GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., April 29, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Calais Resources Inc. (OTCBB:CAAUF) herein the "Company" is pleased to announce it has intersected the company's major No Name vein at the Consolidated Caribou Gold and Silver District with hole CR04-128 at the projected target of minus 853 feet down hole to minus 902 feet down hole.
Hole CR04-128 was drilled to intersect the No Name vein 100 feet to the south of the most recent NoName intersection, hole CR97-104. Although assays have not come back from the lab, the mineralization appears visually to be similar to the NoName vein hit in hole CR97-104. CR97-104 intercepted the NoName vein at 1341.5 to 1384.5 feet below the surface. The gold mineralization in hole CR97-104 assayed 0.36 ounce of gold per ton (although previous holes had lesser widths). The NoName vein system consists of braided sulphides within extensive limonite staining in altered quartz monzonite, quartz, and calcite. The true width of the vein zone is unknown as this time.
The NoName vein zone has been logged and samples were split on two-foot intervals. The samples have been sent to American Assay Labs for analysis via standard one-ton gravimetric fire assay for gold and silver. Samples that run 0.1 ounces per ton gold or better will then be run via metallic screen assay and further run via ICP multi element scan, and assay values will be reported as they become available.
The importance of the current intersect is that it was hit at an elevation of 9,000 feet which is 913 feet below the surface. Previous Calais hole CR97-104 intersected the No Name vein at 1,200 feet below the surface and 1,341 feet downhole. The new intercept of the No Name vein in hole CR04-128 validates the strike and dip of the No Name vein approximately 1,700 feet northeast from the Caribou Mine.
Hole CR04-128 will be continued to a depth of -2,400 feet to further evaluate veins encountered in hole CR03-126 on the northwest slope of Idaho Hill drilled during the Fall of 2003. We expect that hole CR04-128 will also provide valuable information on geologic contacts, mineralogy, and gold host rock environments.
Continuing to identify the size of the NoName vein system is very important to Calais, as the NoName vein was the largest gold and silver producing vein at the Caribou District during the periods that production was ongoing from the 1860's to 1990. It is standard practice to measure three factors in order to interpret the size of a vein system: the length of the vein (also known as the strike), the depth of the vein (also known as vertical depth), and the width of the vein. Calais previously hit the NoName vein 1,800 feet away from the Caribou Mine with hole CR97-104. From the results of holes CR97-104 and CR04-128, surface exploration, geological reconnaissance, outcroppings, and other analysis, Calais believes the NoName vein system is at least 1,800 feet in length or strike, and may be as long as 10,000 feet. Based on prior studies, we believe that the vertical depth of the NoName vein at the Caribou Mine is approximately 1,400 feet. Geology and mineralogy studies suggest that the gold/ silver vein systems extend to great depth below the deepest level of the known mine workings. The NoName vein outcropped the surface at the Caribou mine and was mined from the surface to 1,400 feet down and was mined for 500 feet on the strike. The NoName vein ranged up to 30 feet true width in the Caribou Mine and measured 43 feet with hole 97-104, however there were also widths encountered as small as 1 foot wide. As is the case with mineral veins in general, widths of the NoName vein pinch and swell in size throughout its strike and depth. While we have a significant amount of information, we are continuing to assemble data about the dimensions of the NoName vein system.
The NoName is a large gold vein system, but it is only one of many gold vein systems previously identified at the Consolidated Caribou Gold and Silver District. There are many large veins that need further exploration to fully identify their size and potential including: Anaconda Vein, Rare Metals Vein, Caribou Park Zone, Apache Vein, Postosi Vein, East and West Nelson Veins, Golconda Vein, Pandora, and the Pegmatite Reef.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Forward Looking Statements
The future conduct of the company's business and it's response to issues raised by third parties are dependent upon a number of factors, and there can be no assurance that the company will be able to conduct its operations as contemplated. Certain statements contained in this release using the terms "may," "expects to," "projects," "estimates," "plans," and other terms denoting future possibilities, are forward-looking statements in accordance with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The accuracy of these statements cannot be guaranteed as they are subject to a variety of risks that are beyond our ability to predict or control and which may cause actual results to differ materially from the projections or estimates contained herein. The risks include, but are not limited to, the risks described in the above press release; those risks set out in the company's disclosure documents and its annual, quarterly and current reports; and the other risks associated with start-up mineral exploration operations with insufficient liquidity, and no historical profitability.