Mr. John Brownlie reports
ORO MINING REPORTS POSITIVE SONIC DRILL RESULTS AND FIRST QUARTER EXPLORATION PLAN ON ITS TRINIDAD PROPERTY, MEXICO
Oro Mining Ltd. has had positive drill results for the first sonic holedrilled at its 100%-owned Taunus Gold deposit on its Trinidad propertySinaloa, Mexico. Gold composites from the sonic drill hole are highergrade than nearby reverse circulation (RC) holes in both the Eldoradoand HS zones. The drill hole also intersected a new gold mineralizedzone in-between the Eldorado and HS zones.
The sonic hole drilled to a total depth of 200 metres and intersectedfive separate gold-bearing intervals as shown in the table below. Thisis the first hole drilled at Taunus that has intersected both theEldorado and HS zones. The hole was drilled from an existing rampinside the recently dewatered pit.
Sonic Hole To From Interval Gold Grade Zone
(m) (m) (m) (g/t)
10TRSN001 25.8 36.5 10.7 5.0 Eldorado zone
(upper zone)
45.4 53.8 8.4 1.3 Eldorado zone
(lower Zone)
79.3 85.0 5.7 1.5 below Eldorado
zone (Shadow zone)
138.4 167.4 29.0 4.6 HS zone
including 149.4 162.5 13.1 9.5 HS zone
181.9 185.4 3.5 0.5 below HS zone
189.7 193.4 3.7 2.6 below HS zone
Eldorado zone
In the Eldorado zone, gold grades from the sonic drilling aresignificantly higher than nearby RC and diamond drill holes. Sonicdrill hole 1 intersected two intervals: 5.0 g/t gold over 10.7m at and1.3 g/t over 8.4m. The composite from the beginning of the firstinterval to the end of the second interval is 2.3 g/t gold over 28metres, as compared to 0.7 g/t gold over 34 metres and 1.6 g/t goldover 34 metres in the adjacent RC and diamond holes respectively(Figures 1 to 3). "These sonic drill results are significant being 150to 300 per cent higher in gold grade than adjacent diamond and RCholes. Based on these results, we are planning a comprehensive sonicdrilling campaign which has the potential to significantly increase thegold grade in the Eldorado zone," commented Frank Powell, Executive VPof Oro Mining.
Oro Mining recently released a resource estimate on the Taunus depositas shown in the table below. The grades in the Eldorado zone weresignificantly lower than the overall grade of the deposit where over 95per cent of the drill holes were RC holes. The average grade of theEldorado zone in the indicated category is 0.95 g/t gold representingapproximately 40% of the reported indicated resource, while the averagegrade of the Eldorado zone in the inferred category is 0.88 g/t goldrepresenting approximately 1% of the reported inferred resource.
Taunus Resources at a 0.3 g/t gold cutoff
Gold Gold % of Total
Eldorado zone KTonnes Grade kOz Resource
Indicated Resource 2,363 0.95 72 39%
Inferred Resource 53 0.88 2 1%
Total Taunus Indicated Resource 3,868 1.51 187 100%
Total Taunus Inferred Resource 2,539 1.45 118 100%
1) Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. There is no
certainty that
all or any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves.
2) Mineral Resource tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate.
3) Resources for Taunus are stated as contained within a potentially, economically minable pit using a
0.3 g/t gold cutoff
grade.
4) Pit optimization for Taunus is based on an assumed gold price of $1,200/ounce; metallurgical recovery of 90%; and
processing cost of $12.00/tonne. Resources stated above a 2.0 Au equivalent contained within potentially minable
vein wireframes using gold:silver ratio of 63:1. Metallurgical recoveries assumed at 100%.
HS zone
In the HS zone, locatedapproximately 45 to 80 metres below the Eldorado Zone, the sonic holeintersected 4.6 g/t gold over 29 metres, including 9.5 g/t gold over13.1 metres, as compared to 1.45 g/t gold over 31.8 metres in thenearby RC hole . The nearest diamond drill hole, 09TR019, is locatedapproximately 10 to 30 metres away and intersected 30 metres of 6.3 g/tgold. Another diamond drill hole located 30 metres away intersected 5.2g/t gold over 18.7 metres. Results of the sonic hole in the HS zone aresignificantly higher than the RC hole, and similar in grade to thenearest diamond holes (Figures 4 and 5).
The recent resource estimate in the HS zone, reports an average gradeof 4.33 g/t gold in the indicated category and 2.75 g/t in the inferredcategory. This estimate used only diamond holes; RC holes were not usedin the estimation of the HS zone. The upcoming sonic drill program willfocus on areas in the HS zone that are currently in the inferredcategory, which could potentially increase the gold grade of this zone.
Taunus Resources at 0.3 g/t gold cutoff
Gold Gold % of Total
HS zone KTonnes Grade KOz Resource
Indicated Resource 611 4.33 85 45%
Inferred Resource 756 2.75 67 56%
1) Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that
all or any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves.
2) Mineral Resource tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate.
3) Resources for Taunus are stated as contained within a potentially, economically minable pit using a 0.3
g/t gold cutoff
grade.
4) Pit optimization for Taunus is based on an assumed gold price of $1,200/ounce; metallurgical recovery of 90%; and
processing cost of $12.00/tonne. Resources stated above a 2.0 Au equivalent contained within potentially minable
vein wireframes using gold:silver ratio of 63:1. Metallurgical recoveries assumed at 100%.
Additional zones
The sonic hole intersected a new zone below the Eldorado zone of 5.7metres at 1.45 g/t gold from 79.3 to 85.0 metres. This intersection islocated in the "shadow zone", which is the area that has not beenaccessible by drilling due to the location of the pit. These resultsindicate resource potential in this area which will be investigatedwith the sonic drilling.
Exploration Plan
Oro Mining plans to drillapproximately 5,000 metres of sonic and diamond drilling in the firstquarter of 2010. A significant portion of this drilling will be bysonic within the recently dewatered pit with the following objectivesto increase the Taunus resource base by: 1) increasing the gold gradeof the Eldorado zone; 2) assess the untested zone in-between theEldorado and HS zones; 3) target potential high-grade gold feeders; 4)target offset and extension zones; and 5) potentially increase the goldgrade of the HS zones in the inferred resource category. In addition,the Company plans to continue drilling with a diamond drill rigtargeting potential satellite zones in close proximity to the Taunusgold deposit.
Sonic drilling is a relatively new alternative for drilling rock. Thedrill uses sonic vibrations applied to the pipe to drill and retrievecontinuous samples from broken and semi-consolidated material withoutthe use of water or mud. Many types of conventional drilling techniqueswhich rely on fluid or air circulation do not efficiently recover soft,unstable, varied and highly broken material. Additional information onthis drilling technique can be sourced on Oro Mining's web site.
Oro Mining has also drilled 11 sonic holes on the historic leach pad and will be releasing the results shortly.
TheTrinidad project exploration is under the direction of Frank Powell,Executive Vice President Oro Gold Resources Ltd. Gary Lustig, P.Geo, aqualified person as designated by National Instrument 43-101 hasreviewed the technical content of this release.
We seek Safe Harbor.