TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 16, 2011) - Sulliden Gold Corporation Ltd. ("Sulliden", or the "Company") (TSX:SUE)(OTCQX:SDDDF) is pleased to announce the completion of a new gold and silver mineral resource estimate for its 100%-owned Shahuindo Project in Peru. The updated estimate, shown in Tables 1 and 2 below, delivered a 121% increase of Indicated gold ounces in the oxides and a 397% increase in Inferred gold ounces from the sulphides relative to the 2009 year-end estimate. Sulliden continues to actively drill the Shahuindo property and new results will continue to be released throughout 2011.
Highlights from the new mineral resource estimate at Shahuindo include:
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121% increase in Indicated gold mineral resources to 1.97 million oz. from 0.89 million oz.
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397% increase in Inferred gold mineral resources to 1.44 million oz. from 0.29 million oz.
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28.0 million oz. of silver in Indicated mineral resources
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38.6 million oz. of silver in Inferred mineral resources
Peter Tagliamonte, President and CEO of Sulliden, commented, "The updated mineral resource estimate establishes a new and increasingly significant foundation for our Shahuindo Project, which we believe will continue to expand with the 2011 drilling program and future phases of exploration. Our geological knowledge of the deposit continues to improve and has led to both new discoveries within the known mineralized zones and has enabled us to identify potential expansion targets in close proximity to the known mineralized zones. In conjunction with the continued growth in mineral resources, the mining project is developing well with projected low stripping ratios and excellent recoveries."
The new mineral resource estimate was prepared by Mine Developments Associates ("MDA") in Reno, Nevada in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and provides an update to the previous estimate released on December 8th, 2009. The new mineral resource estimate is based on new drill data from 49,150 metres in 248 holes, drilled from August 2010 to March 2011, for a total of 93,583 metres from 568 holes.
As announced on June 15, 2011, gold recoveries of 89% and silver recoveries of 15% were obtained from column tests. The material demonstrated rapid leach characteristics, with 85% of gold recovered in first 20 days. The positive metallurgical results will be used to complete the Feasibility Study.
Table 1 – June 2011 Indicated Mineral Resources
Table 2 – June 2011 Inferred Mineral Resources
*Mixed signifies a transition zone containing both oxide and sulphide material
Mineral resources do not have demonstrated economic viability. Due to the uncertainty of measured, Indicated or Inferred mineral resources, these mineral resources may never be upgraded to proven and probable mineral reserves.
Shahuindo Mineral Expansion Program
Exploration activities on the Shahuindo property continue to yield positive results, and the mineral growth strategy going forward remains very strong. In the last two years, Sulliden has nearly doubled the number of metres drilled in the Central Corridor; steadily increasing the estimated size and contained ounces of the mineral deposit, while significantly improving the geological understanding of the mineral structures in this area. Sulliden plans to continue on this path of growth in 2011 and beyond, as it prepares to drill prospective new target areas on the property.
Central Corridor – Discovery of New Sub-Corridors and NW-SE Extensions
The increase in mineral resources at Shahuindo to date has been achieved through exploration drilling conducted along the 3.8 kilometre strike length of the Central Corridor (See Figure 1 below). With a growing geological understanding of the property, the geology team has continued to define several new mineral resource growth areas within this corridor, including the newly identified sub corridors 'A' and 'B' (See Figure 1 below and press releases from April 19, 2011 and May 24, 2011), where surface sampling is currently being conducted in preparation for further drill testing. Other near-term exploration targets neighbouring the Central Corridor are the 1,600 metre North-West anomaly extension and the 800 metre South-East anomaly extension identified in 2010. Drilling is expected to begin in these areas later this year, and exploration success could increase the strike length of the Central Corridor by 60%. Exploration activity will continue in this corridor for at least the next two years with the expectation of continued increases in estimated mineralization.
North and South Corridor
The anomalies observed in the geophysics and geochemistry completed in these corridors to date share many of the characteristics found in the Central Corridor from the same tests. The anomaly in the North Corridor currently extends for at least two kilometres, and the geology team has recently concluded the necessary mapping and prospecting in preparation for drilling in early July. The Company believed this could be an important source of mineral resource growth for the Shahuindo project.
