FOR: PACIFIC RIM MINING CORP.
TSX, AMEX SYMBOL: PMU
AUGUST 2, 2002 - 08:59 EDT
Pacific Rim Mining Corp.: High-Grade Gold Intersected on
El Dorado Drill Program
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--Pacific Rim Mining Corp. is pleased
to announce the latest results from its on-going diamond drill
program and further drill target generation on surface at the El
Dorado gold project located in El Salvador. Assay results for the
bottom 70 meters of P02-204, and all of P02-205 and P02-206 have
been received and assays are pending for an additional four holes.
/T/
A summary of the latest drill results is presented in the following
table:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Drill
hole
Hole UTM azi- From To Inter- True Gold Silver
No. Northing/ muth/(meters (meters section Width (g/t) (g/t)
Vein Easting dip down down (meters) (meters)
Tested (degrees) hole) hole)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
P02-204*
(results
from 320m
to 390 m
EOH)
Moreno, 301,580/ 270/ 341.6 341.85 0.25 unknown 26.78 183
Varicose 534,508 54 345.65 346.2 0.55 unknown 9.39 57
P02-205
El Dorado, 301,578/ 72/ 373.1 384.15 11.05 9.75 9.33 56
Minita 533,867 50
P02-206
Moreno, 301,304/ 270/ 142.05 143.4 1.35 1.10 55.49 159
Minita, 534,297 50
El Dorado
----------------------------------------------------------------------
/T/
*P02-204 from surface to 320 m down hole was presented in NR
#02-08 and included no significant results
A drill plan map is available at our website www.pacrim-mining.com
ABOUT THE DRILL RESULTS
Assays for the deeper portions of P02-204 intersected several
narrow, high-grade veins that do not correlate with any known
veins at the surface and hence, their orientation and true width
are undetermined. These intersections include: a drill thickness
of 0.25 m averaging 26.78 g/t Au at a down hole depth of 341.6 m;
and, 0.55 m averaging 9.39 g/t Au at a depth of 345.65 m.
Drill hole P02-205 was designed to pass through the El Dorado vein
at an elevation of 200 m and the Minita vein at an elevation of
100m, which falls within the Productive Interval range of 100 to
250 m above sea level. Assays from the El Dorado vein were below
the 6g/t Au cutoff, however the Minita vein intersection returned
9.33 g/t Au and 56 g/t Ag over a true width of 9.75 m. This
intercept pierces the Minita vein system approximately 60 meters
below and to the north of previous drilling in the high grade zone
of this vein, which places it along the rake of, but outside the
current Minita resource area. As such, this intersection may
contribute to an expansion of the current high-grade Minita
resource.
Drill hole P02-206 was designed to test the southern Moreno, the
southern Minita and the El Dorado veins. The southern Minita vein
averaged 55.49 g/t Au and 159 g/t Ag over a true width of 1.1 m.
This intersection is at an elevation of approximately 295 m ASL
and is roughly 50 m south of the Minita resource area. Follow-up
drilling to further explore this area is warranted by this result
and will commence in the coming months.
"We are very pleased with the results of the El Dorado drill
program to date. High-grade gold mineralization has been
identified both north and south of the existing resource (which
may eventually result in an expansion of this resource) as well as
on other veins in the vicinity. There are many high-quality
targets that remain to be drill tested both in the center of the
project area where our Phase 1 drilling is concentrating, and
elsewhere on this large property," states Tom Shrake, CEO.
"Pacific Rim is well-financed and in a strong position to continue
to advance the El Dorado project," adds Catherine McLeod-Seltzer,
President.
NEW TARGETS DEVELOPING FROM CONTINUED SURFACE WORK
Coincident with drilling, work continues on the development of
additional drill targets through surface exploration. Mapping and
outcrop/trench sampling has identified two obvious targets in the
area north of the Minita resource. Two samples collected from the
Minita 3 vein assayed 15.38 g/t Au and 13.63 g/t Au over a width
of 0.1 m.
Additionally, the southern extension of the Nueva Esperanza vein
has been sampled 150 m south of where previous shallow drilling
tested this vein and 500 m NNE of the Minita resource. Two
separate samples were taken across the vein that averaged 21.03
g/t Au and 12.26 g/t Au over widths of 0.95 and 0.6 m
respectively.
ABOUT EL DORADO
The El Dorado District is an adularia-sericite type epithermal
gold system located in El Salvador that hosts bonanza gold. Over
35 known quartz veins have been identified and these veins have a
total strike length of over 18 kilometers. Diamond drilling by
previous workers concentrated on shallow, near-surface intervals.
Limited past drilling at deeper intervals demonstrated that the
highest grade gold was encountered in a "Productive Interval" that
occurs in the elevation range of approximately 100 to 250 meters
above sea level (ASL). This equates to a depth below surface of
roughly 150 to 300 meters. Only two veins have been
systematically drill-tested in the Productive Interval by previous
workers. The current drill program is designed to test a number
of high-priority vein targets in the Productive Interval seeking
high-grade chutes of gold mineralization. The Minita Vein system
was mined in the mid-1900's and currently hosts an indicated
resource of 799,200 tonnes with an average grade of 13.7 g/t gold
and 97.9 g/t silver below the old stopes. This resource totals
over 350,000 ounces of high-grade gold. Details of this resource
estimate and a summary of the geology of the El Dorado project are
presented in a technical report prepared for Dayton Mining
Corporation (a predecessor company of Pacific Rim Mining Corp.) by
Mr. P. LaCroix, P.Eng (a Qualified Person as defined in National
Instrument 43-101) entitled "Resource Update Nueva Esperenza & El
Dorado Mine Area - El Dorado Project - El Salvador", dated
February 8, 2002. The report is summarized in Dayton's most recent
Annual Information Form, available on SEDAR.
43-101 DISCLOSURE
Pacific Rim's exploration work on the El Dorado project is being
supervised by William Gehlen a Certified Professional Geologist
with the AIPG (No. 10626), an employee of Pacific Rim and a
Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. Mr. Gehlen has verified
that the drill results presented above have been accurately
summarized from the official assay certificates provided to the
Company. Pacific Rim's drill sampling procedures follow the
Exploration Best Practices Guidelines outlined by the Mining
Standards Task Force and adopted by The Toronto Stock Exchange.
This includes splitting the drill core, collecting one half for
assay and retaining the other half for future reference, uniquely
labelling and bagging each sample, limiting access to drill core
and samples, storing samples in a secure environment and promptly
shipping samples to a North American laboratory. Samples have been
assayed using fire assay with a gravimetric finish on a 30-gram
split. Quality control measures are being implemented. Samples
were assayed by Inspectorate America Corporation in Reno, Nevada
USA, an ISO 9002 certified laboratory, independent of Pacific Rim
Mining Corp.
On behalf of the board of directors,
Thomas C. Shrake, CEO
The statements contained in this release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements, which involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from targeted results. These risks and uncertainties include but
are not limited to the expected size of the Company's current
drill program and the potential for discovering additional gold
mineralization. Pacific Rim's disclosure of these results follows
National Instrument 43-101.
-30-
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Pacific Rim Mining Corp.
Barbara Henderson
Tel: (604) 689-1976 or Toll Free 1-888-775-7097
(604) 689-1978 (FAX)
Email: info@pacrim-mining.com
Website: www.pacrim-mining.com
The TSE and the AMEX has neither reviewed nor accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. |
