Vancouver, British Columbia — December 5, 2012, Paget Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: PGS), (“Paget” or the “Company”) announced today the drill results from the first-ever drilling on the Santa Cruz Target within the San Ricardo Gold-Silver Project. Paget has an option to earn up to 60% of the 38,100-hectare Project located within the prolific porphyry and epithermal gold-silver-copper belt of northern Sonora State, Mexico, from Sundance Minerals Ltd. (“Sundance”) (see press release dated 11 September 2012).
David F. Volkert, President and CEO of Paget, stated, “Drilling concentrated on a 200-meter section of the 2 kilometer-long Santa Cruz fault / vein target as an initial follow-up to underground channel sampling that assayed up to 4.5 meters (true width) @ 28.9g/t gold and on the sub-parallel Mina Antigua and Intermedia veins. Mineralization drilled to date is shallow oxide gold contained within faulted and broken quartz veins and shallow sulfide silver in chalcedonic breccia (high-level of an epithermal system).”
Drill results received are listed in the following table.
| HOLE | FROM (m) | TO (m) | TRUE WIDTH (m) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz and Intermedia Veins (gold) | |||||
| SR12-1 | NSI | ||||
| SR12-2 | NSI | ||||
| SR12-3 | NSI | ||||
| SR12-4 | 31.8 | 34.4 | 2.3 | 23.1 | |
| including | 31.8 | 33.2 | 1.1 | 39.0 | |
| SR12-5 | 30.4 | 33.0 | 2.5 | 3.67 | |
| including | 30.4 | 31.5 | 1.1 | 7.29 | |
| SR12-6 | 30.6 | 31.7 | 1.1 | 13.4 | |
| SR12-7 | 51 | 53 | 1.1 | 0.42 | |
| and | 59 | 64 | 2.9 | 0.42 | |
| SR12-8 | 23 | 33 | 9.2 | 1.84 | |
| including | 26 | 29 | 2.3 | 3.77 | |
| SR12-9 | 59 | 64 | 2.7 | 0.24 | |
| and | 68 | 69 | 0.6 | 1.55 | |
| bottoms | 71 | 72 | 0.6 | 0.48 | |
| SR12-10 | 50 | 59 | 7.2 | 0.38 | |
| SR12-11 | 27 | 30 | 2.7 | 1.73 | |
| Including | 28 | 29 | 0.9 | 4.02 | |
| SR12-14 | NSI | Re-drill of SR12-1 | |||
| Mina Antigua Vein (gold-silver) | |||||
| SR12-12 | 27 | 34 | 5.6 | 0.42 | 51.7 |
| SR12-13 | 28 | 33 | 4.5 | 0.39 | 100.4 |
| Including | 31 | 32 | 0.9 | 0.83 | 378.0 |
Mr. Volkert continued, “Additional gold targets within the San Ricardo Project include the southern extension of the vein systems noted above, where rock-chip sampling from vein outcrops, iron-oxide alteration and old pits assayed anomalous to >10.0g/t gold and 70g/t silver. In the northern extensions of the vein systems, initial sampling assayed anomalous to 2.4g/t gold and 56 g/t silver. Paget and Sundance are planning the next phase of drilling at Santa Cruz targeting high-grade underground sample results (up to 3.8 meters @ 14.4g/t gold), and further exploration of other targets.” (Click here for project maps and sections)
THE PROJECT
The San Ricardo Gold-Silver Project area covers a total of 38,100 hectares in northern Sonora State. The region hosts large Cu-Mo porphyry deposits, including Cananea and Creston, among others, and a number of epithermal gold-silver deposits, including the San Francisco (Timmins Gold), Mercedes (Yamana Gold) and Santa Elena (SilverCrest Mines). Excellent road access and infrastructure provide for year-round exploration. (Click here for regional location map)
Preliminary reconnaissance within the Project identified multiple high-grade gold targets as well as areas with bulk tonnage potential at the Santa Cruz Target and focused on four known sub-parallel, high-grade veins and areas of stockwork mineralization. The area contains numerous historic mine workings and historic small-scale leach gold production.
Gold mineralization on the Santa Cruz Target occurs as granite-hosted, highly-faulted quartz veins and some stockwork with both high-grade underground and lower grade open-pit potential. Paget and Sundance completed detailed mapping as well as collecting 730 samples, including underground channel, surface rock chip and trench channel samples. Underground sampling along 300m of the minimum two kilometer-long Santa Cruz vein returned individual results from 1.0m @ 0.29g/t to 2.0m @ 46.4g/t gold.
The weighted gold-grade averages (oxide gold mineralization) and average true widths of multiple saw-cut channel sampling on 8 different, shallow underground levels of the Santa Cruz Target are listed in the following table. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth.
The Santa Cruz, Intermedia and Mina Antigua vein structures also host local stockwork zones. Trench and surface rock-chip sampling results within this mineralized area average 0.72g/t gold. The Project is accessed by all-weather roads and the topography within the stockwork trench area and the immediate high-grade underground workings is favorable for possible inclusion of high-grade veins in a pit outline. Significantly, silver values range from anomalous to 452g/t.
About Paget Minerals Corp.
Paget Minerals Corporation is a publicly traded resource company focused on mineral exploration and the advancement of the company’s priority Ball Creek Project in British Columbia. The company hosts a 52,442-hectare, contiguous mineral tenure package in the Golden Triangle — Iskut Mineral District located just 8km west of Highway 37 and only 36km northwest of the new Northwest Transmission Line Substation at Bob Quinn and neighbors three major mine development projects in the Golden Triangle — Galore Creek, Schaft Creek and Red Chris. In 2012, Paget focused its BC exploration program on the Ball Creek Project and advanced its exploration in Mexico. Paget also maintains its equity position in Trident Gold Corp. exploring for gold in Colombia. David Volkert, President and CEO, serves as the Qualified Person under the definitions of NI 43-101.
On Behalf of the Board of Paget Minerals Corp.,
“David F. Volkert”
President & CEO
For further information, please contact:
Paget Minerals Corp.
David Volkert, President & CEO Tel: (778) 327-4449
www.pagetminerals.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
