Indigo Provides Update on Burkina Faso Gold Exploration Activities
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/21/11 -- Indigo Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE: IXI)(FRANKFURT: INE) is providing an update of exploration activities at its Moule and Lati gold exploration permits in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Key points are:
-- Moule surface work completed includes soil grids at Vein 2 and Vein 3
and trenching west of Zelingpe 1.
-- Lati surface work completed includes a soil grid and quartz sampling at
Prospect 1.
-- The phase II drilling at Moule is scheduled to start in early July.
Moule
Surface exploration at Moule concentrated on the Vein 3 and west of Zelingpe 1 targets that were both drilled earlier in the year. Drill intersections of 29.67 gpt Au over 7 metres and 10.86 gpt Au over 3 metres were obtained at Vein 3. Drill intersections of 1.12 gpt Au over 28 metres and 4.53 gpt Au over 5 metres were obtained at Zelingpe 1. (Indigo news releases dated March 29, 2011 and April 11, 2011).
The Vein 3 soil grid is 2000 metres long and 500 metres wide, sampled at 25 metre intervals along 50 metre spaced lines. The purpose of the grid is to optimize its drill testing during Phase II. Assay results for the surface work are pending. Vein 3 has been traced for 1700 metres and is the site of growing artisanal mining, where local miners are now using cement lined shafts and diesel pumps and winches to mine near surface gold within the vein. Phase I drilling intersected gold mineralization to a depth of 70 metres, the maximum depth tested in the program.
The Vein 2 soil grid is 1000 metres long and 450 metres wide, sampled at 25 metre intervals along 50 metre spaced lines. The purpose of the grid is also to optimize its initial drill testing. Assay results for the surface work are pending. Vein 2 is a parallel zone to Vein 3 and lies 4 kilometres to the northeast.
The Zelingpe 1 trench tested the lower western slope below the Zelingpe 1 target. A total length of 500 metres was excavated resulting in the collection of 499 samples. Assay results are pending. The trench targeted the suspected strike projection of a series of artisanal workings on the laterite plateau to the west of the main Zelingpe 1 target.
Lati
Surface exploration at Lati concentrated on the Prospect 1 target area, where artisanal mining activity is rapidly expanding as detailed in Indigo news releases dated May 5, 2011 and March 22, 2011.
A soil grid 8000 metres long by 2000 metres wide was sampled at 50 metre intervals along 200 metre spaced lines. Quartz sampling is currently being completed. Assay results are pending. Artisanal mining in the Prospect 1 area has quadrupled in size since Indigo first acquired the permit with one site now covering an area 1200 metres by 50 - 500 metres and a second new site 2.5 kilometres to the northwest, covering an area 500 metres long by 100 to 200 metres wide.
Indigo's President, Tim Henneberry, said: 'We continue to advance our Moule and Lati projects with strategic surface sampling programs in preparation for 15,000 metres of follow-up drilling on our Z1 and V3 discoveries at Moule, and initial drilling at our V2 target at Moule and our Prospect 1 target at Lati.'
Moule Permit
The 249 sq. km Moule gold permit is located in the Boromo greenstone belt, approximately 270 km by road from the capital city of Ouagadougou and 70 km south of the Poura Gold Mine. Indigo geologists have identified multiple prospective targets for bulk tonnage gold systems, based on the artisanal workings and previous exploration programs of property-wide mapping and sampling of quartz veining and quartz float. Subsequent efforts focused on the 7 km by 6 km Zelingpe area where a soil grid, detailed mapping and local induced polarization (IP) survey identified multiple linear targets. Three of these targets were drilled earlier in the year: Zelingpe 1, Zelingpe 2 and Vein 3. Follow-up Phase II drilling is planned for Zelingpe 1 and Vein 3 and initial drilling is planned for Vein 2.
Indigo is earning a 100% interest, subject to a 1.5% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty in the Moule Gold Permit by making cash payments totalling US$410,000 over 3 years. Indigo retains the right to purchase the entire 1.5% NSR for US$1,800,000.
Lati Permit
The 100% owned, 246 sq. km Lati permit is located in the Boromo greenstone belt, approximately 150 km by road from the capital of Ouagadougou and 45 km north of the Poura Gold Mine. Much of the large permit remains unexplored. The north side of the Lati permit that has seen a sizeable increase in artisanal activity is underlain by a north-northeast trending 1500 metre wide band of bimodal volcanics surrounded by felsic intrusives. Mineralized quartz veins are common through this area, ranging from thin stockworks to metre-scale structures associated with regional scale shearing and fracturing mainly in mafic volcanic rocks. Several artisanal workings and prospects lie along the sheared contacts between the volcanics and intrusives, including the two rapidly expanding artisanal sites. The artisanal areas have minimal saprolite, with depths generally being 2 to 4 metres. Artisanal activity is recovering coarse gold, suggesting a proximal source.
About Burkina Faso
The Moule, Kodyel, Lati and Tordo properties lie in the West African nation of Burkina Faso. Much of West Africa is underlain by the Birimian Greenstone Belt, one of the most prolific gold producing areas in the world. Many of the world's major gold companies are active in West Africa, several with producing mines, including: IAMGOLD Corporation, AngloGold Ashanti Limited, Randgold Resources Limited, Gold Fields Limited and Newmont Mining Corporation. Burkina Faso is politically and economically stable and relies on farming and mining as its primary sources of revenue. Burkina Faso saw gold production double from 2008 to 2010 and is currently the 5th largest gold producing country in Africa.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
R.Tim Henneberry, P.Geo., President and CEO
Paul Cowley, P.Geo., Director of Indigo Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute 'forward-looking statements' and include any information that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including the Company's strategy, exploration results and plans, or future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance.
Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of the words 'may', 'will', 'should', 'continue', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'estimate', 'believe', 'intend', 'plan' or 'project' or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company's management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed, implied by or projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: risks related to the exploration and potential development of the Company's projects, risks related to international operations, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future prices of gold, as well as those factors discussed in the sections relating to risk factors of the Company set out in the Company's MD&A filed on SEDAR.
There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date of this document or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events.
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Contacts:
Indigo Exploration Inc.
Tim Henneberry
President and CEO
(604) 681-3422
www.indigoexploration.com