Lovitt Resources acquires Matthews lease at Wenatchee
2009-11-16 15:29 ET - News Release
Mr. Lorne Brown reports
LOVITT RESOURCES INC. ACQUIRES KEY MINERAL LEASE ON WENATCHEE GOLD BELT
Lovitt Resources Inc. has leased a 155-acre property on the Wenatchee gold belt known as the Matthews lease. The lease will be in effect for 15 years and LRC has the option to purchase the property any time in the first 7.5 years for $5-million (U.S.). Lease terms call for the immediate issuance of 60,000 shares of LRC, plus a payment of $15,000 (U.S.) Jan. 5, 2010. An advance minimum royalty payment of $20,000 (U.S.) is due Nov. 1, 2011, followed by a similar payment of $30,000 (U.S.) Nov. 1, 2012, and the same amount every year thereafter for the life of the lease. This lease is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, where the company trades with stock symbol LRC.V.
The Wenatchee gold belt (WGB) lies northwest-southeast for a length of 7.5 miles, open in both directions, with high-grade gold intercepts at both ends. The Cannon mine is at the north end of the belt on the city limits of Wenatchee, Wash., and the Lovitt mine owned by LRC adjoins the Cannon mine to the south. The Cannon mine produced 1.2 million ounces of gold from 1985 to 1994, and the Lovitt mine produced 420,000 ounces of gold from 1950 to 1967. Silver over the known extent of the WGB runs about 1.5 times the gold weight. LRC is currently conducting exploration to evaluate production options on the Lovitt gold mine patented claims.
The Matthews lease, approximately 1.5 miles southeast of the Lovitt gold mine, was first explored by Asamera Minerals (US) Ltd. in 1987 and 1988, when 34 diamond drill holes were completed. Consolidated Ramrod drilled 12 additional diamond drill holes in 1992 and 1993. Even though most drill holes were vertical, it is remarkable that over 75 per cent contained significant gold intersections.
The geology of the Matthews property is similar to that known of the rest of the WGB. The area explored on the Matthews lease to date is 1,500 feet by 750 feet, and contains abundant, high-grade, sediment-hosted, gold mineralization with lesser rhyodacite, intrusive-hosted, high-grade gold. Targets consist primarily of high-grade epithermal veins with adjacent, high-grade, sediment-hosted mantos and high-grade breccias pipes. Some step-out drill locations are 500 feet apart.
Both the Lovitt gold mine and Matthews lease rely upon historic data, which cannot be relied upon for mineral resource estimation without further diamond drilling. Management of LRC believes that the patented claims of the company hold the solution to future development of the Wenatchee gold belt, since all parts of the belt could be accessed by the construction of an exploration/production drift from the Lovitt mine workings, possibly the least intrusive and easiest permitting approach to access the minable gold and silver in the area. The WGB has local access to cheap power, skilled workmen, excellent roads and a major east-west national rail line with infrastructure within two miles.
LRC previously announced a drill program for the Lovitt mine and will now factor in a drilling program for the Matthews lease to be conducted concurrently. Budget and financing options for an expanded exploration program by LRC are currently under study. This release was approved by LRC director James M. Proudfoot, PEng, a qualified person under NI 43-101.
