Fronteer confirms high-grade at Kirazli

Vancouver — Fronteer Development Group (FRG-T) reports higher-than-expected gold grades at the Kirazli project in western Turkey.

Fronteer optioned the Kirazli property from Teck Cominco (TEK-T) in May 2004. The Vancouver-based junior is testing the oxide zone of an epithermal system by core-drilling 3,000 metres, using results from previous reverse-circulation work as a guide.

In its initial hole, Fronteer intersected 12.23 grams gold per tonne over 39.4 metres starting at 43.3 metres down-hole. Within this intercept is a higher-grade interval of 44.01 grams gold over 9.1 metres, followed by 2.69 grams gold over 30.3 metres. When cut to 0.5 gram gold, the hole contains 4.54 grams gold over 115.7 metres.

Fronteer used drill data it acquired from Eldorado Gold (ELD-T), which performed RC drilling in the early 1990s. Significant intercepts from that program included 13.7 grams gold over 19.5 metres, 1.9 grams gold over 103.5 metres, and 6.3 grams gold over 8.8 metres in separate holes. Based on this drilling, Eldorado caluclated a contained resource of 250,000 oz. gold.

“We have confirmed some of the historical drilling and significantly improved on previous results,” Fronteer President Mark O’Dea says about the ongoing program. “The nature of the target is a bulk-tonnage, high-grade epithermal system, but it seems to be cored by a breccia zone running bonanza gold grades.”

Fronteer’s first hole bottomed in gold mineralization at a depth of 223 metres, where it intersected 8.7 metres grading 1.55 grams gold in the sulphide zone underneath the oxides.

The company plans to drill off the oxide zone first. It will drill a few deeper holes as well, to about 300-400 metres, to see what the grades are like at depth.

Kirazli is one of five epithermal gold projects in western Turkey covered by the option agreement Fronteer signed with Teck Cominco. The agreement is subject to Teck Cominco’s back-in rights.

Fronteer is also exploring the Agi Dagi property, which has an inferred resource of 11.3 million tonnes grading 1.2 grams, or 435,000 oz. gold.

Other properties under the agreement include the Biga group of properties, which are earlier-stage prospects with large alteration and geochemical footprints.