Message #9 From:
Stock News Bot Date: March 1, 2007 05:16:00 AM
GNLM News General Metals Update: Independence Mine Phase 1 Drilling Will Help Define Open Pit Ore Reserve and Set Stage for Deep Drilling
RENO, Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--General Metals Corporation (OTCBB:GNLM) has just received an Exploration Potential Report dated February 26, 2007, on its Independence Mine in Battle Mountain, Nevada, from Independent Consulting Geologist Paul Lindberg of Sedona, AZ. After a comprehensive review of all of the data in the Company’s possession at its Reno Office on January 19, 2007, Lindberg concludes: “All of the known historic mine records and more recent surface drilling indicate that the mineralization found at the Independence Mine is merely the higher level expression of a deeper gold skarn ore target at depth. The Wilson-Independence property contains both shallow and deep economic-grade mineral potential... Once the initial...drill holes have been completed, fill-in drilling would help define an open pit ore reserve. The Phase 2 drilling program would benefit from the shallow surface drill program... No plans for the deep drilling program should be made before the Phase 1 drilling of the Independence and North Target areas have been completed.”
Lindberg further states: “There are two known types of ore deposits in the Independence and Fortitude mine areas. Both are believed to have been formed peripherally around the Wilson lobe and the main body of the Copper Canyon stock, a 38 million-year-old granodiorite intrusive. These lobes may be connected at depth to a larger intrusion. The shallower Independence mine ore deposit contains...elevated silver values relative to gold, indicative of higher-level epithermal veins that overlie deeper hypothermal mineralization where gold values are expected to increase... The second ore type is a gold-bearing skarn in the more prospective Antler Peak Limestone that lies at depth below the Golconda thrust plate. This type of skarn ore is found at the Fortitude deposit and has also been found to underlie the epithermal veins found at the Independence mine. The greatest gold ore potential on the property lies at depth within the skarn zone.”
Paul Lindberg is a renowned structural geology expert and has consulted on very large projects for Phelps Dodge and other major mining companies over the years. The Company’s President and CEO, Steve Parent, comments: “I was introduced to Paul Lindberg by Phelps Dodge’s western exploration manager while working on a copper exploration project in Arizona in the 1980s. We worked well together and we have consulted several times in the past. It became clear as we near the definitive drilling campaigns that Paul’s input would prove invaluable. He has agreed to assist us in making the Independence a world-class project as well.”
According to Carew in a 2006 Summary report: “The Independence property is strategically located on strike with Newmont’s world-class Fortitude/Phoenix gold skarn deposit whose gold reserves exceed 8.5 million ounces and is scheduled for production in mid-2006. The Independence property has reasonable potential to develop an underground resource in the Antler sequence, together with a smaller-surface/near-surface resource in the overlying Pumpernickel formation... The Fortitude deposit, located some 4,000 feet to the north, contained roughly 2.8 million ounces of gold in a compact ore body of 2.4 million tons.”
In addition to the Independence mine, Carew is consulting for our Company in Ghana, West Africa, where he is currently on a consulting assignment for Newmont, who has stated on www.newmont.com: “Newmont is particularly excited about the development of its Ahafo and Akyem projects in Ghana. These two projects were acquired as part of the Normandy transaction in 2002. Since then, Newmont has added more than 12 million ounces to reserves for a combined 16 million ounces at year-end 2004. Construction at Ahafo is well underway, with start-up scheduled for the second half of 2006. In July 2005, Newmont's Board of Directors approved development of Akyem, for an expected start-up in 2008.” Newmont also forecasts gold recovery costs in Ghana to be in the $200/ounce range rather than the $300-plus in Nevada.
About General Metals: We currently control 100% of The Independence claims, which are completely surrounded by Newmont Mining’s Phoenix Mine (www.newmont.com) and form a 240-acre island with legal access. From 1983-1997, there were several exploration campaigns conducted by Noranda, Teck Exploration, Northern Dynasty and Great Basin Minerals which resulted in about 80 reverse circulation and core drill holes being drilled and reported. The 1997 Carrington Report, the 1997 Akright Report, the 2006 Carew Report and the 2005 Frost and Larsen findings are available for review in their entirety at the Company’s office in Reno, Nevada. An Executive Summary is available on the Company’s website, www.generalmetalscorporation.com.
The Company has an initial exploration budget for the Independence Mine of $1,350,000 which will be expended for geology, geophysics, Phase 1 drilling and early permitting.
Targeted recovery: 235,000 oz. of gold and 2.5 million oz. of silver.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, any mineralization estimates or other resource estimates combined in the report of Paul Lindberg or in the Carew report, any exploration by Newmont Mining in Ghana and any reserves they have reported in the area or any associated gold recovery costs, the mineralization of the Concession, the budget for, and any exploration of, the Independence Mine, that an estimated 235,000 ounces of gold and 2,500,000 ounces of silver are contained in the mineralized material in the Phase 1 target, and the budget, expenses and permitting associated with any Phase 1 drilling program.
Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration. We are not in control of metals prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-KSB for the 2006 fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-QSB and other periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
