Foran’s North Star fails to shine (September 02, 2005)

Vancouver – The delayed technical report on Foran Mining’s (FOM-V) North Star gold project, near Snow Lake, Manitoba, was unfortunately hardly worth the wait.

The study, completed by engineering firm Roscoe Postle Associates (RPA), reviewed a very limited indicated resource of just over 19,000 tonnes grading 10.6 grams gold per tonne (about 6,500 oz. of contained gold).

RPA concluded the resource insufficient to support a commercial operation and that expansion potential was limited following extensive drilling along strike and to depth.

This latest calculation shows a 33% drop from the mid-2004 resource estimate of 28,400 tonnes at 9.3 grams gold.

With aspirations of putting the project into production, Foran spent about $1.5 million on milling equipment over the past year and had been constructing onsite, but halted its effort earlier this year to await the revised National Instrument 43-101 report from RPA. The company had also paid $115,000 to Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting for rights, title and interest to the rail bed that leads to North Star.

On a continued bad news note, the company received results from a geophysical survey on its Kaskattama diamond project in north-eastern Manitoba. Data from over 5,000 line km of airborne work "failed to identify a viable diatreme-type anomaly which might be caused by a kimberlite body at shallow depth."

The company also recently filed a Statement of Claim against former director Stephen Masson, alleging breach of fiduciary duties including: diverting corporate opportunities away from Foran, using his company M’Ore Exploration Services to misappropriate funds from Foran, and staking claims adjacent to Foran properties.