VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 21, 2013) -Shark Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Shark") is pleased to report initial results from Block 14, Northern Sudan.
Our exploration work to date in Block 14 has identified six exploration targets. Shark is earning a 70% interest in Block 14 through the payment of US$9.5 million in staged acquisition payments. Of these US$3.5 million has been paid to date.
Shark completed a total of 2,116m of drilling in 15 holes at the Galat Sufar South target, on Block 14 in late 2012. This comprised two diamond core (DD) holes (355m) and 13 reverse circulation (RC) holes (1,561m). The table below shows highlighted results from this first drilling in the area:
The table below shows selected trench and chip channel results from the initial exploration target areas at Block 14.
Simon Jackson, Director, commenting on the exploration results said, "Initial drill results from our first target at Block 14 have exceeded our expectations with all 15 drill holes intersecting gold mineralisation. This early success supports our decision to invest in exploration in Sudan and demonstrates the potential of the Nubian Shield to host significant gold mineralisation. Our belief is further strengthened by the numerous other targets that have been identified by our exploration team and confirmed by trenching. Our second phase drill programme is now underway to test other targets and continue exploration at Galat Sufar South."
About Shark
Shark is a privately held, British Columbia incorporated resource company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in East Africa. Shark was founded and is managed by the former executives of Red Back Mining Inc.
On December 14, 2012, Shark entered into a binding share purchase agreement whereby Canaco Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CAN) ("Canaco") is expected to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Shark in exchange for common shares of Canaco ("the Shark Acquisition")conditional upon, among other things, certain assets and liabilities of Canaco being spun out to a new company. Under the Share Purchase Agreement, Shark shareholders will receive 2.705 Canaco common shares for each Shark share held or, in aggregate, Shark shareholders will receive 117.3 million Canaco shares, to be adjusted for any Canaco option exercises prior to closing.
Upon completion of the Shark Acquisition, Canaco will have in excess of $60 million in cash and 317.1 million common shares issued and outstanding, of which former Shark and current Canaco shareholders will own approximately 37% and 63%, respectively. Immediately following the completion of the Shark Acquisition, Canaco is expected to consolidate its common shares on the basis of one post-consolidation common share for every three pre-consolidation common shares. The following individuals will be appointed to serve as officers of Canaco: Rick Clark as Chairman, Simon Jackson as President and Chief Executive Officer, Alessandro Bitelli as Chief Financial Officer and Hugh Stuart as Vice President, Exploration. The board of directors will initially be comprised of Rick Clark, Dr. Jingbin Wang, Shuixing Fu, Simon Jackson, Robert Chase and Alex Davidson. In light of Canaco's new focus and changes to the board of directors and management team, Canaco will change its name to Orca Minerals Inc. ("Orca").
Orca is expected to be a well-financed resource company with over $60 million in cash, focused on exploration opportunities in Sudan and East Africa with an experienced board of directors and management team.
The technical contents of this release have been reviewed by Stuart Mills, BSc., MSc, a Qualified Person pursuant to NI-43101. Mr. Mills is the Sudan Manager of the Company and a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Samples are prepared and analyzed by fire assay using a 50 gram charge at the ALS Chemex facility at Rosia Montana in Romania in compliance with industry standards. Field duplicate samples are taken and blanks and standards are added to every batch submitted.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Richard P. Clark, Director