Alto drilling expands Despinassy gold zone

Vancouver – Drilling by Alto Ventures (ATV-V) continues to expand its Despinassy gold project located 75 km northeast Val d’Or, Quebec.

Further gold mineralization, delineated by the 2005 drill campaign, occurs within multiple zones of sub-parallel quartz veining in the DAC deposit. Infill drill results include:

• Hole DES05-79 Three mineralized quartz veins were encountered returning one metre (from 116 metres depth) grading 6.5 grams gold per tonne, 3.5 metres (from 131 metres) averaging 8.1 grams gold including one metre of 21.7 grams gold, and 4 metres (from 142 metres) of 4.5 grams gold including a metre of 10.1 grams gold;
• Hole DES05-80 Drilling cut one metre (from 97 metres) assaying 7.4 grams gold within a vein between zones 1 and 2, plus a deeper 2 metre intercept (at 198 metres depth) of 3.8 grams gold in zone 3;
• Hole DES05-81 Three further mineralized veins were intersected including a 0.7-metre section within zone 2 (from 112 metres) averaging 4.6 grams gold and a deeper 3.7-metre intercept (from 335 metres) cutting 5.5 grams gold including one metre of 12.6 grams gold.

Drilling, on 25-metre centres, has confirmed continuity of gold mineralization over 150 metres of strike and to 250-metres depth. The infill holes correlate well to earlier Alto drill results of up to 4 metres grading 14.6 grams gold.

The Despinassy shear zone is a large east-west structural break within the Abitibi greenstone belt of northwestern Quebec. It is situated about 75 km north of and parallel to the Cadillac-Larder Lake break.

Previous exploration by Cameco (CCO-T), from 1998-2001, included geophysics and over 20,000 metres of core drilling in 63 holes. The drill program identified zone 2 and 3 mineralization over 300 metres of strike length and to depths of over 600 metres.

The gold-bearing Despinassy shear zone has been drill traced for over 2 km west from the DAC deposit and over 3 km eastwards.

Alto Ventures is earning a 70% interest in Despinassy from Cameco through payments of cash and shares totaling $700,000 over five years. Project partner Commander Resources (CMD-V) holds 30% interest and is carried by Alto, the operator, for the first $500,000 of exploration.