High-grade gold and silver cut at Debarwa

Vancouver – The latest results from Sub-Sahara’s drilling on the Debarwa copper and gold deposit include impressive gold and silver grades in addition to copper in the Supergene zone. The results are from an ongoing infill and exploration drill program at the project designed to provide detailed data for an independent resource estimate. The higher grades encountered so far bode well for increasing the resources which were based on lower average grades.

The Debarwa deposit is one of several significant zones of mineralization on the Asmara volcanogenic massive-sulphide project situated immediately west of the capital city Asmara, in Eritrea, in the Horn of Africa. The project is some 150 km west of Nevsun’s Bisha copper and gold project. It comprises three exploration licences and one application covering an area of 1,300 square km. Sunridge Gold (SGC-V) can earn a 90% interest in the project, which, at present, is jointly held by Australian-listed Sub-Sahara Resources and Africa Wide Resources.

Impressive intervals from diamond drilling starting from depths of 30 to 40 metres downhole within the Debarwa Main Supergene zone included DEBR-D-21 with 20.10 metres of 15.3% copper, 9.69 grams gold and 123.86 grams silver per tonne; DEBR-D-022 with 20.0 metres of 12.83% copper, 4.55 grams gold and 68.83 grams silver; and DEBR-D-023 with 10.0 metres of 25.0 grams gold and 372.01 grams silver in addition to 17.0 metres of 12.33% copper with 1.85 grams gold and 58.55 grams silver per tonne.

The Debarwa Main Primary zone returned 18.0 metres grading 3.96% copper, 5.48% zinc, 1.37 grams gold and 35.14 grams silver per tonne, in hole DEB-D-014.

Phelps Dodge calculated a resource from supergene and primary zones of the Debarwa deposit in 1999. A total of 1.65 million tonnes averaging 5.15% copper and 1.4 grams gold at a cut-off grade of 1.0 gram gold, 0.5% copper equivalent and 2.5% copper equivalent were estimated for the gossan, supergene and primary zones respectively. The resource was categorized as indicated at the time, however the drill spacing is too low to comply with today’s National Instrument 43-101 standards according to a recent technical report.

A fourth rig has been added to the three rigs now turning on the property which is allowing the 30,000 metre program to be stepped up. Other priority targets on the property will be drill tested as well.