Ariane confirms C88 grades

Vancouver – The initial results from an ongoing drill program by Ariane Gold (AGD-T) have confirmed that high grade zones occur within a broader gold resource at the Camp Caiman project in French Guiana.

The current infill program is designed to update a previous resource by drilling the C88 and Scout zones at 25 metre spacings. So far, the newly minted junior has completed 4,810 metres of core and 2,095 metres of reverse circulation drilling over the project with results are in for the first 33 holes.

Holes 230 and 380 showed the high grade potential of individual shoots within the C88 zone, returning 6.3 grams gold per tonne over 72 metres and 10.3 grams gold over 65 metres. Results recieved to date generally confirm the previous grades and widths of the C88 zone. Highlights include:

• Hole 217 – 30 metres grading 2.1 grams gold from 87 metres downhole,
• Hole 218 – 44 metres grading 3.4 grams gold from 77 metres downhole,
• Hole 220 – 43 metres grading 2.5 grams gold from 15 metres downhole, plus a new zone grading 4.9 grams gold over 8 metres from surface,
• Hole 221 – 11 metres grading 2.9 grams gold from 75 metres downhole,
• Hole 231 – 16 metres grading 2.5 grams gold from 60 metres downhole,
• Hole 233 – 12 metres grading 2.7 grams gold from 25 metres downhole,
• Hole 379 – 10 metres grading 2 grams gold from 26 metres downhole,
• Hole 381 – 16 metres grading 7.4 grams gold from 3 metres downhole.

The 71 sq km project lies in the northeast part of French Guiana, some 45 km southeast of the capital city of Cayenne. It covers metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks, which have been cut by an east-west structural zone. Gold mineralization is controlled by both stratigraphy and late structures and mainly occurs in quartz-sulphide veinlets.

Two major mineralized zones have been traced for 1.8 km along strike. The Scout zone is marked by steeply dipping elongated ore shoots averaging 8 metres in thickness, with strike length reaching 250 metres. The oxidized saprolite cover extends to 100 metres.

At the C88 zone, the gold values are generally higher, with mineralization hosted in shallow dipping zones measuring up to 85 metres thick.

The current indicated and inferred resource, using a 0.5 gram gold per tonne cut off, stands at 1.4 million tonnes grading 2.08 grams gold in the Scout zone and 6.77 million tonnes grading 3.34 grams gold in the C88 zone.

Ariane aims to drill 18,800 metres this year as part of a US$2.8-million program. The initial target is to define the saprolite resources of the C88 and Scout zones at 25-metre spacings, suitable for a feasibility study. The mineralization in the saprolite is extractable using conventional carbon-in-pulp milling techniques but the sulphide mineralization is refractory and additional metallurgical test work is in progress to improve recoveries.

Ariane was formed early this year by the former management of Hope Bay Gold. In February 2002, Hope Bay struck a deal to buy the Grupo Mexico subsidiary Asarco Guyane Franaise, which owns the 1.9-million-oz. Camp Caiman project. The price tag came in at US$16.4 million payable in stages.

Immediately prior to the May closing of the merger of Hope Bay with Miramar Mining (MAE-T), the former shareholders of Hope Bay Gold received one “distribution special warrant” for every 10 Hope Bay shares held. The distribution special warrant was convertible without payment to one share of Ariane.

Shareholders of Ariane were subsequently granted 10 rights for each share held, with each right allowing shareholders to subscribe for a subscription receipt at 70. The subscription receipt can be swapped for one common share on a 1-for-1 basis.

The rights subscription was exercised by 54% of the shareholders, providing Ariane with gross proceeds of $7.4 million. When added to the $22 million raised in a special warrant issue, the company has more than sufficient funds to fulfill its payment obligations to Asarco over the next two years and carry out an aggressive exploration campaign.