TORONTO, ON, Aug 04, 2010 – Gowest Amalgamated Resources Ltd. (“Gowest” or the “Company”) (TSX Venture: GWA) is pleased to announce an update on the Phase 1 drill program at the 100% owned Frankfield Project in Timmins, Ontario.
- Hole GW10-46 intersected 10m (33 ft) of 6.5 g/t (0.21 oz) gold well beyond the boundaries of the previously known gold resource and at a depth in excess of 600 metres (2000 ft). As part of its Phase 2 effort, the company is planning additional drilling to better understand the structure of the deposit at the presently drilled limits and determine the potential for further resource
- Recent drilling confirms continuity of mineralization to at least 700m along strike and 750m vertical depth (deposit remains open), more than doubling the size of the original mineralized envelope which contained an inferred mineral resource of 510,000 oz (2.4 million tonnes @ 6.5g/t gold). The drilling completed as part of the Phase 1 program allows the company to demonstrate a mineral potential at Frankfield East in excess of 1 million ounces (4.5-5.5 million tonnes @ 6.5-7.0 g/t Au)**.
- Utilising cut-off grades that are comparable to those used in previous Gowest resource studies, the average “Main Zone” mineralized width for the twelve Phase 1 drill holes target areas which surround the area of expanded resource potential is approximately 4m at a grade of 6.4 g/t gold. These results are consistent with the previous 17,200m of drilling utilised as the basis for the existing 43-101 compliant Frankfield East resource and with what are generally accepted as “typical” norms for the Timmins camp (6-8 g/t Au)
- The Phase 2 drill program is now underway at the Frankfield project with the arrival of a second drill rig. In addition to continuing the development of the Frankfield East deposit along strike and at depth, the second rig will focus on a number of highly prospective gold targets to the west and southwest of Frankfield East that exhibit structures similar to those seen at the company’s flagship deposit. (see press release dated July 6, 2010).
Greg Romain, President & Chief Executive Officer of Gowest, said, “We are pleased to announce the completion of the Phase 1 drill program which significantly extended both the strike and depth of the mineralisation at the Frankfield East gold deposit. These results have definitely confirmed the potential we believed existed and supports our ultimate goal of defining a mineable resource for the deposit. Hole GW10-46 is especially exciting as it is the largest intersection drilled to date in 2010 and is located far beyond the limits of any previous drill campaigns.”
Mr. Romain added, “The company has achieved all of our stated goals for the Phase 1 drilling program and now looks forward to the initiation of Phase 2 which will target further extensions of the Frankfield East gold deposit. As well the company is investigating a number of other unexplored targets to the west of the current deposit which display geological settings similar to the Frankfield East deposit.”
The Frankfield Project 2010 Development Program
The Frankfield Project area is located in Tully Township approximately 30 km Northeast of Timmins, Ontario.
The recent drill results are part of the first phase of a minimum 20,000m drill program that commenced in January 2010. In conjunction with the ongoing work aimed at expanding the Frankfield East gold deposit, the company’s 2010 development program also includes:
- Phase 2 drilling (approx. 10,000m) which in addition to further defining the Frankfield East deposit, also includes the evaluation a number of high priority gold targets identified elsewhere on the property;
– metallurgical testwork to determine processing alternatives for the Frankfield mineralization;
– an evaluation of site locations for processing facilities;
– environmental baseline studies to allow for future bulk sampling and/or mining;
– engineering studies to evaluate mining and processing alternatives for the deposit.
The budget for the current Phase 2 development program is approximately $2.5 million. The funds for this work are presently in place
2010 Phase 1 Drill Program Results
A total of 11,600m of exploration drilling has been completed as part of the Phase 1 drill program at Frankfield East with the key highlights set out in Table 1 below. The intersections in holes GW10-45/46/47/55/56/58/59/61/62 are notable in that all of these holes intersected significant extensions (strike/depth) to the known deposit. Overall, the original resource area prior to the start of the current Phase 1 program has now been expanded along strike (from 450m to 700m) and at vertical depth (from 450m to 750m), more than doubling the original mineralized area which contained an inferred mineral resource of 510,000 oz (2.4 million tonnes @ 6.5g/t gold) . The average mineralised intersection for all of the holes drilled to date through the Main Zone of the deposit is approximately 4m at a weighted average grade of 6.4 g/t gold, which is consistent with the previous drilling completed on the deposit. The intersections encountered in holes GW10-46/55/58 are especially notable as these are the deepest exploration holes drilled to date (approximately 700m vertical depth) and confirm the Company’s belief that the mineralization remains open at depth and substantially deeper than anything previously drilled.
Also illustrated in Table 1 are a number of holes that intersected more than one zone of mineralisation. These gold-bearing quartz vein systems are persistent throughout the Frankfield East gold deposit and are located in the mafic rocks forming the hanging wall of the deposit.
Work is presently underway at Gowest to interpret the continuity of these parallel structures in an effort to better understand their potential to augment the Frankfield East gold deposit Main Zone resources.
