NEW YORK, June 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Wall Street Reporter Magazine just published exclusive interviews with executives from Gold Reserve Inc. (AMEX:GRZ) and ValGold Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:VAL) detailing their projects in Venezuela and nearby Guyana.
Both interviews are now available at http://wallstreetreporter.com in streaming audio, MP3, and text format -- all free of charge.
Douglas Belanger, President of Spokane, Wash.-based Gold Reserve (AMEX:GRZ), says that while Venezuela may be best known for oil, conditions in the country are also extremely favorable for mining. "In my 35 years in the mining business, I've never seen an area with better infrastructure than Venezuela," he tells Wall Street Reporter senior analyst Todd Santorelli.
Areas of special focus in the exclusive interview include:
-- Gold Reserve's Brisas project in Venezuela's highly prospective "Kilometer 88" greenstone belt. "Brisas will be the largest gold producer in Venezuela with 456,000 ounces of gold and 60 million tons of copper," he says. "This is going to be one big open pit."
-- The truly remarkable level of existing infrastructure on and around the site, including water, a state-of-the-art power station, and paved road leading all the way to ocean portage. "We have zero infrastructure costs over and above the cost of building the mine, so it's really quite spectacular in that regard."
-- A follow-up grassroots property in the hot El Callao mining district. "We're just starting to drill."
"We'll be a good-sized to intermediate producer," by 2010, Mr. Belanger tells Wall Street Reporter. "And a very profitable one -- based on today's copper price, we actually have negative operating costs."
At ValGold Resources (TSX-V:VAL), CEO Steven Wilkinson notes that the Guyana Shield that stretches from Venezuela to Suriname is definitely "the right neighborhood" for gold miners to be in.
"The great thing about the Guyana Shield is that it is a belt of rock known for containing very large deposits from the same approximate time period that the world's largest core deposits are found," he tells Wall Street Reporter's Santorelli. "Deposits like the Las Cristinas and Brisas deposits in Venezuela are now up to a reserve of 31 million ounces of gold."
Mr. Wilkinson provides especially detailed discussion on the following topics:
-- ValGold's acquisition of the Guyana holdings formerly belonging to Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM). "This is a huge property," he says. "It's 1.2 million acres of permits and prospecting licenses. It has had several millions of dollars spent on it over the years."
-- A second acquisition on the Venezuela side of the border. "We've optioned and are acquiring Cisneros Group's mining subsidiary," he explains. "I was pleased we picked up these assets which have had previous expenditures by the Honnold Group and its partners, totaling in the range of US$68 million over the years. Our option is that it allows us to buy the subsidiary for a total of US$8 million, mostly in company shares and 25% cash."
-- Recent drilling results and what they mean for the company's strategic business plan.
"I believe we can fast-track a lot of our work simply because we are already in established mining camps with great infrastructure," Mr. Wilkinson says. "We are very aggressive in pursuing the information we acquired through making our acquisitions."
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About Gold Reserve Inc.
Gold Reserve Inc. engages in the exploration and development of mining projects in Bolivar State, Venezuela. The company owns interest in Brisas Project, a gold/copper deposit consisting of a 500-hectare land parcel located in the Km 88 mining district of the State of Bolivar in southeastern Venezuela. It also owns interest in Choco 5 property, a grass-roots gold exploration property located in the El Callao mining district in the State of Bolivar, southeastern Venezuela. Gold Reserve Inc. was founded in 1956 and is based in Spokane, Washington.
About ValGold Resources Ltd.
ValGold Resources Ltd. is an international mining development company based in Vancouver. The Company's objective is to generate wealth for its stakeholders applying its strategy of acquiring and developing properties with identified but under-explored mineral resources. ValGold is actively exploring in Canada its Garrison gold property, having completed its initial 25,000-meter drill program and launching a second round of drilling. ValGold has recently entered into agreements to acquire the mineral rights to approximately 5,775 square kilometers of the Guiana Shield of Guyana and Venezuela. The Guiana Shield is host to several major gold deposits including the Las Cristinas (17 million ounces), Brisas (12 million ounces), and Omai mine (4 million ounces).
Forward-Looking Statements
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