Strathclair Ventures (fka svl.t)

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News

January 21, 2004 06:26 PM US Eastern Timezone

Exciting Gold-Silver Results Lead Intrepid to an Accelerated Gold-Silver Exploration Program

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2004--Intrepid Minerals Corporation (TSX Venture Exchange: IAU.CX) is pleased to announce a number of recent activities and transactions involving Intrepid's properties in El Salvador. Intrepid's exploration team has been actively sampling and mapping the 255 km2 San Cristobal property in eastern El Salvador. Also, Intrepid's joint venture partners have concluded their active exploration on Intrepid properties and remain shareholders of Intrepid. This release will cover the following:


-- New gold/Silver District has been identified in the northwest sector of San Cristobal.

-- Significant assay values from both the Gigante and Hormiguero targets.

-- A 1000m Drill Program set to begin on Gigante and Hormiguero next week.

-- Aldea Zapote is sold to SilverCrest Mines Inc. with a royalty to Intrepid, following Apex terminating its option

-- Intrepid retains 100% ownership of the Divisadero Mine, containing 350,000 oz gold and 18 million oz silver, following Bema terminating its option.

Encouraging assays have been returned from the recent sampling program on its San Cristobal property in eastern El Salvador. The first round of drilling is set to commence and will target the historical Gigante and Hormiguero districts which are low sulfidation, epithermal gold- and silver-bearing vein systems.

The Gigante vein system can be traced for at least 1.5 kilometres along strike. Intrepid conducted a sampling and mapping program over the known strike length of the Gigante district. Four trenches (1-4) were cut across the Gigante vein over a strike length of about 300 metres. Three trenches (5-7) were cut along the projected extension of the vein system. The results of the program are as follows:

Gigante Vein Trench Sampling Results
------------------------------------

Assay
-----

Trench Width Gold Silver

# (m) (g/t) (g/t)

-- -----------------------------------

1 5.30 2.15 83.30

-- -----------------------------------

2 3.90 3.29 341.30

-- -----------------------------------

3 3.20 3.85 113.70

-- -----------------------------------

4 3.80 1.24 91.30

-- -----------------------------------

5 8.4 0.13 14.00

-- -----------------------------------

6 1.3 0.48 33.50

-- -----------------------------------

7 2.90 1.14 5.20

-- -----------------------------------


The current drill program will focus on the southeast portion of the vein system to test continuity of grade along strike and down dip, where historical data show values up to 37 g/t gold. Historical data from underground work performed in 1935 indicate that the average grade of underground sampling was 5.33 g/t gold and 228 g/t silver, with gold assays ranging from trace to 37.32 g/t gold and silver values ranging from trace to 1023 g/t silver.

The Hormiguero district comprises four sub-parallel low sulfidation, epithermal gold- and silver-bearing veins striking north-northeast. Intrepid has initially focused on the eastern-most structure, the Guadalupe vein. This vein, which occupies a ridge for several hundred metres, is up to 11 metres wide and can be traced for over one kilometre. Vein textures, silicified wallrock and widespread barite suggest that the surface exposure represents the upper levels of a hydrothermal system. As such, high gold-silver values would not be anticipated. Notwithstanding, underground sampling across the vein has shown that gold values appear to increase with depth and barite is only observed locally, suggesting metal zonation and thus potentially a high grade, "bonanza zone" at depth. A 9.20 metre channel sample across the vein in a tunnel 30 metres below surface assayed 5.68 g/t gold and 27.8 g/t silver.

Drilling at Hormiguero will immediately follow the completion of the Gigante program. The program will test the down-dip extension of the Guadalupe Vein along two sections approximately 130 metres apart as gold values and vein thicknesses are shown to increase with depth.

Concurrent with the drilling programs at Gigante and Hormiguero, a trenching program will also be initiated on the Rio Seco prospect. In previous sampling 101 grab and channel samples returned an average grade of 1.44 g/t gold and 60.4 g/t silver (see press release 02-4). Nine trenches, up to 160 metres long, have been designed to better expose broad zones of sheeted quartz veins and stockwork hosting highly anomalous gold and silver values. It is anticipated that this program will culminate with drilling in the second quarter.

