St. Jude cuts high-grade gold at South Benso (March 19, 2003)

St. Jude Resources (SJD-V) has discovered a new high-grade gold zone at the South Benso concession in Ghana, West Africa.The discovery hole at the G zone cut 42 metres grading 6.9 grams gold per tonne. Situated southwest of the Subriso West gold deposit, the zone is the first of seven prospective geochemical gold anomalies St. Jude is testing.Highlights from drilling in the G zone are as follows:

• Hole 122RC intersected 3 metres grading 2.99 grams gold starting at a down-hole depth of 19 metres. This was followed by a 14-metre section of 2.35 grams gold starting at 27 metres down-hole.
• 123RC cut 42 metres grading 6.9 grams gold starting at 25 metres down-hole. This included a 21-metre interval of 10.09 grams gold.
• Hole 126RC cut a 3-metre section grading 3.45 grams gold starting at 6 metres down-hole and a 10 metre section of 1.79 grams gold starting at 26 metres down-hole.
• Hole 127C cut 5 metres averaging 4.82 grams gold starting at 89 metres down-hole.
• Hole 131C cut 12 metres averaging 3.96 grams gold, starting at 49 metres down-hole.

ting, trenching and drill crews are exploring the new zone, as well as the six other prospects, to test for possible extensions of mineralization.

Mineralization is hosted by sheared Birimian metavolcanics of the Ashanti belt and takes the form of fine particles of gold associated with disseminated sulphides.

Previous results from the Subriso Central, Subriso West and Subriso East prospects will be combined with new results from the G zone to arrive at a preliminary gold resource estimate for South Benso.

Other drill results from the Subriso Central target include the following:

• Hole 119RC cut 6 metres averaging 4.1 grams gold starting at 127 metres down-hole. This was followed by an 8-metre section of 2.07 grams gold starting at 172 metres down-hole.
• Hole 120R intersected 6 metres of 3.13 grams gold starting at 85 metres down-hole. This was followed by 31 metres of 3.73 grams gold starting at 123 metres down-hole.
• Hole 129C cut 5 metres of 5.12 grams gold starting from surface.

At Subriso East, hole 121R cut 13 metres averaging 1.11 grams gold starting at 108 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 2-metre section that averaged 14.89 grams gold starting at 128 metres down-hole.

South Benso

At the South Benso project, St. Jude stands to earn a 60.125% interest from Fairstar Explorations (FFR-T) by submitting a feasibility study. The government of Ghana holds a 10% carried interest.

St. Jude holds two gold projects in the Ashanti gold belt of Ghana: Hwini Butre and South Benso. A third gold property, Goulagou, is in Burkina Faso, to the north.

The company stands to earn a 65% interest in Hwini-Butre from Crew Development (CRU-T) by completing a feasibility study and paying Crew US$800,000. The government of Ghana holds a 10% carried interest.

Last year an independent resource estimate by Watts Griffis & McOuat concluded that the Adoikrom, Father Brown and Dabokrom deposits host 4.2 million tonnes grading 11.51 grams gold in the indicated category, and 1.7 million tonnes averaging 10.32 grams gold in the inferred category. An additional 5.6 million tonnes of inferred resource averaging 1.14 grams gold exist in eluvial and re-worked surface material. An updated estimate is expected in the second quarter.

The South Benso property lies 30 km south of Hwini-Butre, in the same structural zone as the Hwini-Butre deposits. Drilling and trenching have identified four zones of mineralization: Subriso East, Subriso West, Subriso Central and the G zone.

At the Goulagou property, St. Jude stands to earn a 90% interest by paying US$60,000 in cash over five years (the first payment has already been made). The government of Burkina Faso retains a 10% carried interest.

St. Jude has 22.5 million shares fully diluted and $1.5 million in working capital.