VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire – Dec. 16, 2009) - Kootenay Gold Inc. ("Kootenay") (TSX VENTURE:KTN) and Astral Mining Corporation ("Astral")(TSX VENTURE:AA)(TSX VENTURE:AA.WT)(PINK SHEETS:AAMJF)are pleased to announce the execution of an Option Agreement datedDecember 14th, 2009 (the "Option Agreement"), whereby Astral has theright to earn a 100% interest in the Jumping Josephine Property, located in British Columbia, Canada(Astral currently holds a 60% undivided interest and Kootenay holds a40% undivided interest). In exchange for the right to increase itsinterest to 100%, Astral must, subject to TSX Venture Exchange("TSX-V") approval, issue to Kootenay a total of 4,000,000 shares ofAstral and incur exploration expenditures totalling $2,000,000.
ManfredKurschner, President, comments. "The opportunity to acquire theremaining 40% interest of the "JJ", is a key corporate development forAstral, allowing the company to hold a 100% interest in a new andpotentially substantial gold project in a first world country. Many ofthe key components of an economic gold deposit, such as location,infrastructure and grade are all here. Now the company needs to embarkon a comprehensive exploration program to fully unlock the potential ofthis great early stage gold discovery."
Highlights of Drill Results at Jumping Josephine include:
• 9.95 grams per tonne gold over 10 metres from hole 001 ....... including 42.61grams per tonne gold over 2 metres
• 7.01 grams per tonne gold over 19 metres gold from hole 013 ....... including 16.42grams per tonne gold over 5 metres
• 15.18 grams per tonne gold over 4 metres gold from hole 032 ....... including 56.4 grams per tonne over 1 metre
• 7.74 grams per tonne gold over 5 metres gold from hole 034 ....... including 15.99grams per tonne over 2 metres
• 13.83 grams per tonne gold over 3 metres gold from hole 043 ........ including 35.6grams per tonne over 1 metre
• 8.28 grams per tonne gold over 6 metres gold from hole 046 ........ including 43.5grams per tonne gold over 1 metre
• 12.44 grams per tonne gold over 8 metres from hole 048 ....... including 26.9grams per tonne gold over 3 metres
• 7.96 grams per tonne gold over 5 metres gold from hole 051 ....... including 32.4grams per tonne gold over 1 meter
• 10.05 grams per tonne gold over 7.5 metres from hole 070
• 13.23 grams per tonne gold over 4 metres from hole 072
• 7.01 grams per tonne gold over 2 metres from hole 073
• 8.31 grams per tonne gold over 8 metres from hole 074
Planningand permitting is now underway for a focused and comprehensivetrenching and diamond drilling program on the Jumping Josephine Projectfor the spring 2010, as well as the previously-announced bulk samplingat the JJ Main zone. This work will continue to evaluate the twokilometre JJ Main structure, as well as testing a number of otherhigh-priority targets.
Gold encountered over a strikelength of 900 metres(m) and to vertical depths of up to 240m belowsurface and remains open on strike and at depth. A map showingdrillhole locations and a longitudinal section are provided on Astral'swebsite at the following links:https://www.astralmining.com/i/misc/Drill_Plan2008.jpg andhttps://www.astralmining.com/i/misc/JJ_Long_Section2008.jpg.
Terms of Option
Pursuantto the Option Agreement, Astral has the right to acquire Kootenay's 40%interest in the Jumping Josephine Property, thereby giving Astral 100%ownership and control of the project. Kootenay also will include a61.04km2 package of claim blocks contiguous to the North andon strike with the Jumping Josephine property known as the CP/MidasClaims. To exercise the option Astral must:
- issue to Kootenay an aggregate 4,000,000 common shares with 750,000 shares issuable upon receiving TSX-V approval and the balance issuable in stages over 18 months from the date of the Option Agreement and
- expend $2 million on exploration over a 2 year period with a commitment to spend $750,000 by the first anniversary and the balance by the second anniversary of the Option Agreement. Astral will also make available to Kootenay one board position.
Shouldany portion of the "JJ" or CP/Midas Claims go into commercialproduction, Astral will pay Kootenay a royalty of 1% net smelterreturns (NSR) and will issue to Kootenay an additional 400,000 commonshares.
Technical Details
Jumping Josephine is a new gold discovery in southern British Columbia where Astral holds total claims of 338 km2. Mineralisationat the JJ Main Zone was identified by prospectors in 2004, trenched byAstral in 2006 and first drilling was conducted in spring 2007. To dateAstral has completed a total of 103 diamond drillholes for a total of12,800m over the Jumping Josephine claim block. The majority ofdrilling has focused on the JJ Main Gold Discovery Zone, with 92 holestotalling 11,603m completed since spring 2007.
Goldmineralisation at JJ Main is associated with a quartz stockwork zonewithin faulted monzonite thought to be of Jurassic age. Mineralisationhas been intersected by drilling over a strike length of 900m and to avertical depth of 240m. The zone has a true width of up to 12.4m asevidenced by hole 013. The hosting structure is demonstrated bygeophysics and geological observation to persist for over 2.5km alongstrike. JJ Main is located within by a circular magnetic featurethought to represent a causative buried intrusive stock. Parallelstructures to JJ Main are considered highly prospective; an example ishole104 which intersected mineralised stockwork veining reminiscent ofthe JJ Main zone some 400m perpendicular to the strike of JJ Main.
Visiblegold is often observed within the stockwork quartz veins and individualmetre-wide samples range up to 61.8 grams per tonne gold (hole 04858-59m). The presence of coarse gold was noted early during explorationand all samples from the stockwork zone were analyzed by the metallicscreen fire assay method initially by ACME Analytical Laboratories andlater ALS Chemex, both analytical service providers compliant with ISO9001:2000 for the provision of assay and geochemical services. Themetallic screen fire assay method aims to report the total containedgold for a 1,000g sub-sample of each pulverized sample received and isconsidered more accurate than the routine 30g fire assay analysis whencoarse gold is present. Astral included its own blanks andindependently-prepared standards into the sample sequence to assureproper quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC). Samples adjacent tothe mineralized stockwork zone do not host obvious quartz veining orsulphide mineralization and are sent for 30gm fire assay analysis forgold.
Exploration work reported in this release wascompleted under the supervision of Astral's Project Geologist DaleBrittliffe, P.Geo.and a Qualified Person as defined in NationalInstrument 43-101.
Astral
AstralMining Corporation is a Canadian company engaged in the exploration anddevelopment of precious metal properties in North America. By focusingon exploration in mining-friendly districts, the Company minimizes thepolitical and social risks encountered in many other parts of theworld. With a new gold discovery at the Company's Jumping JosephineGold Project in Southern British Columbia and an experienced technicalteam and seasoned management, Astral is poised to leverage thisexpertise into early exploration success. Further details on AstralMining Corporation and its high-quality portfolio of explorationprojects can be found atwww.astralmining.com.
Kootenay
Kootenayis an emerging exploration Company actively developing mineral projectsin the Sierra Madre Region of Mexico and in British Columbia, Canada.The Company is currently drill testing four separate projects.Kootenay's top priority remains the ongoing development of itsPromontorio Silver project in Sonora State, Northwest Mexico, whichencompasses the former producing Promontorio Silver Mine. Furtherinformation can be found at: www.kootenaygold.ca.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Mr. Manfred Kurschner, President & CEO
Astral Mining Corporation
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Mr. James M. McDonald, President & CEO
Kootenay Gold Inc.