RENO, Nev., May 31, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Battle Mountain Gold Exploration Corp. (OTCBB:BMGX) ("Battle Mountain") is pleased to report that Newgold Inc. ("Newgold") announced, in a News Release dated May 23, 2006, that it is nearing completion on all environmental work at the Relief Canyon Mine in Nevada's Humboldt Range. Battle Mountain holds a 4.0% net smelter return royalty on mineral production from the Relief Canyon Mine.
In their release, Newgold stated that approximately 75% of the work required by a Nevada Department of Environmental Protection Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) has now been completed and that Newgold expects all aspects of the AOC to be completed within 30 days. The purpose of the AOC was to bring the Relief Canyon Mine back into environmental compliance and completing the work required in the AOC will be a major step towards Newgold placing the former producer back into production.
A historical, non 43-101 compliant, resource estimate for Relief Canyon, using $390/oz gold and a 0.03 oz/T cutoff grade, shows 5,629,000 tons at an average grade of 0.046oz/t Au. See table below:
Relief Canyon Resources at Several Au Cutoffs -- Source: Newgold's website
Cutoff Grade Ore Avg. Grade Contained
(oz/T) (tons) (oz/T) (oz)
0.003 76,782,000 0.012 921,384
0.010 30,483,000 0.022 670,384
0.015 18,642,000 0.028 521,976
0.019 12,939,000 0.033 426,987
0.030 5,629,000 0.046 258,934
0.040 2,702,000 0.060 162,120
0.050 1,592,000 0.072 114,624
About Battle Mountain
Battle Mountain is a gold royalty company headquartered in Reno, Nevada, with a diverse portfolio of 13 gold royalty assets in 8 countries. Battle Mountain's portfolio includes four producing royalties, four development stage royalties, and five exploration stage royalties.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Mark Kucher Chairman and CEO
To learn more please visit www.bmegold.com or email info@bmegold.com.
Battle Mountain Gold Exploration Corp. Sixth Floor, Suite 9 One East Liberty Street Reno, Nevada 89504 1 800 436 0167
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans and objectives regarding the potential transactions and ventures discussed in this release. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are the risks inherent in mineral exploration, the need to obtain additional financing, the availability of needed personnel and equipment for future exploration and development, fluctuations in the price of minerals, and general economic conditions.