Bellhaven hits strong copper in Panama (August 13, 2007)

Vancouver — Strong copper grades in its initial drill hole at Cerro Chorcha, in Panama, gave junior explorer Bellhaven Copper & Gold (BHV-V, BHVCF-O) a significant share price boost in recent trading.

Bellhaven stock moved up 19% to $1.19 on the results from hole 1, which encountered the thickest, highest-grade mineralization found on the property to date. The company has completed three holes, but results from two are still pending.

Over its entire 239-metre length from surface, the hole returned 1.2% copper, 0.23 gram gold per tonne, and 6.1 grams silver. The top 114 metres of the hole hit 2.01% copper, 0.43 gram gold, and 11.3 grams silver.

Bellhaven acquired the Cerro Chorcha property last September. After completing a trenching program and building a camp, the junior started in on a 3,300-metre first-phase drill program to test the copper-gold-silver mineralization associated with the structurally controlled quartz-magnetite stockwork within and to the west of the main porphyry copper deposit.

Hole 1 is 50 metres east of a historic diamond-drill hole that intersected 309 metres of 0.78% copper and 0.07 gram gold, part of a 26-hole program by Arlo Resources in the mid-1990s.

The Cerro Chorcha deposit has been traced 1 km along strike with the mineralized zone at least 500 metres wide.

The 242-sq.-km Cerro Chorcha concession block sits in western Panama, in the headwaters of the Guariviara River. Discovered by Asarco in 1969, the site had seen 35 diamond-drill holes before Bellhaven bought Cuprum Resources, which holds the concession, last year.

In March, Bellhaven signed an agreement with Empire Minerals (EMPL-O) whereby Empire will pay Bellhaven cash and stock worth US$6 million as well as a US$15-million spending commitment over three years in exchange for a 65% interest in Cuprum and therefore in the property.

The project contains an inferred National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource of 135 million tonnes grading 0.48% copper and 0.06 gram gold. Bellhaven’s drill program includes infill holes to upgrade the estimate to indicated from inferred, as well as stepout holes to test for expansion as the deposit remains open to the north, southwest, and at depth.

Bellhaven, which started trading in January 2005, holds several exploration projects in Panama. The Rio Liri project hosts Cerro Pelado, or “bald hill,” where strong silicification and sulphide mineralization have weathered, producing a rocky, acidic soil in which few plants grow. The bald hill attracted mineral exploration, and the site now hosts an NI 43-101-compliant inferred resource of 1.7 million tonnes grading 1.35 grams gold. When the first phase of drilling at Cerro Chorcha is complete, Bellhaven plans to move the drill to Rio Liri to start exploration there.

Bellhaven also holds a land package on the Azuero Peninsula, in Panama. A 2-year exploration program conducted by Aurum Exploration generated three drilling targets, and Bellhaven encountered gold mineralization in trenches over one target — the Bejucosa prospect — this summer.

As well, the company has four prospects covering over 150 sq. km in the country’s Veraguas Gold Belt, and in central Panama, is joint ventured with Western Troy Capital Resources (WRY-V, WTCRF-O) at the Viento Frio project.