulatively the new gold in soil anomalies represent an additional 15km to 20km of prospective strike extent bringing the overall total of identified structural targets on the Enchi Project to more than 75km.
The form and strength of the new anomalies compared to those previously tested suggest an excellent probability that additional gold mineralized zones will be defined. The identification of these additional targets at the centre of the Project has certainly enhanced the size potential of Enchi.
George Salamis, President and CEO states, "We are excited with the new gold in soil anomalies identified and believe they have good potential as they show similar signatures to the known gold zones on the Project. The latest trench results at Boin are consistent with previous trench results completed by Red Back Mining and further highlight the wide, disseminated nature of the gold system at Boin. We continue to work diligently to advance Enchi and look forward to drilling results."
The trenching program at the Boin Zone consists of eight trenches totalling 360.2m. Results for seven of the eight trenches returned multiple mineralized zones. This data will be used to further define the locations of in-fill and expansion drilling at Boin.
Mineralized zones in the Boin trenches are consistently associated with quartz veins and/or zones of quartz stockworks. The gold grades and widths identified by the 2010 trenching program at Boin are consistent with those obtained in previous work and provide excellent drill targets. These mineralized structures trend north-south and dip moderately to the west.
The trenching program is now testing two additional zones; the first is an extension to the Nyamebekyere Zone in the eastern area of the Project and the second the Eradi Zone in the northernmost potion of the Project. In support of the trenching and drilling programs more than 11km of access roads have been upgraded. The previous operator Red Back Mining Inc. completed an extensive soil sampling program in the Eradi area in the northern portion of the Enchi Property on 400 m by 50 m spacings and locally 100 m by 50 m sample spacings. Three parallel gold in soil anomalies were defined (Eradi East, Eradi Central and Eradi West), with each gold in soil anomaly measuring up to 3.2 km in strike length and up to 200 m in width. Only two trenches totaling 435.5 m were completed on the Eradi Central soil anomaly where 256 continuous rock samples were collected from the trenches. No trenching was completed on the Eradi West or Eradi East gold in soil anomalies. No drilling has been completed at the Eradi Prospect.
Drilling during the current phase will include both in-fill and step-out holes, designed to confirm existing results, close spacing between intercepts and extend the mineralized zones to depth and along strike. It is expected the drilling program will generate sufficient amount of new data, alongside the existing drill information, to support a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate to be completed for the Project in the first half of 2011.
The 568 km2 Enchi Gold Project located in southwest Ghana, West Africa covers a 40km strike length of the Bibiani Shear Zone ("BMZ") that hosts a number of major gold mines and deposits including Kinross Gold Corporation's (TSX: K, NYSE: KGC, "Kinross") Chirano Gold Mine located 70km northeast of the Project and the Bibiani Gold Deposit located 90km north-east of the Project. Details of the Enchi Project are available in the technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Enchi Gold Project, Ghana" dated June 15, 2010 authored by Todd McCracken, P.Geo. of Wardrop Engineering Inc. (the "Technical Report") filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under Edgewater's profile.
Sample analyses have been conducted at independent commercial facilities SGS Labs in Tarkwa Ghana. All sample analyses was completed using industry standard geochemical and fire assay practices and included a rigorous Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) program consisting of the insertion of standards, blanks and duplicate samples randomly into the sample stream. A review of the QA/QC results shows no significant bias and all results are considered highly reliable.
Mr. Gregory Smith, P.Geo, the Vice-President of Exploration of the Company, is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, and is responsible for the accuracy of the technical data and information contained in this news release.
Source:
Edgewater Exploration Ltd.