Gold Exploration in West Africa

[FL]

Red Back discovers new gold (Enchi, not Chirano)

Red Back Mining cuts three g/t Au over 15 m at Enchi

2005-09-08 14:14 ET - News Release

Mr. Richard Clark reports

RED BACK MAKES NEW GOLD DISCOVERY IN GHANA

Red Back Mining Inc.'s regional exploration program on its extensive (5,635-square-kilometre) mineral landholding in Ghana has been successful in identifying a new gold discovery.

The 627-square-kilometre Enchi project is located between 40 and 90 kilometres south of the company's Chirano gold mine and straddles the Bibiani shear zone which hosts Chirano and the Bibiani gold mine (more than five million ounces) owned by AngloGold Ashanti. In early 2005 the company commenced first pass trenching (1,833 metres) and rotary air blast (RAB) drilling (more than 5,000 metres) programs on two gold-in-soil anomalies at Enchi: the Boin Valley East anomaly and the Boin Valley West anomaly (see news in Stockwatch on Nov. 15, 2004).

Boin Valley East

The northern 2.2 kilometres of the 4.5-kilometre-long more-than-100-part-per-billion (ppb) Boin Valley East anomaly has been tested with five trenches and 44 shallow RAB drill holes to a maximum depth of 70 metres.

Based upon the limited amount of testing to date it is interpreted that two gold mineralized zones 500 metres apart have been identified, both dipping shallowly to the west in very heavily weathered Birimian volcanics and sediments. The eastern zone extends over a strike length of 600 metres and comprises numerous low-grade trench and RAB intercepts within an anomalous halo up to 45 metres wide. The western zone has only been intersected in one trench to date (SWTR 1 -- 60 m at 0.80 gram per tonne (g/t)). Several drill intercepts were also recorded in an intermediate zone between the two main zones and a trench located 800 metres south of the RAB drilling has returned very wide low-grade intercepts (SSTR 1 -- 249 m at 0.45 g/t).

The zones of the Boin Valley East anomaly remain open in all directions. Significant results include:

 
  BOIN VALLEY EAST TRENCH INTERCEPTS 
  
                Inters-  Inter- Grade 
                ection     val    Au 
 Trench  Zone      m        m     g/t 
  
 SWTR 1  West       0-60     60    0.80 
  
 SWTR 4  East      50-80     30    0.64 
  
 SSTR 1 South   68-317.4  249.4    0.45 
         Incl.    68-112     44    0.57 
         Incl.   160-230     69    0.55 
         Incl. 288-315.8   27.8    0.77 
  
 BOIN VALLEY EAST RAB DRILLING INTERCEPTS 
  
                                   Grade 
                        Depth  Int. Au 
   Hole      Zone         m     m   g/t 
  
 SWRB012 Intermediate    2-11    9  1.29 
                        38-53   15  0.48 
  
 SWRB015 Intermediate    2-11    9  0.83 
  
 SWRB016         East   47-65   18  0.53 
                          EOH 
  
 SWRB017         East   14-26   12  1.05 
  
 SWRB018         East    2-23   21  0.72 
  
 SWRB023         East   26-42   18  0.44 
  
 SWRB028         East      23   24  0.68 
  
 SWRB041 Intermediate      26   15  0.72 
  
 SWRB044 Intermediate      35   18  0.71 
  
  
  
  
 Note: 
  
    1. EOH means end of hole. 
    2. There is insufficient drilling to determine true width of down hole drill intercepts. 
 

Boin Valley West

Only 1.4 kilometres of the 4.5-kilometre-long Boin Valley West gold-in-soil anomaly has been tested by 736 metres of trenching and 58 RAB holes. Trench testing of the anomaly was ineffective due to deep and extensive mottled clays. Two subparallel zones of mineralization have been intersected with a current combined strike of 800 metres. On the southernmost section (3800 mN) the mineralized zone is 50 metres in width. The mineralization remains open along strike in both directions. Significant RAB drill intersections include:

 
 BOIN VALLEY WEST RAB DRILLING INTERCEPTS 
  
                      Grade 
          Depth Int.    Au 
  Hole      m     m     g/t 
  
 KBRB006  29-41  12    1.60 
  
 KBRB041  47-53   6    1.77 
  
 KBRB042  17-38  21    0.70 
  
 KBRB049   0-17  17    1.53 
  
 KBRB050   2-14  12    0.76 
  
 KBRB051   2-17  15    3.00 
  
 KBRB052   2-11   9    1.13 
  
 

Management is encouraged by the strike length and width of gold mineralization at both the Boin Valley East and Boin Valley West discoveries which suggest the presence of large mineralized systems within a sequence of quartz veined and stockworked mafic intrusives, black shales and volcanics, in close proximity to a Birimian mafic sediment contact.

Intersections at Boin Valley were recorded in highly weathered bedrock lithologies and it is unclear at this point if the grade of the mineralization has been enriched or depleted by weathering processes. Additional drilling will provide more certainty on true widths and gold grade in the primary zones.

A further trenching program over the soil anomalies is in progress. A 6,000-metre reverse circulation drilling program will commence in October, 2005, at both prospects to determine the continuity of mineralization at depth and along strike and if warranted to advance the prospects to resource status.

It is interpreted that the Boin Valley discoveries are associated with a series of thrust repetitions of the main belt margin contact located within the Enchi project two kilometres to the west. Previous explorers have targeted gold mineralization within basin sediments some distance to the east of the belt margin. These programs have identified several narrow high-grade deposits. However, the company's continuing program of detailed soil sampling, prospecting and geological mapping has focused on a zone in proximity to the main belt margin where most major gold deposits in Ghana are located.

Commenting on the discoveries at the Enchi project, Richard Clark, president and chief executive officer of the company, stated:

"The discovery of extensive gold mineralization at Enchi is the direct result of the systematic exploration programs Red Back is employing on its large mineral landholdings in Ghana. Doing it right takes time when you are dealing with the evaluation of projects encompassing hundreds of square kilometres. This patience is paying off at Enchi and on other of our projects in Ghana. Our goal is to be a multimine producer in Ghana and Enchi is certainly a step in the right direction."

The Chirano gold project is located in Ghana, West Africa, with proven and probable reserves of 17.8 million tonnes grading 1.9 g/t gold for approximately 1.09 million ounces contained gold (RSG Global -- December, 2004). There is significant resource and reserve upside through both brownfields and greenfields exploration. The Chirano project is within the Bibiani gold belt 25 kilometres along strike from AngloGold Ashanti's (more than five million ounces) Bibiani gold mine. In addition to Chirano, the company retains one of the largest mineral land positions in Ghana (5,000 square kilometres) and is systematically exploring this landholding.

The technical contents of this release have been reviewed by Ross Ashton, BSc, FAusIMM, a qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Ashton is a director of the company. Samples are prepared and analyzed by fire assay using a 50-gram charge at the Analabs facility in Bibiani, Ghana, in compliance with industry standards. Field duplicate samples are taken and blanks and standards are added to every batch submitted. Selected samples from this lab are check assayed each month at other Analabs laboratories worldwide.