Helio hitting gold in Tanzania (June 23, 2008)

Vancouver – Helio Resource (HRC-V) has been working away at the SMP gold project in southwestern Tanzania for two years and its efforts are starting to pay off. Strong drilling results from this season are adding to good results from 2007, enabling Helio to plan an initial resource estimate calculation in a few months.

The SMP project covers almost 30 km of the Saza shear zone, which is the main gold-bearing structure in Tanzania’s Lupa Goldfields. The project is home to four historic mines but has seen limited modern exploration. Since starting work in June 2006 Helio has drill-tested 13 targets, all of which returned significant levels of gold mineralization.

The most advanced target is Kenge, which sits along a secondary shear zone that crosses the northwest-trending Saza shear zone near the eastern end of Helio’s land. Kenge is made up of three mineralized centres the NW, Main, and SE zones with an aggregate strike length of 1,350 metres. Helio has traced mineralization to a depth of 200 metres, still open, and is drill-testing the belief that the Main and NW zones are likely connected.

The first results out of this year’s 20,000-metres drill program came from Kenge Main. Hole 81 returned 5.79 grams gold per tonne over 12.2 metres, from 62 metres depth. The hole was collared 40 metres along strike from hole 69, which last year hit 19.7 metres of 3.02 grams gold, and hole 70, which cut 24.3 metres of 2.8 grams gold.

Other recent Kenge Main intercept include 9.8 metres grading 2.73 grams gold from 153 metres down hole 79 and 10.9 metres grading 3.04 grams gold from 170 metres down hole 80. The current drill program is designed to delineate the open pit resource potential at Kenge.

The second drill rig brought online at SMP this season started work at the Porcupine target. Discovered in June 2007, Porcupine is located along the Saza shear zone some 2 km west of the colonial-era Gap mine. The target outcrops intermittently over 1 km and hosts multiple quartz veins within a 40-metre wide mineralized zone.

The first core hole into Porcupine intersected 42.3 metres grading 4 grams gold from 16.6 metres depth, including 0.9 metres of 43.6 grams gold. Hole GPD-1 twinned the only hole previously drilled at Porcupine, which was a reverse-circulation hole drilled last year the returned 42 metres grading 2.05 grams gold.

Hole GPD-2, drilled underneath GPD-1, cut 49.8 metres grading 1.7 grams gold starting 23 metres downhole.

Mbenge is the third drilling target that has produced results of late. Mbenge is parallel to and only 400 metres northeast of the Kenge SE zone, where results from last year include 3.62 grams gold over 21.5 metres in hole 56. Mbenge is a 2-km long zone of geochemical and geophysical anomalies.

One of the five holes drilled this year at Mbenge returned the thickest, well-mineralized intercept drilled to date at SMP. Hole 76 cut 39.2 metres grading 2.56 grams gold, starting 21 metres downhole. Other intercepts include 26.3 metres grading 2.1 grams gold from 67 metres depth in hole 77 and 13.3 metres of 3.1 grams gold from 94 metres down hole 78.

The drilling results confirm the presence of a thick zone of east-west striking gold mineralization close to surface. The zone dips southward and thickens westward. The thick intercept in hole 76 marks the western edge of exploration to date.

Helio recently mobilized two more drill rigs to SMP to speed up its aggressive exploration program. To fund its exploration activities the company recently closed a brought-deal brokered private placement in which it sold 6 million units at 85 apiece for gross proceeds of $5.1 million. Each unit comprised a share and half a warrant, with each warrant exercisable for one share at $1.10 within one year and at $1.25 within two years.

Helio gained 7 on news of the latest results from Porcupine to close at 89. The company has a 52-week trading range of 52 to $1.11 and has 43.5 million shares issued.