Tue May 20, 2008
Luna Gold Increases Resources by 48% at the Aurizona Gold Project, in Brazil
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Vancouver, May 20, 2008 - Luna Gold Corp. (TSXV-LGC) ("Luna" or the "Company") is pleased to release a NI 43-101 compliant resource for its wholly owned Aurizona gold project, in Maranhão State, Brazil. Luna has increased both the indicated and inferred resource, from their historic levels, by 48%. Aurizona now has a measured and indicated resource of 763,000 ounces gold and an inferred resource of 525,000 ounces gold.
Table 1. - Aurizona 43-101 Resource Estimate (May 2008)
Measured Indicated M&I Inferred
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tonnes
(Kt) Au
(g/t) oz tonnes
(Kt) Au
(g/t) oz oz tonnes
(Kt) Au
(g/t) oz
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Piaba 1,400 1.39 63,000 15,361 1.29 635,000 698,000 10,760 1.36 469,000
Tatajuba 1,554 1.30 65,000 65,000 1,859 0.94 56,000
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total 1,400 1.39 63,000 16,915 1.29 700,000 763,000 12,619 1.29 525,000
1) 0.3 g/t cut-off
2) 20g/t cap at Piaba and a 10g/t cap at Tatajuba
3) block dimensions are 10m x 10m in the xy plane and 3m on the z axiz
4) Piaba database consists of 150 diamond drill holes and 62 RC holes
5) Tatajuba database consists of 45 diamond drill holes
6) Piaba drill results released after 28 January 2008 have not been included in this resource estimate
7) Tatajuba drill results released after 19 March 2008 have not been included in this resource estimate
8) Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have a demonstrated economic viability
9) the independent QP responsible for the mineral resource estimate is Leah Mach, CPG, of SRK Consulting, Denver
Luna's CEO, Tim Searcy, comments, "The Company has had great success in upgrading and expanding the historic resource. 4,500m of drilling at Piaba and 1,800m at Tatajuba has increased the resources by nearly fifty percent. I am confident that the deposit will continue to grow, because: 1) drilling has not yet identified a bottom to the deposit, 2) Orogenic gold deposits, like the deposits at Aurizona, typically have good vertical continuity, and 3) the last five holes reported from Piaba (please see the press release dated 28 February 2008 & 22 April 2008) were not included in this estimate, but they have all intersected similarly styled mineralization at depths amenable to open-pit mining. The Company continues to drill at Aurizona, with the focus still on Piaba and Tatajuba."
SRK Consulting has been commissioned to undertake a 43-101 reserve statement for Luna Gold on the Aurizona project. This resource estimate constitutes part of that work. Luna intends to file a NI 43-101 compliant technical report within 45 days of this release.
Exploration Targets
A number of parallel to sub-parallel trends exist to the northwest and southeast of the main Piaba-Tatajuba structure; please visit www.lunagold.com/i/maps/Aurizona_Targets.jpg to see the locations of the various trends. Some of these trends have been drill tested by past operators along various sections. Selected results from the historic drilling are listed in Table 2.
Table 2. - Significant Intercepts from Satellite Targets (Historic Drilling from previous operators)
Target Hole # From
(m) To
(m) Length
(m) True
Width
(m) Grade
(g/t) Comments
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Micote BRAZD-013 89.00 101.27 12.27 6.1 3.16 - includes 0.95m of 31.76 g/t
117.00 124.15 7.15 3.6 2.65 - includes 0.7m of 12.7 g/t
BRAZD-014 0.00 29.43 29.43 14.7 1.34
BRAZD-035 90.72 96.00 5.28 2.6 12.18 - includes 0.78m of 75.0 g/t
Boa Esperança BRAZD-160 47.88 57.50 9.62 6.2 1.01
BRAZD-163 1.20 9.00 7.80 5.0 1.14
BRAZP-08 22.00 33.00 11.00 3.8 1.24
Pé Grande BRAZD-153 8.80 18.20 9.40 6.2 1.47
Ferradura BRAZD-172 14.00 26.00 12.00 7.7 1.39
BRAZD-178 32.00 39.00 7.00 4.5 2.88
Sao Lourenço BRAZD-127 44.00 48.00 4.00 2.8 4.60
54.00 58.78 4.78 3.4 5.77 - includes 0.55m of 20.68 g/t
BRAZD-149 4.00 7.15 3.15 2.0 10.73 - includes 1.3m of 32.63 g/t
Rio Bonito BRAZD-046 30.00 32.23 2.23 1.3 2.50
Pirocaua BRAZD-182 67.00 106.46 39.46 25.4 1.67
BRAZP-05 0.00 5.00 5.00 5.0 2.11
- the complete drill database for the Aurizona project can be found at www.lunagold.com
Luna's Exploration Manager, Titus Haggan states "Limited drilling and deposit reinterpretation has provided very positive results to date. Drilling at Aurizona is ongoing, focusing on depth expansion at Piaba and strike and depth expansion at Tatajuba. In addition, Luna has yet to test a number of the other satellite deposits that occur in the immediate vicinity of Piaba and Tatajuba within the area defined as Aurizona Main. In the coming months, a second drill rig will be added to the project to begin the testing of these targets."
