VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 20, 2007) - Snowfield Development Corp. ("Snowfield" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:SNO) is pleased to inform its shareholders that it has successfully completed the excavation of 500 tonnes of kimberlite to be processed as a bulk sample in order to test the grade of the diamondiferous Mud Lake kimberlite sill complex discovered by Snowfield in 2003. The Mud Lake sill is part of Snowfield's Ticho Project, located 50km south east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Onsite crushing and bagging is now underway and is expected to be completed over the next 6 to 8 days. Each bag, containing approximately two tonnes of crushed kimberlite, is security sealed when filled to protect the integrity of the contents and assist in verification of "chain of custody" protocols.
Snowfield has instituted a strict security regime during this procedure with 2 bonded security personnel onsite and an independent qualified person as defined in NP43-101 supervising the processes.
Upon completion of the crushing and bagging, DeBeers Canada Exploration Ltd. ("DeBeers") will be notified that the shipment is ready for processing at their Dense Media Separation Plant, located in Grande Prairie, Alberta. As has previously been stated, DeBeers is providing this processing to Snowfield at no cost to Snowfield and with no obligation from Snowfield. Upon completion of processing by DeBeers, Snowfield will split the resulting concentrate into three batches, with two of the batches being sent to two independent Canadian laboratories for diamond recovery and the remaining batch being sent to DeBeers Laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa as a quality control and check procedure.
To enable access to the kimberlite sill being sampled, Snowfield has constructed a decline ramp through the granite and diabase cap covering the kimberlite. This ramp will remain available for use if and when the Company decides to take a larger bulk sample, thus considerably decreasing the costs of future sampling programs.
The cost to Snowfield for extracting the 500 tonnes of kimberlite has been less than $2 million. This amount is substantially less than that incurred by other Canadian diamond exploration companies taking similarly sized bulk samples in northern Canada and is a reflection of the advantageous location of the Ticho Project, both in its proximity to the infrastructure in Yellowknife and being located on the shore of Great Slave Lake thus providing cost effective transportation options.
Snowfield continues its field exploration and diamond drilling programs on the Ticho Project and an update on progress can be expected shortly.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Snowfield Development Corp.
Robert T. Paterson, President and Director
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Snowfield Development Corp.Robert T. PatersonPresident and Director(604) 681-5720 or Toll Free: 1-800-859-6463(604) 681-6937 (FAX)Email: communication@snowfield.comWebsite: www.snowfield.com
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