Arizona Star drilling outlines gold find on Chilean property

Drilling on the Aldebaran property in Chile is reported to have outlined an extensive gold-mineralized stockwork deposit in the Cerro Casale area.

Arizona Star Resource (VSE) is earning a 51% interest in the property from Minera Anglo American Chile by spending a total of US$4 million and making cash payments totalling US$2 million over a 3-year period.

The drilling has outlined a stockwork system measuring 2,300 ft. long and up to 1,000 ft. in width. The system strikes up the slope of a hillside and has been drilled to a depth of 280 ft. over a vertical extent of about 850 ft. The company reports that the mineralization is predominantly oxide and is similar to Bema Gold’s 50% owned, 8.6-million oz. Refugio deposit about 18 miles to the north.

The Cerro Casale deposit is open along strike to the northwest and southeast as well as to depth, and Arizona Star plans to begin a follow-up program of infill drilling as well as stepout holes along strike as well as to depth. David Hottman, a spokesman for the company, said drilling plans have not been finalized although he noted that the program would be at least twice the recent 6,500-ft. program, and perhaps up to 50,000 ft.

Hottman said the program will likely start in late February in order to finish before the winter season begins in April-May. He added that the company will not drill through the winter.

Selected drilling results are as follows:

Hole Interval(ft.) Width(ft.) Gold(oz./ton)

CC-06 0-72 72 0.044

CC-07 26-328 302 0.042

CC-08 46-151 105 0.029

CC-09 0-328 328 0.038

CC-11 0-269 269 0.026

CC-14 0-190 190 0.042

CC-18 0-328 328 0.026

CC-19 0-262 262 0.030