For immediate release
July 11, 2005
MEDIA RELEASE
DE BEERS CANADA AND PURE GOLD MINERALS SIGN OPTION AGREEMENT FOR THE COURAGEOUS LAKE PROPERTY, NWT
Toronto - Monday, July 11th, 2005 — De Beers Canada is pleased to announce that it has signed an option agreement with Pure Gold Minerals Inc for De Beers' Courageous Lake property in the Northwest Territories (NWT). The property consists of 14 mineral claims covering approximately 143 sq kilometers and is located 243 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife.
Beginning in 2001, De Beers conducted exploration of the Courageous Lake property consisting of 3,000 km of airborne geophysics, 80 km of ground geophysics and collection of more than 200 samples. "De Beers Canada is pleased to continue its relationship with Pure Gold with this latest agreement. The property at Courageous Lake has yielded positive results and we are confident that Pure Gold has the expertise and resources to successfully discover the source of these results. We are pleased to be partnering with them again," said Richard Molyneux, President and CEO of De Beers Canada.
In terms of the agreement, Pure Gold must spend $1.2 million on exploration of the property over four years to earn an 85% interest, with a minimum of $150,000 in the first year. If a discovery is made and a feasibility study indicates the existence of a deposit over a certain threshold in terms of value, De Beers has the option to buy back a 70% interest for a pro rata amount two times that spent by Pure Gold on the project. For projects below the threshold, Pure Gold will be the operator.
De Beers has found over 200 kimberlites in Canada, often in conjunction with joint venture partners, and its exploration budget this year is C$40 million. The company's current land holdings in Canada are 235,000 sq km. In August 2004, De Beers signed a $3.95 million option agreement with Pure Gold for the exploration of the 22,500 sq km Colville Lake property in the NWT. Pure Gold made use of De Beers Canada's expanded Sudbury treatment plant for the Colville Lake project and intends to do so again for its 2005 sampling campaign. The plant exceeded De Beers' goal of one month turnaround time.
De Beers has two mining projects under development in Canada, Snap Lake in the NWT and Victor in northern Ontario. Sampling and delineation work continues at two of the company's advanced joint venture projects, namely Gahcho Kué, with Mountain Province Diamonds and Camphor Ventures, and Fort à la Corne, with Kensington Resources and Cameco Corporation.
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information contact: |
Linda Dorrington
Manager - Public and Corporate Affairs
De Beers Canada Inc.
Business Office: 416 645-1710 ext. 2107
Home Office: (905) 849-0619
Cell Phone: (416) 818-2254
Email: linda.dorrington@ca.debeersgroup.com
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