RENO, Nev., July 31, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Battle Mountain Gold Exploration Corp. (OTCBB:BMGX) ("Battle Mountain") is pleased to announce that Minefinders Corporation Ltd. ("Minefinders") reported increased reserves at the Dolores gold and silver project in a News Release dated July 25, 2006. Battle Mountain holds a 1.25% net smelter return royalty on gold production from the Dolores project.
In their release, Minefinders reported that a new, fully engineered pit plan based upon the latest resource estimates has increased the open-pit, fully diluted gold reserve base at the Dolores deposit by 24.9% to 2.45 million ounces of gold. Minefinders detailed the updated Proven and Probable Reserves contained within the planned pit at three different cutoffs: 0.3 gpt Aueq, 0.5 gpt Aueq, and 2.0 gpt Aueq (see Table 1).
Table 1: Proven and Probable Gold Reserves contained within the planned pit at 0.3 gpt Aueq, 0.5 gpt Aueq, and 2.0 gpt Aueq cutoffs. -- Source: Minefinders July 25, 2006, News Release
Cutoff (gpt Aueq) Proven (oz) Probable (oz) Proven & Probable (oz)
0.30 1,491,833 953,963 2,445,797
0.50 1,386,412 868,822 2,255,234
2.00 807,310 484,995 1,292,305
Also in their release, Minefinders explained that in the early stages of production, they anticipate that much of the 0.3 -- 0.5 gpt Aueq material will be stockpiled in order to prioritize the processing of higher grade ore, thereby accelerating project returns and increasing its net present value. Minefinders also pointed out that more than 50% of the gold reserves are contained in ores grading greater than 2.0 gpt Aueq (see Table 1) and suggested that a portion of this high grade material could be processed through a mill/floatation circuit. Production from a high grade mill/floatation circuit would be in addition to that from the heap-leach and should yield gold recoveries of greater than 90%. Battle Mountain will participate in the upside of any accelerated production from Dolores through its 1.25% net smelter return royalty on gold production.
The information presented above was derived from publicly available information provided by Minefinders and Battle Mountain has not undertaken an independent due diligence investigation to confirm its accuracy.
About Battle Mountain
Battle Mountain is a gold royalty company headquartered in Reno, Nevada. Battle Mountain has a diversified portfolio of thirteen producing, developing, and exploration gold royalties in seven gold producing countries.
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 Exploration Gold Corp. Sixth Floor, Suite 9 One East Liberty Street Reno, Nevada 89504
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.
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