Southern Rio drills 3Ts property

Vancouver — Southern Rio Resources (SNZ-V) has begun drilling at its 3Ts epithermal gold-silver project, 125 km southwest of Vanderhoof, B.C.

The program is targeting the Ted vein, where previous drilling returned significant gold-silver intersections. Drilling will continue until mid-December and resume in January.

The Ted vein has been defined along a strike length of 350 metres from surface to a depth of 120 metres, and has a true width of up to 14 metres. Southern Rio intends to define the geometry and grade of the vein in order to calculate the size of the resource.

Crews will test the northern and southern extensions of the vein, as well as seek a parallel vein system, which is indicated through soil geochemistry and boulder sampling.

Any resources defined by drilling will be added to those already defined on the nearby Tommy vein, which hosts an inferred resource of 470,700 tonnes grading 7.4 grams gold and 65.2 grams silver per tonne.

The Tommy and Ted Veins are classical shear veins hosted in a much larger epithermal alteration system. Mapping of the alteration suggests the Tommy Vein is displaced at its southern end and that the mineralized vein structure continues across the fault.

Southern Rio recently identified several zones of high-grade mineralized boulders. The company collected 233 rock samples, 38 of which contained gold values greater than 1 gram per tonne, while 26 contained silver values in excess of 50 grams per tonne.

New data

Results from backhoe trenching and ground geophysics, which included seismic and ground-penetrating radar, are pending. These new data will help the junior define additional drill targets at the newly discovered Ringer zone, where grab samples returned up to 78.5 grams gold and 282.5 grams silver per tonne, as well as the Mint zone, where limited previous drilling returned 2 metres averaging 8 grams gold and 80.4 grams silver. Southern Rio will drill-test these targets in early 2004.

At the Ringer zone, crews found several large, angular boulders of quartz-vein material, which measure as large as 2 metres. The prospect is on the southwestern portion of the Taken property. Eight samples returned an average grade of 19.01 grams gold and 140.1 grams silver per tonne. Individual values ranged from 0.95 to 78.5 grams gold and from 6.9 to 282 grams silver.

Three semi-continuous chip samples from the three largest boulders returned 1.8 metres averaging 22.9 grams gold and 158 grams silver, 0.6 metre averaging 0.95 gram gold and 6.9 grams silver, and 1.1 metres averaging 24.4 grams gold and 172 grams silver. These results represent some of the highest gold grades obtained from the property to date.

Southern Rio believes these new boulders are not sourced from any of the known outcropping veins on the property, owing to their location, physical character and geochemical signature. The most likely source is an undiscovered mineralized bedrock vein or veins situated up-ice to the southwest.

Adrian West and Corner

In addition, significant assays were reported from the nearby Adrian West and Corner zones. Both zones are situated away from any known bedrock source. Four samples of angular vein float from the Adrian West zone, which is on the boundary between the Tam and Tsacha properties, returned gold values ranging from 0.08 to 5.15 grams per tonne and silver values of 21.2-1,032 grams. Two of 10 samples from the Corner zone, which also overlaps the Tam and Tsacha property boundary, returned 1.26 grams gold and 331 grams silver, and 1.58 grams gold and 304 grams silver.

At the Adrian Creek prospect, Southern Rio reports peak assays from boulders of 84.3 grams gold and 592 grams silver. The best assay results from the Triple Junction area were 49.9 grams gold and 372 grams silver.

Elsewhere in the region, Southern Rio has performed reconnaissance work on the Uduk Lake, Sam and Trout properties. Uduk Lake covers a large alteration system in felsic volcanics, with widespread anomalous gold values in a setting analogous to the Round Mountain gold deposit in Nevada. Several geophysical anomalies have been interpreted as possible mineralized alteration pipes. Southern Rio considers these high-priority drill targets.

At the Sam property, the junior plans to carry out gridding for a geophysics program, while, at Trout, reinterpretation of previous drilling results has defined possible untested extensions of the known breccia-hosted gold mineralization. The Trout drilling returned up to 20 metres grading 3.82 grams gold and 20.7 metres grading 3.42 grams gold.

In October, Southern Rio engaged Canaccord Capital for a brokered private placement of up to 5.1 million units priced at $0.15 each for gross proceeds of up to $765,000. A unit consists of one share and half a non-transferable share purchase warrant exercisable for one year after the date of closing at a price of 20 per share.