Oro Nuevo Norte is a new and exciting district that is punctuated by a large circular feature, greater than 2 kilometres in diameter, identified through satellite image interpretation. This feature could represent a caldera margin, maar or ring-type feature. In addition, the southern rim is intersected by a 2 kilometre north-south striking lineament which is underlain by favourable host rocks that are strongly silicified and clay altered over a width of up to 600 metres. The discovery zone is underlain by lacustrine sediments and water-lain tuffs which are strongly silicified and clay altered. This area is referred to as Oro Nuevo Norte. Reconnaissance sampling (125 samples) along the lineament has generated gold assays from trace to 7.5 g/t gold. Within the lineament, a large zone of pervasive, texture destructive silicification has been identified. This zone is at least 700 metres long and up to 200 metres wide. At this time, Intrepid has initiated a detailed mapping and sampling program to fully assess the extent of mineralization within the lineament.

The extreme southern expression of the north-south striking Oro Nuevo Lineament is demarcated by historic workings. Initial rock chip sampling of veins and old dumps at this location have generated gold values from trace to greater than 15 g/t gold and silver values from trace to greater than 850 g/t silver from 68 samples.

"A large, deep seated structural setting like this one, coupled with very permissive host rocks and strongly anomalous gold and silver assays make for a very compelling story," says Laurence Curtis, president and CEO of Intrepid. He adds, "This is something brand new that we had not previously seen anywhere else in the San Cristobal district. I am anxious to break some rocks there myself!" Intrepid plans to complete the initial mapping and rock chip sampling within six weeks. Drilling is tentatively scheduled to start in the third quarter.

At Divisadero, Bema Gold Corporation drilled 3,000 metres in 2003 to test deep targets below the established silver-gold stockwork zone centred on the Carolina Shaft. Although wide mineralization stockwork zones (10 - 20 metres true width) were intersected in all holes, higher grade gold-silver values were confined to 0.5 - 4 metre intervals. As a result Bema Gold Corporation has elected to terminate their option on the Divisadero concession.

Intrepid retains a 100% interest in the Divisadero mine. An historic resource estimate (Kents, 1980, Canadian Javelin)(a) calculated for the Carolina-Protectora shaft areas within the 2 kilometre Divisadero structure demonstrated that the stockwork zone above the 100 metre level in these two mines contains 238,600 ounces of gold and 15.1 million ounces of silver at an average grade of 171 g/t silver and 2.7 g/t gold (5.14 g/t gold equivalent at a gold:silver ratio of 70:1) over a true width of 21 metres.(b) In 2004 Intrepid anticipates drilling the stockwork zone both north and south of the Carolina shaft areas to increase the silver-gold resource.

In 2003, Intrepid, together with Apex Silver Mines Corporation (Apex), completed another 1,700 metres of drilling at Cerro Colorado and San Casimiro. This drilling indicated that Zapote could host a modest resource but probably would not reach the threshold of 50 million ounces of silver required by the joint venture. As a result, Apex has terminated their option but remains a shareholder of Intrepid. On Jan. 9, 2004, an Agreement in Principle was signed between Intrepid and SilverCrest Mines Inc. (SilverCrest) whereby SilverCrest will acquire Intrepid's wholly owned subsidiary Minera Atlas, S.A.de C.V. which holds the Zapote property. SilverCrest will be required to complete environmental and preliminary feasibility studies to satisfy concession work requirements. This agreement is subject to a 60-day due diligence period and regulatory approval. Intrepid will retain a sliding scale royalty of US $0.20 - US$0.60 per ounce of silver equivalent from any future mining operation at Zapote.

Management believes that 2004 will be a year of discovery and looks forward to confirming the San Cristobal property as a major gold-silver asset in the Company's portfolio.

Intrepid is a Tier 1 TSX Venture Exchange listed company with 39,966,840 shares outstanding.

Project maps are available at: http://www.intrepidminerals.com/Cristobal%20Historical.pdf and http://www.intrepidminerals.com/Cristobal%202004%20Targets.pdf.

(a) Note: Details of the historic preliminary resource estimate referenced in this text are disclosed within Intrepid's Form 43-101 filing for the San Cristobal project, authored by P. Pitman, QP (2002).

(b) Historical Resources were calculated prior to Policy 43-101 standards of disclosure. No economic considerations have been applied to inclusion of historical resources. These cannot be classified into current standards of reserves and resources until additional work has been completed.

The statements made in this press release may contain forward looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties.

Actual events or results could differ materially from the company's expectations and projections.

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained in this press release.