VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -11/18/11)- Sona Resources Corp. (the "Company" or "Sona") (TSX-V: SYS.V - News)(Frankfurt: QS7.F - News) is pleased to report that it has concluded the latest diamond drilling program at its 100 percent owned Elizabeth Gold Deposit Property ("Elizabeth"), in the Lillooet Mining District of southern British Columbia. The program drilled 20 surface holes totalling 3,182 metres, and 35 underground holes totalling 4,173 metres.
The surface drilling focused on testing the Southwest Vein, to the southwest of the current resource, and areas of gold mineralization on the No. 9 Vein. The underground program included definition drilling of the Main and West Veins, as well as exploration for new areas of mineralization along the D and Southwest Veins.
"We look forward to incorporating the positive results from the 11,134 metres of diamond drilling we have completed over the past two years into a new mineral resource report, due for completion early in the new year," says John P. Thompson, Sona's President and CEO. "The updated resource will be incorporated into a new Preliminary Economic Assessment, which constitutes another step toward putting the former Blackdome Gold Mine mill back into production."
The recently completed surface diamond drill program comprised 20 holes. Fifteen of the holes tested the southwest and northeast on-strike extensions of the Southwest Vein, to add resources to inventory, while the five holes on the No. 9 Vein tested the structure for additional gold mineralization.
Southwest Vein
Six surface diamond drill holes targeted the Southwest Vein near Hole E10-69, which in 2010 assayed 77.9g Au/t over 5.30 metres core length (news release dated March 30, 2011). Composite assays from the 2011 program include 28.1g Au/t over 1.46 metres core length (E11-05), and 8.4g Au/t over 0.50 metres core length (E11-01). The nine holes targeted the projected southwest extension (six holes, E11-07 to E11-12) and northeast extension (three holes, E11-15 to E11-17) of the Southwest Vein. Hole E11-07, approximately 30 metres to the southwest of Hole E10-69, returned a composite assay of 6.2g Au/t over 1.15 metres core length. The remaining five holes, farther to the southwest, contained lesser values. Of the three surface drill holes targeting the northeast extension, one hole (E11-05) ran 1.3g Au/t over 0.97 metres core length; the other two were lost before they reached the target zone.
No. 9 Vein
Four drill holes targeted the No. 9 Vein, and one (E11-14) was lost in overburden. Three holes (E11-18, E11-19 and E11-20) were drilled from the same location, and all intersected low-grade mineralization, returning values between 0.7g Au/t and 1.9g Au/t over 0.50 to 1.37 metres core length. Hole E11-13 was drilled on a listwanite exploration target approximately 300 metres to the west of the No. 9 Vein and returned 0.6g Au/t over 1.30 metres.
Underground drilling
In all, 35 underground diamond drill holes were collared from the Upper Adit into the West Vein (24 holes, E11-U76 to E11-U97, E11-U105 and E11-U106), the Main Vein (seven holes, E11-U98 to E11-U104) and the D and Southwest Veins (four holes, E11-U107 to E11-U110).
D and Southwest Veins
In 1945, Bralorne Mines drilled a flat hole northward from the end of the lower portal and intersected a mineralized quartz structure, which became known as the D Vein. In 2005, Sona drilled a hole (E05-36) southward from surface and interested quartz veining, which returned assays of 1.0g Au/t over 1.10 metres core length, 1.1g Au/t over 0.20 metres core length, and 1.3g Au/t over 0.50 metres core length. It was unclear whether the hole had encountered the D Vein or a projected extension of the Southwest Vein.
To better understand the structural geology and mineralogy, Sona drilled four holes (E11-U107 to E11-U110) targeting the D and Southwest Veins. They were collared at the end of the Upper Adit, approximately 130 metres into the mountain and 95 metres below surface, at 2,200 metres above sea level. All holes were drilled northward to test for the presence of the D Vein, and to test for the northeast extension of the Southwest Vein in an area of heavy overburden. All four holes intersected gold mineralization, with two returning four intersections each, varying from 0.8g Au/t to 6.1g Au/t over core lengths of 0.45 to 1.50 metres. Visible gold was observed in hole E11-U107. Further drilling is required to confirm which assay intersections represent which vein.
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