Land Position Expanded With Acceptance Of Prospecting Rights Applications At Island of Kyushu

 

VANCOUVER - Japan Gold Corp. has expanded its project portfolio through the addition of its first project on the island of Kyushu in southern Japan. The Japan Gold portfolio now consists of 11 projects. The Kamitsue Project consists of 12 contiguous prospecting rights applications covering an area of approximately 4,069 hectares. The Company is now authorized to commence an active program of surface exploration which will include geological mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical surveys on this area.

John Proust, Chairman and CEO said, "The Kamitsue Project is Japan Gold's eleventh project in Japan and represents an important addition to the Company's portfolio of epithermal gold prospects. The Company now holds projects on the islands of Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu."

Kamitsue is located 10 kilometers southeast of the Taio mine, northern Kyushu's largest gold mine which produced approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 6.3 g/t and operated between 1903-73 (Garwin, 2005, Shikazono, 1986). Kyushu hosts two other plus million ounce gold producers, the currently producing Hishikari mine with 8.5 million ounces of gold at a grade of 47.3 g/t (Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. website) and the Kushikino mine which produced 1.8 million ounces of gold at a grade of 6.7 g/t between 1914-74 (Garwin, 2005, Shikazono, 1986) in the southern part of the island.

Detailed surface exploration was completed over the Kamitsue area and reported by the Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ) in the early 1990's. The Company has inspected several localities with historic workings dating back to the early 1900's, however no production data is recorded. Regional alteration mapping and soil geochemical sampling reported by the MMAJ covers a 7km by 4km area at Kamitsue. This work identified two distinct coincident clay-alteration / geochemical anomalies including a 5.5km by 1.5km east-west trending zone with anomalous gold, silver, arsenic, antimony and mercury and a smaller 1.5km by 0.5km zone with anomalous gold, silver, arsenic and mercury.

Considering the size of the defined anomalies at Kamitsue, and the other significant gold deposits throughout Kyushu, the Company feels the area has significant merit for further exploration and will commence follow up surface exploration later this year.