EXPLORATION 1997 — Mineral prospects in Cuba and Hemlo district lure CaribGold Resources

The 1996 exploration effort of CaribGold Resources (CG-T) will be directed at gold prospects in Cuba’s Camaguey district and in the famed Hemlo gold camp of Ontario.

The Toronto-based junior recently completed an airborne survey over its newly optioned 134-claim group in the Hemlo district. The program, which focused on the White Lake property, identified five electromagnetic anomalies, two of which are coincident with rock and humic gold anomalies identified by a previous operator.

CaribGold President David Bell played a key role in the Hemlo gold discoveries in the early 1980s, and his experience should provide the company with a competitive advantage over other companies exploring in the region.

This year, CaribGold plans to carry out follow-up induced-polarization surveys at White Lake, with diamond drilling to follow.

Meanwhile, drilling is set to begin at the Camaguey concession in Cuba.

Initial work will focus on the Santa Elina prospect area, which was recently elevated to a prospecting concession, now known as Jacinto.

Trenching and stripping in this area have revealed new zones of quartz veining, as well as extensions of previously known zones. So far, five vein systems have been identified. Two of these, Beatriz and South Elina, have received the most work, resulting in a combined resource of 1.6 million tonnes with an average grade of 4.27 grams gold per tonne.

CaribGold is evaluating other vein systems, including El Limon, 500 metres northwest of Beatriz, where trenching returned 15.82 grams gold over 7 metres. Trenching at West Elena, 400 metres northwest of Elena, returned 6.67 grams gold over 3.5 metres. And trenching at La Ceiba, the most westerly of the veins found to date, returned 1.01 grams gold and 44 grams silver over 5 metres.

Drilling in March will test the new zones, as well as the southern extension of the Beatriz vein. The latter target is of particular interest as last year’s drilling ended with intersections of 4.2 metres of 67.33 grams gold and 1.9 metres of 11.34 grams gold in the most southerly holes drilled on the Beatriz vein.

Elsewhere on the property, CaribGold crews will continue stripping and trenching in an effort to define veins and search for new vein systems.

CaribGold has other properties in Cuba, though, to date, results from the Camaguey concession have shown the most promise. The company may seek a joint-venture partner for its other concessions, or else return them to the state-owned mining company.