Vancouver, December 08, 2011 - Luna Gold Corp. (TSXV-LGC/BVL-LGC) ("Luna Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a significant mineral resource update at the Aurizona gold mine in Brazil. Measured and Indicated gold resources now total 78.0 million tonnes at 1.26 g/t Au or 3.17 million ounces gold, an increase of 250% from the previous mineral resource estimate published in January 2009. Inferred gold resources now total 15.2 million tonnes at 1.47 g/t Au or 0.72 million ounces gold, an increase of 79% from the January 2009 mineral resource estimate.
Notes:
25g/t Au capping at Piaba and 10 g/t Au capping at Tatajuba.
Block dimensions are 10m x 10m in the xy plane and 3m on the z axis.
Piaba database consists of 69,578 meters consisting of 335 diamond drill holes and 142 reverse circulation holes and 374 auger drill holes.
1 Piaba pit constrained resources are reported at a cutoff grade of 0.30 g/t Au inside a pit optimization shell based on a gold price of US$1500 per ounce.
2 Piaba underground resources are reported at a cutoff grade of 0.75 g/t Au outside the pit optimization shell. The cutoff grade has been calculated at al gold price of US$1500 per ounce.
3 Tatajuba database consists of 4,740 meters in 45 diamond drill holes (2008). The Tatajuba resources are not constrained by a pit optimization shell.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have a demonstrated economic viability
The independent QP responsible for the preparation of the mineral resource estimate and who has reviewed this press release is Leah Mach, CPG, of the Denver office of SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc.
4 The Company has not yet up-dated its mineral reserves estimate for the Aurizona Gold Operation based on the new mineral resource discussed in this press release. For greater clarity, the Company's mineral reserves estimate effective as of July 13, 2010 previously disclosed by the Company is based on an earlier mineral resource estimate which did not include the additional drilling data.
5 There may be political, environmental, legal and other risks that may materially affect the mineral resource estimate disclosed in this press release.
The resource has been updated by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. according to Canadian National Instrument 43-101 guidelines and is based on 43,968 metres of new diamond, reverse circulation and auger drilling by Luna Gold.
Luna Gold's President and CEO, John Blake, comments, "Luna Gold embarked on a drill program in August 2010 culminating in today's resource upgrade and I am pleased to deliver this on time as previously advised. These excellent results confirm the Company's confidence in the geological mineral endowment at Aurizona. The high percentage of pit constrained Measured and Indicated ounces demonstrates the high quality of this resource estimate. The quantum increase in total ounces provides a clear directive for Luna to embark on studies to increase production, delivering growth and shareholder returns. The geological knowledge base will now be dedicated to discovery of similar gold deposits in our adjacent Maranhão Greenfields project that will deliver further growth potential."
Work has now commenced on the identification of potential deep structural drill targets beneath the limit of the updated Piaba resource. Drilling has also started at the Boa Esperança target. In November, Itasca CA completed a structural mapping program in the Piaba pit to define the high-grade mineralization controls. This work will develop a better understanding of the structural setting and guide deep drilling planned for 2012. The Piaba deposit is now 3.30 kilometres in length and is currently open at depth on all cross-sections and strike.
Luna Gold's VP Exploration, Titus Haggan, states, "This resource update confirms the outstanding quality and growth potential of the Piaba deposit. We have identified strong similarities between Aurizona and major gold deposits of the West African Shield. This resource is an important first step in defining a world class gold deposit at Aurizona and benchmarks the discovery potential within our extensive Maranhão Greenfields project which is being advanced by our exploration teams."
The Company has also retained the services of a consulting firm to assist with the completion of a scoping study to identify the potential for expanded gold production opportunities at Aurizona.
About Luna Gold Corp.
Luna Gold is actively engaged in the operation, exploration, acquisition and development of gold opportunities in Brazil. The Company currently has a gold mining operation, Aurizona Gold Mine in Maranhão, Brazil, a gold development project, the Cachoeira project in Para, Brazil and the Company is exploring in a large strategically placed greenfields land position in Maranhão, Brazil.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
LUNA GOLD CORP.
John Blake -- President and CEO
Website: www.lunagold.com
|
