Excellent news though by the trading the last couple of days it looks as though it may have been leaked.
North American Gold Issues Most Recent Assay Results on Barsele, Extending Central Zone
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Aug. 25, 2004) - North American Gold (TSX-V: NAU) is pleased to announce results received to date from the ongoing drill program at the Barsele gold project in northern Sweden. Results of the first four holes and partial results from hole five have been received and are reported. These holes were completed at the Central Zone, one of eight known bedrock gold occurrences on the 6,000 hectare property.
All holes returned significant gold intercepts confirming that mineralization remains open to extension in all directions, and that the deposit has an excellent configuration for open pit mining. A map showing the locations of all holes completed in the current program is available on the North American Gold web site ( www.northamgold.com ).
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Hole No From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au g/t ---------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------- DDH 04-05 (i) 25 120 95 1.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 129 200 71 pending --------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) Hole 04-05 assays pending for the interval 129m to 200m.
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Commenting on the assays from holes DDH 04-01 to 04-04, Buck Morrow, President, said,
"Getting these broad mineralized intercepts in holes turned 90 degrees from the previous drilling programs gives us a high level of confidence that a substantial volume of gold mineralization is present at the Central Zone. The deposit remains open in all directions."
"We've also had intriguing results where we've assayed larger sample sizes. For example, preliminary cyanide bottle roll tests for metallurgical purposes have shown gold recoveries up to 60% higher than indicated by fire assay, and a one tonne bulk sample collected in 1995 averaged 5.1 g/t gold from an area which drilling had suggested averaged less than 1 g/t. We suspect that the gold values we're seeing from our drill core may be underestimated due to a combination of factors, specifically the small sample size used in standard fire assays, and an irregular distribution of coarse gold."
"A second bulk sampling program is being initiated to address these discrepancies. We have a lot more work to do before we can provide a NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation, but it is clear that the Central Zone is a large gold deposit."
The first five holes totaled 1,040 meters and were drilled over a widely spaced area but within the previously drill tested Central Zone. All five were inclined to the northwest, perpendicular to previous drill sections. A total of ten holes have now been completed at the Central Zone in 2004, with the last five holes (06 to 10) testing potentially higher grade mineralization including 7 meters averaging 18.7 g/t gold reported from prior drilling outside and northwest of the Central Zone.
In addition to the results tabulated above, numerous zones of mineralization ranging from 1 to 3 g/t over widths of 1 to 3 meters were intersected in the drill holes, and are not included in the above table. Also, holes 04-01 and 04-02 ended in gold mineralization which assayed over 1.4 g/t gold, while holes 04-03 and 04-04 bottomed in an intrusive unit believed to be younger than mineralization. The remaining assays in hole 04-05 are pending, and will be reported when available and confirmed.
Detailed structural and microscopic analysis of the new holes has shown that gold mineralization is hosted by multiple mineralizing events and structural orientations in and about an elongate intermediate to felsic intrusive. Based on the geological and geochemical setting, company geologists are comparing the Central Zone mineralization with a classic porphyry style deposit model. Preliminary metallurgical tests suggest that the gold will be easily recoverable by direct and low-cost cyanidation.
Assays are pending on the last five of the ten holes completed to date at the Central Zone, as well as the bottom of hole 04-05. Drilling has now commenced on the gold-rich VMS targets at Norra and Cee Lake. Target evaluations are continuing at the Skirtraskbacken, Risberget, Tattartjarnliden and Skirasen zones, as well as other properties in Sweden and Finland.
NI43-101
The 2004 drilling program is being supervised by Harmen Keyser, P.Geol., a qualified person under NI 43-101, who has verified the data disclosed in this release. It is not possible to make a conclusive statement relating sample width to true width, as the structural controls on mineralization remain poorly understood. Assays have been performed by ALS Chemex (ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025:1999) and Acme Analytical Labs (ISO 9001:2000), both of Vancouver, Canada using standard fire assay procedures.
Visible gold has been noted in 7 of the 10 holes completed to date at the Central Zone, suggesting an irregular distribution of coarse gold. Therefore, a rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality Control program - including the blind submission of known geochemical blanks, duplicates, and standards - has been implemented. Additional work, including independent check assays, analyses on larger sub-samples, bulk sampling, and metallurgical investigations, is underway.
Background
North American has an option to acquire a 60% interest in the Norra and Barsele properties from Minmet plc by incurring a total of US $ 3.5 million in exploration expenditures and issuing 400,000 shares to Minmet by November 3, 2006 (see news release November 3, 2003). For more information, please refer to North American's website www.northamgold.com or call Kareen McKinnon toll free at 1 888 627 9378.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Buck Morrow, President
NORTH AMERICAN GOLD INC.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: North American Gold Inc. Kareen McKinnon Toll Free: 1-888-627-9378 Website: www.northamgold.com The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not take responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.