New Gold Discovery At Cubiro At Pinos Altos

 

TORONTO - Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited reported on its 2009 exploration program. New discoveries have increased the known size of the mineralized envelopes of several deposits and the Company expects to increase its total gold reserves and resources at the end of this year, over and above the amount mined during the year. The Company's $54 million 2009 exploration program is expected to result in approximately 221 kilometres of drilling using more than 35 rigs. Close to 190 kilometres of exploration drilling have been completed through July, which is almost 85% of the 2009 program. However, based on the success of the program to date, it is expected that additional expenditures will be authorized and the exploration programs expanded.

Highlights of the 2009 exploration program include: At Pinos Altos: New gold/silver zone discovered at Cubiro   Sinter zone's better-than-expected grade and thickness suggest open pit potential   San Eligio zone extended laterally and at depth. At Kittila:  Deep drilling continued to confirm strong grades at depths below 600 metres at Suuri and expanded the underground resource envelope further to the north  Near-surface gold mineralization extended further north and at depth at Rimpi. At Meadowbank:  Drilling results confirmed mineralization extensions and underground mining potential of the Goose South zone at depth  In-fill drilling also confirmed the resource at Vault and extended the gold mineralization further north and east.    

"The ongoing extension of known gold zones at several deposits and the discovery of the new gold zone at Cubiro on the Pinos Altos property continue to demonstrate our ability to expand our reserve base through exploration," said Sean Boyd, Vice-Chairman and CEO. "We expect this large and growing reserve base to be the foundation for continued expansion in gold production beyond 2010, as we complete several expansion studies at our recently constructed gold mines," added Boyd.

At the Pinos Altos project in Mexico, over 39 kilometres of drilling in a total of 139 drill holes was completed by the end of July, focusing on three new mineralized structures. The first drill program began in the spring on the newly discovered Cubiro zone and several drill holes returned encouraging results. This zone is located approximately 10 kilometres northwest of Agnico-Eagle's main Santo Nino pit. It is also approximately two kilometres west of the Company's new Creston Mascota project, where construction of an open pit, heap leach mine will begin in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The infill program at Sinter, a parallel zone approximately two kilometres to the north of the Santo Nino pit, is demonstrating a better average grade and thickness than anticipated and may result in the development of a new satellite open pit similar to Creston Mascota. At San Eligio, another parallel zone less than one kilometre north of Santo Nino, the drilling program extended the mineralization at depth and along strike to the east and west.

New Gold Discovery at Cubiro: The Cubiro mineralization is well exposed along the flanks of the Concheno valley and is similar to the other deposits on the Pinos Altos property. These deposits tend to be quartz-calcite breccia vein systems with associated vein stockworks carrying gold and silver. The Cubiro mineralization was discovered in several showings in the valley and in shallow historic workings that have been excavated along the most easterly vein outcrops.

The company’s address is 145 King Street East, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M5C 2Y7, 416-947-1212, fax: 416-367-4681, email: [email protected].