Bravada and Fortune River Project Update
VANCOUVER, BC - Bravada Gold Corporation and Fortune River Resource Corp. reported on recently drilled exploration projects and announced that a Manager of Development has been hired for Fortune River's Wind Mountain project. The Companies are proposing a friendly merger via amalgamation, which is subject to appropriate approvals of shareholders and the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange. The single amalgamated company, which would retain the name Bravada Gold Corporation, will then control 20 Nevada properties (approximately 13,000 hectares), located in the Battle Mountain-Eureka, Walker Lane, and Northern Nevada Rift gold trends.
John Cox has joined Fortune River as Manager of Development in order to advance the existing mineral resource at the Company's Wind Mountain property, a previous Amax Gold open-pit/heap-leach mine. The project contains an estimated 406,000 ounces of gold in the Measured plus Indicated Resource categories(i), 30.6 million tonnes (33.7 million short tons) averaging 0.411 g/t Au, using a cutoff grade of 0.257 g/t Au, plus an additional 92,000 ounces of gold in the Inferred category, 8.9 million tonnes (9.8 million short tons) averaging 0.308 g/t Au, using the same cut-off grade. Earlier this year, the company commissioned an independent NI 43-101-Compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment and associated Technical Report by Mines Development Associates (MDA. MDA modelled an open pit using $850 per ounce of gold and $14.50 per ounce of silver. MDA's report indicates the project will have a pre-tax NPV@5% of US $13.2 million (IRR=15%) at $850 per ounce gold and, assuming a 20% increase in metal prices, a pre-tax NPV@5% of US $43.7 million (IRR=38%) at $1,020 per ounce gold for the same pit design. Cox will manage the work required to optimize economics and advance the project through pre-feasibility. This season Bravada conducted 1,270 meters of core drilling in two holes at the Signal project and 591 meters of core drilling in one hole at the PH project. Both projects host Carlin-type mineralization at the surface, and these drilling programs were designed to search for deeper, high-grade mineralization. Signal is located 5km west of the Ruby Hill gold mine, and PH is located 6km east of the Tonkin Springs gold mine. Bravada's drilling at both projects successfully intersected the projected host rocks with strong alteration and with anomalous, but not economic, concentrations of gold (0.0X to 0.X g/t) and pathfinder elements. Computer 3D modelling shows targets remain at each property, and additional drilling is planned. Fortune River and partner Christopher James Gold Corp. completed 1,173 meters of reverse-circulation drilling in five holes at the Buz project, a low-sulfidation-type exploration property. The holes intersected zones of quartz veining; however, gold values were generally disappointing and no further work is planned at this time. The company's address is Suite 1100, 1199 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3T5.