Lumina hits wide gold zone in Expo drilling (January 23, 2006)

Vancouver — Follow-up drilling by Lumina Resources (LUR-T, LUMNF-O) on the NW Expo area of its Hushamu project, on northern Vancouver Island, B.C., has intersected a wide zone of gold mineralization.

Drill-testing of an estimated 80-metre wide structure returned 95 metres (from 133 metres down-hole depth) grading 1 gram gold per tonne, 0.17% copper and 0.025% molybdenum in hole 228. The structure occurs in an area of limited outcrop but is defined by a 2-km-long magnetic anomaly.

An earlier hole (218), drilled deeper and along the same section as hole 228, intersected 125 metres (from 318 metres down-hole depth) of 0.52 gram gold, 0.11% copper and 0.005% molybdenum.

Gold mineralization is hosted in silica-chlorite-magnetite and dickite-kaolinite altered Bonanza Group andesites. The NW Expo area is situated in the same land package and close to Lumina’s Hushamu porphyry copper-gold deposit, located about 10 km to the southeast. Hushamu hosts a measured and indicated resource of 231 million tonnes grading 0.28% copper and 0.31 gram gold calculated in 2003 using a 0.2% copper cutoff. An additional 52.8 million tonnes of inferred resource averaging 0.28% copper and 0.38 gram gold has also been estimated using the same cutoff.

Understandably, Lumina is excited with its new gold discovery and the potential economic effect it may have on any possible future development at Hushamu.

Hushamu sits within the Island Copper Belt, which also hosts the now-closed open-pit Island Copper mine that was operated by BHP Billiton (BHP-N) predecessor, BHP-Utah Mines. Island Copper began operations in 1971, producing a total of about 345 million tonnes averaging 0.41% copper, 0.19 gram gold and 0.017% molybdenum until its closure in 1994.

Lumina holds its area land package under two agreements. The core Hushamu ground (Moraga Block) is wholly-owned but subject to a 10% net profits interest royalty held by BHP Billiton. On the surrounding claim group (Electra Block), Lumina is earning a 100% interest from Electra Gold (ELT-V, ELCGF-O) for $200,000 in payments over three years and an additional $800,000 in cash or stock upon any production decision.

Lumina Resources was formed in mid-2005 from the restructuring of Lumina Copper, which was split into four companies based on geographic land holdings. Lumina Resources holds the North American projects of its predecessor: Hushamu, in B.C., the Redstone copper deposit in the western Northwest Territories and the Casino porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in the Yukon.

The company posts a market capitalization of $11.3 million based on its 21 million shares outstanding and recent 54 trading level.