NEW FRONTIERS IN MINING — Orvana advancing Butte Highlands

The 1993 drilling program at the Butte Highlands gold prospect in Montana is complete and results indicate the presence of a consistent zone of gold mineralization.

Orvana Minerals (TSE) is testing the downdip and strike extent of a gold-mineralized skarn previously mined in the early 1940s.

Prior to closing in 1942 as a result of the War Measures Act, the underground mine produced an estimated 107,000 tons grading 0.6 oz. gold per ton. The Orvana drilling tested the zone over a distance of 900 ft. to the southeast from the western end of the old mine workings and downdip for up to 1,300 ft. The gold mineralization is associated with the hangingwall and footwall of a skarn zone measuring more than 200 ft. in thickness and dipping steeply to the north.

The footwall mineralization has a variable grade and measures 10-40 ft. in thickness while the hangingwall zone has a more persistent grade and measures 10-60 ft. in thickness. The skarn also contains a localized broad zone of lower-grade gold mineralization.

The initial hole (93-2) of Orvana’s program, released in October, 1993, returned a spectacular 225 ft. grading 0.69 oz. Hole 93-11, a new release, indicates that a spreading of gold values occurred in Hole 93-2 and that the zone is much narrower, although likely higher in grade than previously thought.

Hole 93-11 is wedged off 93-2 about 35 ft. above the hangingwall zone and returned a 2-ft. intersection at a depth of 758.5 ft. grading 2.15 oz., followed by 2.3 ft. with no core recovery.

Orvana believes the lost interval is represented by the 5-ft. interval grading 14.6 oz., a few inches away in Hole 93-2.

That high-grade, 5-ft. interval is preceded by an upper 5-ft. interval grading 2.32 oz., correlating well with the grade of the 2-ft. interval in Hole 93-11.

The central zone in 93-11, from 820 ft. to 845 ft., grades 0.10 oz. compared with the same interval in 93-2 which graded 0.23 oz.

The footwall zone in 93-11, from 948 ft. to 985 ft., graded 0.31 oz. compared with the adjacent interval in 93-2 which returned a grade of 0.35 oz. Hole 93-12 was drilled about 100 ft. to the west of Hole 93-2 and encountered 43.5 ft. grading 0.34 oz. from 762.5 ft. to 806 ft.

Hole 93-1, drilled from the same collar as 88-3 (an old Battle Mountain hole), returned a 10-ft. intersection from 885 ft. to 895 ft. grading 0.17 oz. and a 10-ft. intersection from 925 ft. to 935 ft. grading 0.32 oz. The hole correlates well with the results from Hole 88-3 which returned a 5-ft. intersection grading 0.22 oz. and a 15-ft. intersection grading 0.16 oz., about 120 ft. updip from the intersections in Hole 93-1. Hole 93-8 was drilled about 100 ft. to the east of Hole 93-2 and encountered 4 ft. grading 0.31 oz. from 1,189 ft. to 1,193 ft.

Hole 93-3 was drilled from the same collar as 93-2 but was deflected farther to the east and deeper than planned. The hole intersected the skarn about 350 ft. from 93-2 but returned only low-grade gold values.

Orvana believes the geological disruption of the mineralization to the east of Hole 93-2, as indicated by Holes 93-8 and 93-3, is only local since the mineralized stratigraphy has been identified 6,000 ft. east of the Chief claims and beyond.

Further field work is expected to begin in late May or early July, depending on snow conditions. In the meantime, Orvana is conducting an analysis of all the available geological and geochemical data in order to plan a detailed drilling and underground evaluation of Highlands Mine area.

President Neil Hillhouse said the company will likely spend at least $2.5 million on the project this year, although no specific plans have been made. The company also plans to test the more-than-3-mile-long strike of perspective stratigraphy on the property, once exploration resumes.