Drill holes GW10-51/52 were targeted specifically to examine the western strike extension limits in the updated geophysical model for the Frankfield East gold deposit to a depth of 400m. As inferred from the model, the drill core taken from these holes demonstrated that the main zone alteration, which is characterised by silicification and the presence of gold-bearing sulphides, showed a reduction in both width and intensity. The eastern limits of the deposit are less clearly defined in the geophysical model and the absolute limits have yet to be reached by the current drill program.
Although drill hole GW10-56 did not intersect significant quantities of gold it was clearly evident that the Main Zone structure that is present throughout the remainder of the drill holes is also present in hole GW10-56 at the exact location spatially where it would be expected based on data from adjacent holes. It is important to understand that historically with the Frankfield East deposit drilling it is not uncommon for 30-40% of the drill holes to encounter anomalous but insignificant levels of gold even though they are located within areas of known gold resources. This is a function of the style of gold deposition and is consistent throughout much of the Timmins camp. The fact that the structure remains open is evidenced by a number of existing drill holes (previous campaigns) which are located approximately 100-150m vertically from hole GW10-56 and where the same structure is gold-bearing.
Table 1. Phase 1 Drilling Results for the Frankfield East Gold Deposit
| Hole No. | Depth (m) | Interval (m) | Grade (g/t gold) | Notes |
| GW10-45 | 164.4-165.9 | 1.5 | 8.5 | |
| 186.3-192.0 | 5.7 | 8.0 | Main Zone | |
| 196.2-196.8 | 0.60 | 5.7 | ||
| GW10-46 | 691-701 | 10 | 6.5 | Main Zone |
| GW10-47 | 418.0-423.0 | 5.0 | 4.6 | Main Zone |
| GW10-49 | 284.45-285.65 | 1.2 | 4.1 | Main Zone |
| GW10-51 | Minor sulphide content, <1 g/t gold (no main alteration zone) | |||
| GW10-52 | Minor sulphide content, <1 g/t gold (4m of main alteration zone) | |||
| GW10-55 | 785.0-788.0 | 3.0 | 8.4 | Main Zone |
| GW10-56 | 797-801 | 4.0 | <1 | Main Zone |
| GW10-58 | 712-714 | 2.0 | 3.5 | |
| 760-765 | 5 | 3.6 | Main Zone | |
| GW10-59 | 558-560 | 2 | 4.6 | Main Zone |
| 571-572.5 | 1.5 | 3.7 | ||
| GW10-61 | 123.35-126.0 | 2.65 | 10.2 | Main Zone |
| GW10-62 | 108.0-108.3 | 0.3 | 13.5 | |
| 474.1-475.4 | 1.3 | 3.1 | Main Zone | |
| M1* | ~130m | 4 | 6.9 | Main Zone |
| M2* | ~125m | 3.3 | 7.6 | Main Zone |
m – metre, g/t gold – grams per tonne contained gold
Note: – Intervals shown are core lengths (true width of mineralization will be slightly reduced).
– Holes GW10-48/50/53/54/57/60 were located in field but have not yet been completed.
* Values for M1 and M2 are weighted average from individual mineralised intersections drilled at each location.
In addition to the exploration aimed at expanding the Frankfield east resource area, a total of approximately 1,300m of large diameter (HQ) drill core was completed. This drill core is presently being used for the Company’s detailed metallurgical program targeted for completion in the second half of 2010.
A total of eight drill holes were completed at two separate locations which are indicated in Figure 1 and Table 1 as M1 (GW10-66/67/68/69) and M2 (GW10-63/64/65/70). At each drill location the holes were drilled in a fan pattern at relatively close spacings. For the purposes of illustrating the drilling completed to date the results shown for each location were calculated as the weighted average of the mineralised intersections encountered at each location.
Qualified Person
This press release has been reviewed by Mr. Darren Koningen, P. Eng., Gowest’s Vice President of Technical Services. Mr. Koningen is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.
All drill core samples were photographed prior to being split and logged. Sample intervals were determined based on geological context and varied in length from 0.3 – 1.5m. Half of the split core from each interval was bagged and delivered to the ALS Laboratory Group (“ALS”) preparation facility located in Timmins, Ontario. All samples were prepared by ALS and analyzed for gold using fire assay procedures with an Atomic Adsorption Spectroscopy (“AAS”) finish in addition to the completion of a multi-element ICP-AES scan. ALS’s main North American assay laboratory in Vancouver, British Columbia is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005.
About Gowest
Gowest is a Canadian gold exploration and development company focused on the delineation, development and mining of its 100% owned Frankfield East gold deposit while continuing to evaluate additional exploration and acquisition targets in the vicinity of the Frankfield project area, part of the prolific Timmins, Ontario gold camp.
For further information please contact;
Greg Romain President & CEO Tel: (416) 363-1210
Email: [email protected] Or
Rory Quinn Investor Relations
Toll Free: (877) 363-1218
Tel: (416) 363-1210
Forward-looking statements
This news release contains certain “forward looking statements”. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. The results or events depicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
**Areas estimated for resource expansion potential are assumed to be similar in grades and widths to the 43-101 compliant resource for the Frankfield East deposit. Tonnages of potentially mineralized material have been calculated based on these grades/widths and the extents of the mineralized envelope as defined by the recent drill holes reported herein. All quantities and grades of this material are conceptual in nature and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the targets eventually being delineated as a mineral resource.
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