Sulphides
The sulphide potential of Shahuindo is beginning to develop. Since 2009, Sulliden has been drilling beyond the historical 110 metre depth average and has observed a significant increase in sulphide Inferred ounces compared to the previous mineral resource estimate. A dedicated deep-hole drill rig was mobilized in March and the depth of sulphides are currently being tested along the length of the Central Corridor. Two holes of a planned 15-20 hole program have been completed to date, and initial results are expected in July. Based on the new mineral resource foundation, our improved understanding of the geological model, and pending positive results from the deeper mineralization, it is believed that the sulphides could become an important and sizeable aspect of the Shahuindo Project.
To view Figure 1 – Comparative Mineralized Footprints; NI 43-101 Compliant Mineral Resource by MDA (2011) and AMEC (2009), please visit the following link: https://media3.marketwire.com/docs/westzone.jpg
Qualified Person
The new mineral resource estimate was completed by Paul Tietz, Senior Geologist at MDA, who is the independent "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The new mineral resource estimate was reviewed by Stephane Amireault, MScA, P.Eng., Vice-President of Exploration for Sulliden, who is a "qualified person" as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has supervised the preparation of the technical information and data included in this news release. The 43-101 report will be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) in the next 45 days.
The mineral resource estimate was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 and using the following parameters:
The stated resource is fully diluted to 8m by 8m by 4m blocks and tabulated on gold-equivalent ("AuEq") grade cutoffs that are reasonable for deposits of this nature and for the expected mining conditions and methods. The oxidized and mixed material cutoffs (0.2g/t AuEq and 0.35 g/t AuEq) are chosen to capture mineralization that is potentially available to open-pit extraction and heap-leach processing. The higher cutoff applied to sulphide material(0.5g/t AuEq) reflects probable lower heap-leach recoveries and/or more costly sulphide processing. The AuEq grade is calculated using the individual gold and silver grades of each block, along with a gold price of $1,200.00 per ounce gold and a silver price of $18.75 per ounce silver. For the oxide and mixed resource estimates, a 5:1 difference in gold versus silver recovery in the proposed heap leach processing scenario. The estimate is constrained by a 3-dimensional geologic model which includes the overburden-bedrock contact, structurally-controlled intrusive-sediment boundaries, redox zones (oxide, sulphide, and a oxide/sulphide transition zone), and gold and silver low- medium- and high-grade mineral domains. Length-weighted composites honoring all mineral domain contacts, and with a maximum length of 4 metres, were used in the estimate. The block model is oriented so the long dimensions are vertical and at a 305 degree azimuth. Grade estimation is by Inverse Distance Cubed (ID3) with Ordinary Kriging (OK) and Nearest Neighbour (NN) estimates run as checks. Three search passes were used and the estimation within each mineral domain used only those composites coded to that respective domain. Classification is based on the confidence in the underlying data along with the number of, and average distance to, the nearest samples. The Indicated classification sample and distance criteria is a minimum of two samples lying a maximum average distance of 50 metres from the block to be estimated. All sulphide mineralization is considered Inferred due to the limited metallurgical characterization of this material type. See the Company's annual information form for a discussion of the extent to which mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
About Mine Developments Associates
Mine Developments Associates ("MDA") was formed in 1987 as a full-service mine engineering company specializing in every aspect of mining, from original prospect through feasibility and project development and into production.
About Sulliden
Sulliden is a Canadian-based precious metals company focused on the exploration and development of the Shahuindo Project, its 100%-owned flagship property located in a prolific gold producing district in northern Peru. This project neighbours world-class gold mines including Barrick Gold's Lagunas Norte Mine, 30 km to the south, and the Yanacocha Mine operated by Newmont Mining Company, 80 kilometres to the north; both million-ounce per year producing mines. A positive Preliminary Assessment for the project was completed in February 2010 and a Feasibility Study is currently underway. While the Company progresses towards its goal of becoming a gold producer, a significant focus is being placed on exploration drilling to increase the mineral resource, which remains open in all directions and at depth. Based on the drilling success in 2009/2010, Sulliden is undertaking approximately 70,000 meters of drilling in 2011 to continue the mineral expansion on the property. Sulliden is led by a strong management team with the proven ability to develop, finance and operate mining projects and is poised to generate superior value for its shareholders.