New Resource Calculation Significantly Increases Previous Resource
to 1.14 Million Ounces of Gold and 26.1 Million Ounces of Silver
Montreal, Canada – March 8, 2004. Sulliden Exploration Inc. (TSX: SUE) is pleased to announce the results of a new resource calculation conducted by MET-CHEM Canada Inc. on the Shahuindo gold/silver property in the Cajamarca district of Northern Peru.
The calculation carried out by MET-CHEM included data from the 3,450 meter drilling program completed by Sulliden in 2003 as well as previous drill holes completed by Asarco and Southern Peru. The resource now stands at 34,386,225 tonnes at 1.03 g/t of gold and 23.61 g/t of silver. A majority of the resource is classified as indicated with one-quarter in the inferred category.
Resource Calculation Shahuindo
Cut-Off Grade 0.3g/t Au
Resource class Tonnes Gold g/t Silver g/t Gold oz Silver Oz
Indicated 25,817,075 1.07 23.97 890,240 19,898,241
Inferred 8,569,150 0.92 22.54 253,836 6,210,567
Total 34,386,225 1.03 23.61 1,144,076 26,108,808
Total gold equivalent: 1.6 million ounces using a 1:57 gold to silver ratio
This compares to Southern Peru’s earlier estimate of 29.4 million tonnes at 0.88 g/t of gold and 16.2 g/t of silver for a total resource of 825,000 ounces of gold and 15 million ounces of silver. Since Sulliden’s acquisition of the property in late 2002, a high grade gold and silver Breccia zone as well as five other target areas have been identified. The new resource calculation excludes areas such as the West Zone where a single drill hole, hole #16, returned 0.95 grams per tonne of gold over 30 meters.
This resource calculation is very encouraging for Shahuindo’s outlook going forward. The increase in bulk grade and tonnage in view of the limited drilling program indicates excellent potential for future exploration work to uncover additional economic mineralization. The mineralized zones identified to date remain open in all directions.
Additional target areas outside of the original grid area, which represents approximately one-quarter of the 20,000 acre property, are being identified through geochemical soil sampling and trenching. An update of this program will be provided over the next several weeks.
Mr. Guy Saucier, professional engineer and Director of Corporate Development for Met-Chem Canada Inc. supervised the preparation of the resource calculation in accordance with the guidelines set out in National Instrument 43-101 and acted as the “Qualified Person” as defined therein.
Met-Chem Canada Inc. is an international consulting engineering firm headquartered in Montreal, Quebec specializing in services to the gold mining, metallurgical and mineral processing industries. A wholly-owned subsidiary of UEC Technologies LLC, part of US Steel Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it has completed numerous projects in over fifty countries throughout the world
Sulliden Exploration Inc. is a mineral exploration company with interests located in Canada and Peru. Its principal asset is its 100% interest in the Shahuindo gold-silver project in northern Peru which announced encouraging results of its first phase of drilling. A second phase drilling program has been initiated encompassing 10,000 meters of diamond drilling to test the extensions of the mineralized zones outlined in the first phase of drilling, as well as additional exploration targets from the soil geochemical survey.
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Jacques Trottier, President Donna Yoshimatsu, VP Investor Relations
Tel: (514) 861-1953 Tel: (416) 362-8809
E-mail: sulliden@colba.net E-mail: dyoshi@sulliden.com
