MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - June 3, 2010) -Uragold Bay Resources Inc. (Uragold) (TSX VENTURE:UBR), ispleased to announce the start of its sampling and trial mining phase ofthe Beauce Placer Gold tailings project near the town ofSaint-Simon-les-Mines. The landowner (surface rights owner) has grantedUragold full access to the property for all exploration and miningactivities.
The sampling program will be supervised by Mrs Jovette Maroiseng., of the Centre de Technologie Minérale et de Plasturgie (CTMP) inThetford Mines. A caterpillar-tracked excavator will cut trenches in thetailing mounds left over from the former Beauce Placer Gold miningoperation of 1960 to 1961. 20 channel samples will be analyzed for goldat the CTMP by gravimetric methods. Knelson gravimetric tests will helpidentify the quantity of placer gold in the tailings. In addition tomeasuring the grade of gold, the placers must be classified according tosize. Knowing the distribution of fine gold to coarse gold (nuggets) isimportant in the trial mining phase to evaluate recovery rates. Thesamples will also be sent for geochemical analysis for a completemeasurement of gold and other elements.
The property is about 1 km long and 400 meters wide. TheGilbert River flows through the property parallel to the tailings. Thetailings and three floatation ponds are flanked by hills built from thestripped sterile overburden. Forest has encroached up to the top of thehills and the whole mining area is segregated from the Gilbert River.
Beauce Placer Co. documented a reserve potential of12,979,000 m3 at a grade of 0.256 g/m3 of gold or 107,045 oz of gold(Pre 43-101, Seber 1961 GM11010). It was reported that only 4,378 oz ofgold was recovered by the company. Historical accounts point to thefollowing reasons for the poor recovery rates of gold (Drouin 2002).
The Yuba dredge used by the Beauce Placer Company could notmine both fine gold and coarse gold at once. Therefore, they decided tomine the fine gold because its distribution was more consistent. As aresult, any gold nugget was rejected by the sieve and thrown out withthe tailings.
Two of the largest gold nuggets found in Canada came from thegravels of St-Simon-les-Mines, the Kilgour nugget at 52 ounces and theMcDonald nugget at 45 ounces. Nugget distribution could be very erratichowever; its contribution to total gold production could be significant.
The 800-ton dredge was inefficient at recovering the finegold. It was difficult to calibrate the water and material flowingthrough the sluice. Much of the gold was washed out. Modern placerplants available today are very efficient at recovering gold of allsizes.
In the 1950s, violent strikes and unionization at theasbestos mines of southern Quebec was a turning point in the provincehistory (Quiet Revolution, Asbestos Strike). Attempts to unionize theBeauce Placer miners led to labor conflicts. The dredge was repeatedlysabotaged and prone to breakdowns.
Uragold believes that a considerable amount of gold could befound in the tailings. If sampling results and trial mining efforts arepositive, a low cost profitable placer mining operation could be put inoperation. This could provide cash flow to the company and helpcontribute to the exploration of other projects with blue sky potential.
All information herewith presented is historical in natureand while relevant, the information was obtained before theimplementation of National Instrument 43-101 and as such does not meetNational Instrument 43-101 reporting standards. The historical estimateshould not be relied upon until the Company can confirm them.
Note: Mr Vivian Stuart-Williams, (SACNASP), a Director of theCompany and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument43-101, supervised the preparation of the information in this newsrelease.
Uragold is a top claims holder in Southern Quebec'sAppalachian belt. The region is presently enjoying a major staking rush.Corporations having staked and worked significant land concessions inthe areas over the last year include Golden Hopes Mines Ltd (TSXVENTURE: GNH), Bowmore Exploration/Osisko Mining Corp (TSX VENTURE:BOW)(TSX: OSK), Fancamp Exploration ltd (TSX VENTURE: FNC),Niogold Mining Corp (TSX VENTURE: NOX) and others. The area has acentury-long mining history for chromites, asbestos and copper. Theregion was the site of Canada's first placer gold rush in the 1850s,decades before the Klondike, since then forgotten. Despite the many goldoccurrences discovered in volcanic, intrusive and sedimentary rocks, nomajor bedrock sources were uncovered to account for the placer gold.
About Uragold Bay Resources Inc.
Uragold Bay Resources Inc. is a Canadian based juniorresource and exploration company trading under the symbol UBR on the TSXVenture Exchange. The Company has 107,894,367 shares outstanding. TheCompany holds over 700 claims in the Appalachian Belt, 100% of the 314km2 Uskawanis Uranium property located just south of the Opinacareservoir and 100% of the Blue Lake Base Metal and Gold propertysituated close to Radisson in the James Bay region.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation ServicesProvider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX VentureExchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of thisrelease. This press release contains certain "forward-lookingstatements," as identified in the Uragold Bay periodic filings withCanadian Securities Regulators that involve a number of risks anduncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will proveto be accurate and actual results and future events could differmaterially from those anticipated in such statements.