May 28 2013
CB Gold Inc. ("CB Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the results of the environmental study entitled "Delimitation and Identification of the Environmental Protection Area for the Municipality of Vetas, Santander", and prepared by the Fundación Estación Biológica Guayacanal ("Fundación Guayacanal"), confirms that the Vetas Gold Project ("Vetas Gold Project"), is not affected by the Paramo ecosystem.
The Vetas Gold Project is located in the Municipality of Vetas, Santander District and approximately 10km south of AUX's La Bodega, La Mascota and El Gigante deposits.
The Fundación Guayacanal study was requested by the Mesa de Integración de la Región del Río Suratá, a non-governmental organization representing the Municipalities of Vetas, California and Surata, where the projects of CB Gold, AUX and several other mining companies are located. The study was commissioned by the Colombian Chamber of Mines together with Leyhat Colombia Sucursal S.A. and AUX Minería (the respective subsidiaries of CB Gold and AUX).
The study was presented to and discussed with different Colombian Governmental Authorities, including the office of the President of the Colombian Republic, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Mining Agency, the CDMB (Corporación Autónoma Regional para la Defensa de la Meseta de Bucaramanga), the Von Humboldt Institute and the Ministry of Environment & Sustainable Development.
The detailed study was prepared on a 1:10,000 scale for the Municipality of Vetas (the Colombian National Development Plan prescribes that studies to delimit areas of Paramo should be undertaken on a scale of 1:25,000), using the data coming from 99 vegetation surveys, 86 soil surveys and the photo-interpretation. It also included a detailed analysis of the variation in the topographical limits between the Andean forest, the high-Andean forest and the Páramo. Over 30 scientist including biologists, forestry engineers, agricultural engineers, social researchers and hydrologists worked several weeks in the field in order to prepare the study, the results of which are summarized below. More details regarding the methodology and the conclusion of the study can be found on the Company's website at www.cbgoldinc.com (an English translation will soon follow).
Study Results:
"According to the probabilistic model, the lower limit of the Páramo is situated above 3600m a.s.l. in most of the study area. There are local variations due to more abrupt geological formations, in which a non-significant percentage of the Páramo area may occur in the form of scarps or rocky edges. This limit coincides very closely, for the most part, with the limit proposed by the CDMB for the Santurbán Regional Natural Park…………… The altitudinal limit between pasturelands and scrublands indicates that the latter, as characteristic cover of primary and secondary páramos, are concentrated above 3600m a.s.l. and are rare below 3500m a.s.l.".