VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 11, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Consolidated Spire Ventures Ltd. ("Spire") (TSX-V:CZS) is pleased to announce that current trenching in the Discovery South Zone has revealed a major gold mineralized zone which is observed in trench No. 2 to be at least 90m wide. Mineralization in this zone comprises two 2.50m and one 6.50m wide quartz veins within a strongly altered quartz, sericite and pyrite stockwork zone. Quartz veins trend 020 degrees and dip to the northwest. The veins show diverse phases of hydrothermal activity in the form of breccias and cross-cutting quartz veining.
Trench No. 3 is located approximately 130m north of Trench No. 2, and is characterized by a 12m wide quartz vein which remains open toward the footwall. This trench has been dug across the trend of the veins observed in Trench No. 2, and has, thus far, exposed similar stockwork mineralization along the full 32m of trenching.
Trench No. 1 is 36m long and was dug parallel to diamond drill hole DDH-06-21, this to explore on surface the mineralized zone that returned 45.7m of 1.57 g/t gold last year (see News Release dated September 6th 2006). Recent re-logging of DDH-06-21 indicates that the gold mineralized interval lies within a stockwork zone very similar to the one seen in Trenches 1, 2 and 3.
The sampling program on the above trenches is ongoing and analytical results will be made available as they are received. Trench No. 2 has only been sampled approximately 40% of its total length. The remaining mineralized areas in this trench will be sampled shortly. Thus far analytical results include:
Trench 2:
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SAMPLE SAMPLE
SAMPLE # TYPE WIDTH (m) GOLD g/t SILVER g/t
-------- ------- --------- --------- -----------
2117 Chips 2.00 1.17 9.6
2118 Chips 1.60 1.21 8.6
2119 Chips 1.60 2.17 15.2
2121 Chips 1.40 1.29 9.4
2122 Chips 1.40 1.99 8.8
2124 Chips 2.50 1.22 6.3
2125 Chips 0.60 0.37 2.6
2126 Chips 3.00 0.12 0.9
-------- ------- --------- --------- -----------
14.1 1.13 7.29
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Sampling on Trench No. 1 has recently been completed and there is more sampling to complete on Trench No. 3.
Trench 3:
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SAMPLE SAMPLE
SAMPLE # TYPE WIDTH (m) GOLD g/t SILVER g/t
-------- ------ -------- -------- ----------
2106 Chips 2.00 1.49 1.7
2107 Chips 2.00 0.37 1.9
2108 Chips 1.50 0.18 1.2
2109 Chips 1.50 0.32 2.2
2110 Chips 2.00 1.81 1.7
2111 Chips 2.00 0.73 2.3
2113 Chips 2.00 0.83 2.9
2114 Chips 2.00 0.54 1.5
2115 Chips 2.00 1.20 3.6
2116 Chips 1.50 1.08 1.8
-------- ------ -------- -------- ----------
18.50 0.88 2.11
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At present Trenches No. 4 and 5 are being dug and mineralized bedrock has been observed. The Company plans to expand the trenches in this mineralized zone for at least 500m along strike. So far approximately 200m along strike have been confirmed to have continuity. Geological mapping also shows quartz float fragments to extend for several hundred meters.
In terms of outlining a conceptual geological potential based on the current geological data and results, the Company believes it has discovered a low grade gold bulk mineable target of significance. Taking into account a strike length of 500m to 800m, an average width of 50m to 70m, a depth of 200m to 300m and an s.g. of approximately 2.4, a tonnage ranging from 12,000,000 to 40,320,000 tonnes can be estimated. Considering an average gold grade range of 0.9 to 1.25 g/t, that would give a potential ranging from 350,000 to 1,300,000 ounces of gold. This would be in only the Discovery South area, though there are other areas such as Discovery North that may hold even a larger potential as seen in a large soil anomaly in that zone.
Cautionary statement: Investors are cautioned that the potential quantity and grade indicated above is conceptual in nature. It has been provided only for illustration purposes. At this time there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the discovery of these mineral resources.
Rock chip channel samples are prepped and analyzed at the Eco Tech Laboratory in Kamloops, B.C., Canada. Eco Tech Laboratory is an ISO 9001 certified and accredited facility. All work is being conducted following the procedures and standards outlined under NI 43-101. All sample batches sent to the lab include standards, blanks and duplicate samples.
The results of the exploration program at the Discovery South Zone will assist in preparing, soon after, a comprehensive diamond drill program scheduled to start in late August. Before drilling, the Company will have mapped and sampled several trenches to optimize the drill program success.
A quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program is in place. More sample results will be reported as soon as they are received. The Qualified Person for this news release is Victor Jaramillo, P.Geo. and Exploration Manager for Consolidated Spire Ventures Ltd.
The Company is pleased to report that it has retained the consulting services of Dr. James Stewart, Ph.D., who brings to Spire over 40 years of mineral exploration experience worldwide, and Mr. Todd Johnson, P.Geo. and Senior Project Geologist, with over 15 years experience working in gold deposits.
Recent geological prospecting and sampling at Prospect Valley has returned the following results:
Prospecting Samples:
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SAMPLE # SAMPLE TYPE SAMPLE WIDTH (m) GOLD g/t SILVER g/t
-------- ----------- ---------------- -------- -----------
2006 Grab 1.57 0.3
2008 Chips 0.18 6.21 40.5
2012 Chips 0.25 7.65 40.8
2013 Chips 0.15 6.83 14.7
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Sample 2006 was taken approximately 100m east of Trench No. 3 from an area with broken quartz. Samples 2008, 2012 and 2013 were taken from quartz veins in the North Discovery Zone, approximately 900m north of Trench No.3.
Spire currently has several active projects in Canada and Mexico.
The 100% Spire owned Prospect Valley Gold Property is a large gold open pit and vein type target located near Merritt, BC, Canada. It is in close proximity to good infrastructure and is located south of the Highland Valley porphyry copper district and immediately west of the Craigmont copper skarn deposit. Geological field work indicates that there has been little erosion on the property.
The recently acquired Yago Gold/Silver Property is located in the state of Nayarit, Mexico, on the Pacific coast, approximately 50kms north of the city of Tepic. Currently, this property is the subject of an option agreement with Almaden Minerals Ltd. (TSX:AMM), whereby Spire can earn a 60% interest. The property comprises 16 claims that total 2,731 hectares and lies within the coastal lowlands of the West Coast of Mexico.
Other Mexico projects. Spire has recently staked four new properties of over 76,800 hectares of prime exploration ground on a recently recognized epithermal gold/silver district. The staked ground comprises four properties which are located in the north and northwest of the El Oro-Tlalpujahua Gold/Silver Belt in the states of Guanajuato and Michoacan, Mexico. Spire intends to initially explore these properties and farm out the properties to joint venture partners to offset further exploration costs. In the State of Oaxaca, the Campanario Gold/Silver Property is a bulk tonnage gold target located approximately 25kms southwest of Oaxaca City, Mexico. Currently this property is the subject of an option agreement with Almaden Minerals Ltd. (TSX:AMM) ("Almaden").
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Brian Buchanan"
President and Director
This Company Press Release contains certain "forward-looking" statements and information relating to the Company that are based on the beliefs of the Company's management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company's management. Such statements reflect the current risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to certain factors including, without limitations, competitive factors, general economic conditions, customer relations, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, the interest rate environment, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, changes in industry practices, and one-time events. Should any one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein.
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