Methodology of the Resource Estimate
Mineralized envelopes were defined at 0.3g/t for both Piaba and Tatajuba. At Piaba, an indicator was used to define waste and mineralized zones within the mineralized envelope. Grade estimation for both deposits utilized inverse distance squared using only composites within the mineralized envelope. Estimation parameters for measured and indicated required a minimum of 2 drillholes, minimum of 4 composites and maximum of 15. Grades were estimated in 2 passes, with all composites within 15m of the block centroid for the first and within 60m for the second. A third pass which required only 1 drillhole and a minimum of 3 composites and that all composites be within 120m of the block centroid was used to estimate the inferred blocks. The resources were classified as Measured, Indicated, or Inferred based on the pass in which the block was estimated. The resource model was verified by visual inspection of the blocks and drillholes on cross-sections and horizontal sections, by comparison of the statistics of the blocks and composites, and by swath plots through the deposit.
Geology & Mineralization
The Piaba and Tatajuba deposits are classified as Orogenic Gold Deposits and represent ENE trending near vertical mineralized envelopes of gold mineralization within a major ENE-trending fault zone in the Aurizona Group. The Piaba deposit is hosted in a northern hanging wall volcanic sequence. The deposit footwall is formed by a distinctive graphitic volcano-sedimentary sequence which delimits the deposit to the south. The volcanic sequence is andesitic to basaltic in composition. Primary gold mineralization shows a close spatial association with graphitized andesites and diorites and strong quartz veining with an associated chlorite-carbonate overprint. Piaba is a bulk tonnage, low-grade gold deposit amenable to open pit mining methods situated in a tropical environment similar to other gold deposits in this part of South America including the Las Cristinas and El Callao gold deposits in Venezuela, the Omai Gold Mine in Guyana, and the Gross Rosebel gold deposit in Suriname. Mineralization at Tatajuba is similar in nature to Piaba.
About Luna Gold Corp
Luna is a mining exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold resources and advanced stage gold exploration projects in northeastern Brazil.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
LUNA GOLD CORP.
Tim Searcy, P. Geo. - President and CEO
Website: www.lunagold.com
For further information contact Investor Relations at (604) 689-7317 or toll free at 1-866-689-7317.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Regulatory Footnotes
Exploration on the Aurizona Project was initiated in 1978 by Brascan Recursos Naturais S.A. (Brascan) and continued through the 1990's with work by Brascan, Unamgen Mineração e Metalurgia S.A (Unamgen) an exploration subsidiary of Gencor Ltd and Eldorado Gold Corp (Eldorado). Luna acquired the property in 2007 and commenced exploration soon after. Historic drill core (HQ [63.5mm] diameter) analyses by previous operators Uamgem and Eldorado were conducted at Nomos Laboratory in Rio de Janeiro and Bondar Clegg Laboratory in Luziânia, Goias respectively. Unamgen and Eldorado conducted laboratory QA/QC programs and retained all original assay certificates. Luna used Acme Laboratories Ltda in Maraba, Brazil and Vancouver, Canada. Luna's QA/QC program consists of blanks, Certified Reference Materials (CRM), pulp check assays at ALS Chemex in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and coarse reject check assays at Acme and at ALS Chemex. The Piaba resource estimate contains drill data produced up to 01/12/2007 and Tatajuba contains drill data produced through 01/02/2008.
Leah Mach, CPG, of SRK Consulting is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Ms Mach is responsible for the resource estimate on the Aurizona Project.
Tim Searcy, PGeo, APEGBC, Luna's President and CEO, is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 has reviewed and approved of all the disclosure in this document.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
AI
