VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, March 11, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Bright Star Ventures Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX:BSV.V) responds today to the halt in trading of its common shares on March 5, 2004. The Company has been working to resolve outstanding issues raised by the TSXV relating to the terms, conditions and disclosure concerning four debentures, all issued by the company during calendar 2002. The Company's property interests and exploration programs are unaffected by the trading halt and the Company hopes to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Further details will be disclosed as events transpire.
The Company also announces that it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire certain mineral property concessions in China, subject to regulatory approval, in a Letter of Intent with the He Xi Gold Mine Ltd. to acquire a 75% interest in the Xi Lin property, an open pit gold and silver project located on the Jiaodong Peninsula of Shandong Province in northeastern China.
The Jiaodong Peninsula is situated along the southeast margin of the North China Craton, and constitutes the most important gold province in China, containing 25% of China's gold reserves. Total annual production from all existing gold mines in Shandong Province totals approximately 1 million ounces of bullion at this time. Most of the gold production is generated from labor intensive, small to medium scale gold mining operations. The majority of gold mining operations in Shandong Province are primarily focused on structurally controlled quartz vein-type deposits (linglong-style) and disseminated/veinlet-type (jiaojia-style) hosted in Mesozoic granitoids which intruded Archean and Proterozoic basement rocks.
The Xi Lin property is located along a major E-W trending deformation corridor over a distance of approximately 10 kilometers and a width of approximately 500 meters. Several NNE trending transcurrent fault zones which host gold-bearing vein-type deposits crosscut the E-W deformation corridor. Both of these structures are hosted in a sheared medium to coarse grained, light gray colored granodiorite. Sulphide mineralization in the form of chalcopyrite and pyrite occurs in shear zones as well as within fractures. The style of the Xi Lin mineralization is similar to the jiaojia-style deposits, which accounts for the largest types of gold deposits mined in Shandong Province. At this time, small-scale operators mine gold from the weathered oxide zone of the granite at shallow depths (less than 10m), while other small-scale underground operations (less than 100m) mine gold from chalcopyrite-rich granodiorite in shear zones and fractures.
This favorable environment is suitable for hosting a shear and fracture-controlled Cu-gold deposit of significant tonnage and grade amenable to open-pit mining methods. The Company intends to commission an NP 43 101 Report on this property as soon as possible. The Company has obtained samples from the mineralized system and these grab samples were submitted for assay to ALS Chemex Vancouver, BC and the Company has received the following results:
Sample # Gold Silver Copper #7218 1.60 gm/t 5.4 gm/t #7220 2.78 gm/t 9.8 gm/t #7227 1.59 gm/t 0.8 gm/t #7229 4.07 gm/t 5.2 gm/t #7230 51.60 gm/t 168.0 gm/t 5.63%
The Xi Lin property is an exploration target that can be evaluated through an integrated geophysical/geochemical approach, including IP geophysics surveys, bedrock mapping, and drilling. Several favorable exploration target areas are present on the Xi Lin property. Structurally controlled gold deposits may occur at the junction of large-scale NNE trending fault structures where they intersect the earlier E-W deformation corridor within the granodiorite. As a result of this acquisition, the Company will not be proceeding with the Gongguo Gold Project in Yunnan province, which is a narrow vein gold system.
On behalf of the Board
"David Allen"
President & Director
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.