Aug 8 2012
Ardent Mines Ltd.,a
precious resources exploration, development, and mining company focused on
advancing its two gold properties in Brazil, announced that results obtained
from chemical analysis of its systematic sampling review of the identified vein
and host rocks at the Gold Hills (GH)-01 Target area returned positive grades
for all samples collected on the ore zone.
In the traditional quartz vein ore samples, three returned values over 20
grams of gold per ton. Those grades were in areas that were initially expected
to be around 15 to 20 g/ton.
In addition to the high grades confirmed in the traditional quartz vein type
ore, the Company has confirmed its hypothesis on the mylonite/breccia rock
inside of the mineralized zone, as tests returned grades consistently a little
over 1 gram per ton on average. There were also positive results from the host
rock (or lateral zone), with samples returning grades of 1.4g/t of gold and
0.25g/t of gold.
Mr. Luciano Borges, geologist and President of Ardent Mines, commented, "Our
recent advances in understanding the mineralization, confirming our exploration
model hypothesis and identifying that the previous historical exploration and
exploitation data was restricted only to the quartz vein type ore, leads us to
believe that there is not only the potential for substantially more gold both in
the already inferred area at the GH-01 Target zone, but also for the whole
project."
Sampling channels, which were made by cutting across the whole roof of the
tunnel samples, was executed in order to test the average of a package including
material from both the rich quartz veins and the supposedly barren host rock.
Those samples also returned positive results, with grades up to 8 grams per ton.
The average grades obtained for each type of material checked on that sampling
package are shown in the following table:
Gold assays of rock samples were completed by Acme Analytical Laboratories
Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, an IS0 9001:2008 accredited facility.
Field Test Yields Gold Visible to Naked Eye
Given the confirmation by the laboratory analysis, the Company's field team
expedited a field test of a sample collected on an outcrop composed of pure
mylonite/breccia material, located between the GH-01 and GH-02 Targets. That
field test - a simple hand panning of the material obtained through a manual
crushing of a small amount of rock collected at the outcrop - provided many
small particles of gold visible to the naked eye. As a result of the favorable
field and lab tests, the Company's technical team broadened the Gold Hills
Project by expanding the exploration priorities to include neighbor host rocks.
Expanding Exploration Area
During the course of the systematic densification of the geological
information grid built to cover the area between the GH-01 and GH-02 Targets,
the field test revealed the existence of a different type of gold
mineralization, apparently related to pegmatite veins. Such discovery is
particularly important because it expands the type of rocks and structures with
gold potential not yet described within Ardent's property, and, it is similar to
known occurrences located southwest of our property which historically and
currently are exploited by small scale artisanal miners.
Mr. Borges noted, "Although, as expected, the grades on the host rocks are
lower than those found in the quartz veins, it is critical to note that these
rocks also contain gold which ultimately can substantially expand the volume of
ore, both on the mineralized zone and the lateral host rock, forming a
'mineralized package' much thicker than the quartz veins alone. Given that there
are a vast number of non-tested outcrops of host rock identified in the region,
we are expanding our exploration area."
Over the last three weeks, the Company has focused on its infrastructure in
preparation for the recently contracted drilling campaign for its newly expanded
exploration program, which is expected to commence in the next week.