Northern Crown drills at Guadalupe, Mexico

Drilling at the Guadalupe de Los Reyes gold project in northern Sinaloa state, Mexico, is nearly half-finished.

Using two reverse circulation rigs, Northern Crown Mines (NCW-V) has completed 59 holes in a planned 120-hole, 10,000-metre program.

The Vancouver-based junior is testing the bulk-tonnage potential of five epithermal gold and silver zones within 13.7 km of host structure.

Nine holes were drilled on the Noche Buena zone, and results from the first five are as follows: 12.2 metres of 0.94 gram gold and 43.8 grams silver per tonne for hole 96-5; 16.8 metres of 1.9 grams gold and 22.5 grams silver (including 4.6 metres grading 5.22 grams gold and 40.9 grams silver) for hole 96-6; 27.4 metres of 1.63 grams gold and 26.8 grams silver (including 6.1 metres grading 5.67 grams gold and 40.8 grams silver) for hole 96-7; 25.9 metres of 1.34 grams gold and 16.5 grams silver (including 4.5 metres grading 4.48 grams gold and 37.7 grams silver) for hole 96-8; and 18.3 metres of 1.8 grams gold and 42.7 grams silver (including 4.6 metres grading 3.8 grams gold and 71.1 grams silver) for hole 96-9.

The Noche Buena zone remains open for expansion. Only 350 metres of a potential 1,000-metre strike length have been tested to date. Assays are pending for four remaining holes, and Northern Crown expects to be able to maintain a minimum grade of 1.5 grams gold over an average width of 20 metres.

The Tahonitas zone, which is now thought to be a southern extension of the Zapote zone, was tested over a 750-metre strike length and to a depth of 150 metres with a total of 33 holes.

The first 10 holes were collared over a strike length of 200 metres and encountered intersections ranging in value from 10.7 metres grading 0.36 gram gold and 30.4 grams silver to 12.2 metres grading 3.35 grams gold and 48.5 grams silver (including 4.6 metres of 3.47 grams gold and 156.4 grams silver). While the mineralized lense remains open at depth, the remaining 23 holes drilled in this first phase were considered uneconomic.

Definition drilling is continuing on the northern extension of the Zapote zone, with 13 holes of a planned 20-hole program completed to date. Northern Crown previously drilled 65 holes along the Zapote to define an open-pit resource of 5.1 million tonnes grading 1.51 grams gold for a contained 250,000 oz.

At the Guadalupe mine area, an initial 40-hole program will test an open-ended, 1.5-km-long geochemical gold anomaly that overlies the historic underground workings.

Northern Crown owns the central portion of the Guadalupe de Los Reyes district, which covers the 13.7 km of host structure. It has a half interest in the surrounding 30-sq.-km Orito area.

In the northern sector, the 2.5-km-long Orito structure has been tested with four holes. A total of 10 holes are planned.