Montreal , Canada – May 19, 2004 . Sulliden Exploration Inc. (TSX: SUE) is pleased to provide the first of an exploration progress update of ongoing geochemistry, trenching and drilling on the Shahuindo gold/silver property in the Cajamarca district of northern Peru. To date, more than seven drill holes have been completed totaling close to 1,000 meters. Results of the 10,000 meter second phase drilling program will be released by target area with the first package of drilling results anticipated in the coming weeks. Sulliden intends to drill up to 30,000 meters before year end.
Sulliden Exploration Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on the development of its 100% owned Shahuindo gold-silver project located 25 km north of Alto Chicama and 70 km south of Yanacocha in northern Peru. In 2003, the first phase of a 3,450 meter drilling program identified a high grade gold and silver Breccia zone as well as five new target areas. This formed the basis of a new resource calculation in March 2004 by Met-Chem Canada Inc. of 25.8 million tonnes of 1.07 g/t gold and 23.97 g/t silver in the indicated category, and 8.5 million tonnes of 0.92 g/t gold and 22.54 g/t silver in the inferred category for a total of 1.14 million ounces of gold and 26.1 million ounces of silver.
To better define its full potential, Sulliden has decided to initially focus on the unexplored areas of the property, outside of the previously identified zones. Sulliden has already completed an additional 200 kilometers of high resolution ground magnetics, soil sampling and trenching over 75% of the 10,000 hectare Shahuindo property. Significant structural trends associated with known alteration at the property have been identified in several new target areas. To date, trenching guided by soil sampling has covered an anomalous area that can be followed almost continuously over a strike length of more than 5 km. The 100 meter trenches which run perpendicular to the soil geochemical anomalies have returned very encouraging results.
One trench located roughly 2 kms southeast of the main San Jose deposit returned 0.46 g/t gold over 100 meters including 0.76 g/t gold over 46 meters. Another trench localized in the central portion of the property has returned 0.32 and 0.61 over 39 and 36 meters respectively, presenting a potential extension of the Breccia zone. In addition, 2 kms to the north of the San Jose deposit lies another trench averaging 0.48 g/t gold over 100 meters including 1.14 g/t gold over 21 meters which ends in mineralization. Another trench 2 kms to the northwest has returned an average of 0.35 g/t gold over 100 meters.
These results in surface soils are very significant. As a point of comparison, these gold grades are of the same order of magnitude as that originally found in soil geochemistry overlying the San Jose gold deposit (150 to 500 ppb gold). Drilling will continue to follow these new target areas which indicates the exciting potential of the Shahuindo project yet to be explored.
Stephane Amireault is a Geological Engineer and a member of the Professional Engineers of Quebec who serves as the "Qualified Person" for this release as defined by the Ontario Securities Commission National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Amireault is a project geologist for Sulliden Exploration Inc. and has supervised the preparation of the technical data contained within this release and certifies the data to be accurate based on current geologic knowledge of the deposit.
The analyses were carried out at ALS Chemex laboratories in Lima , Peru .
For Further information please contact:
Dr. Jacques Trottier, President
Tel: (514) 861-1953
E-mail: sulliden@colba.net
Donna Yoshimatsu, VP Investor Relations
Tel: (416) 362-8809
E-mail: dyoshi@sulliden.com
Certain of the information contained in this news release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include without limitation, statements regarding estimates of reserves and resources, future plans and objectives, uncertainty with respect to precious metal price volatility, title to properties, project financing and regulatory environmental and other permits. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Sulliden’s expectations are disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors” in its 2003 Annual Report as well as in its 2003 Annual Information Form (AIF) both of which are filed with Canadian regulators on SEDAR.
