Firstgold ready to pour at Relief Canyon

Vancouver – After spending two years and $16 million on a new processing facility for old ore, Firstgold (FGD-V) is essentially ready to pour gold at its Relief Canyon facility.

The Relief Canyon heap leach facility sits on the site of the old Pegasus mine, just outside of Lovelock, Nevada, and some 180 km km northeast of Reno. The mine produced over 140,000 oz. gold between 1986 and 1989, when the operation was shut down due to the declining price of gold.

Firstgold is tapping into the gold left behind on the heap leach pads, which contain 8 to 10 million tons of ore. Historic estimates indicate the old heaps host 50,000 oz. gold. Once the old ore has been re-processed, Firstgold hopes to feed its facility with new ore from nearby exploration targets.

Over the last two years the company built a new crusher system and overhauled the processing plant. In November the company began feeding old ore into the crushing facility and stacked material on its new heap leach pad. Following receipt of the required permit, Firstgold applied cyanide solution to the pile at the end of January.

Pregnant solution has started to flow from the leach piles. Firstgold shipped gold-loaded carbon bars for processing at an external facility; the company has built a facility on site to pour its own dore bars but the facility has not yet been approved.

The company plans to produce 4,000 oz. gold each month in 2009 and then more than double production in 2010, to 100,000 oz. per year.

In seeking feed beyond the old ore piles, Firstgold is targeting three zones: the old pits, the North target, and the Southwest target. The company punched 12 holes into the area between the two old Pegasus pits, returning some intercepts of interest such as 40 metres of 0.96 gram gold per tonne and 26 metres of 0.75 gram gold.

Firstgold also believes mineralization continues to the north, where an historic hole returned intercepts such as 3.2 grams gold over 23 metres, including 4.7 grams gold over 13.7 metres, and 0.9 gram gold over 110 metres. Firstgold followed up on that hole with a small drill program; the best hole from that program returned 31.92 grams gold over 4.6 metres, starting 264 metres downhole, within a 18.3-metres interval grading 1.13 grams gold.

And under the old waste dump and low grade stockpile sits the southwest target, where Firstgold has not yet drilled.