Clone Gold Project Shows Strength

VANCOUVER — In their latest stab at drilling the Clone gold property in northern British Columbia, partners Teuton Resources (TUO-V, TEUTF-O), Silver Grail Resources (SVG-V, SVGAF-O), and CanAsia Industries (CAJ-V, CANSF-O) have hit some high-grade gold.

CanAsia is currently funding work at Clone, pursuant to an earn-in agreement from late 2005. In the first CanAsia-funded program at the property, drills found gold but the best intercepts — 10.8 metres of 6.1 gram gold per tonne and 1 metre of 21.6 gram gold — did not live up to expectations set by historical work. Drilling at Clone in the late 1990s returned such intercepts as 6 metres of 52.5 grams gold and 10 metres of 43.9 grams gold.

Now it seems the partners have found the goods. In one area, six of seven holes intersected significant gold grades over promising widths. Hole 16 cut 7.9 metres grading 20.22 grams gold from 14 metres depth. Hole 18 intercepted 8.5 metres averaging 3.61 grams gold from 23 metres, then 15 metres later hit 4.3 metres of 26.23 grams gold.

Hole 20 also hit two mineralized zones: 20.1 metres grading 7.11 grams gold from 5 metres depth and 12.5 metres of 7.39 grams gold from 34 metres. And hole 21 returned 7.9 metres grading 30.37 grams gold from 12 metres, while hole 15 cut 2.4 metres of 14.05 grams gold from 14.6 metres.

In a different area 160 metres to the southeast, the partners drilled another seven holes, five of which hit significant gold. For example, hole 8 returned 9.8 metres of 2.05 grams gold from 15 metres depth, hole 9 cut 8.2 metres averaging 8.07 grams gold from 14.6 metres, and hole 11 cut 7 metres of 3.82 grams gold from 35 metres.

In a third area, five holes were drilled that did not intersect appreciable gold values. The partners say the holes “were probably erroneously sited due to deep snow conditions.”

The Clone property sits 18 km southeast of Stewart, in northwestern B. C. Mineralization at Clone is localized within silicified semi-massive to massive hematite-specularite and gold occurs as fine disseminations and associated with the oxide mineralization.

CanAsia says the property is home to at least four separate, parallel gold-bearing shear zones that contain both sulphide gold-cobalt and iron oxide-gold mineralization.

Prospectors first discovered gold in the area in 1995, when the melting Sutton Glacier exposed gold-bearing shear zones. The property then saw some $3 million in exploration work in the late 1990s.

CanAsia is working through a $1.8-million exploration spending commitment in order to earn a 50% interest in Clone from Teuton and Silver Grail.

On the Clone news, CanAsia shares dropped 4¢ to close at 26¢, Teuton stock lost 5.5¢ to close at 29¢, and Silver Grail shares fell 9¢ to 29¢.