LAST BUT NOT LEAST — Ariel to test San Rafael

In Costa Rica, Ariel Resources (VSE) will explore a mile of strike length northeast of the San Rafael zone at its San Martin mine.

The zone contains about 4.3 million tons (minable by open-pit methods) grading 0.064 oz. gold per ton. The junior hopes to boost the total to 10 million tons.

The strike to be explored includes the Boston, Gongolona and Ano Nuevo mines, all of which produced gold in the early 1900s.

Recent road work between the Boston and Gongolona mines (about 3,300 ft. apart) uncovered several alteration zones. Surface sampling along the alteration zones returned gold values (ranging up to 0.11 oz.) in 74 out of 79 samples.

Initial work will include 6,500 ft. of trenching and sampling in preparation for drilling.

Ariel operates two underground gold mines and a central mill in the Central American country and these are approaching their combined rated capacity of 90,000 tons per year.

For the six months ended March 31, the company produced 5,354 oz., netting a cash flow of US$531,000.