Minera IRL making good progress at Don Nicolas gold project in Patagonia

Minera IRL (AIM, BVL: MIRL, TSX: IRL) said the feasibility study for the Don Nicolas gold project in Patagonia, Argentina, is well underway.
Two rigs are now engaged in extension and in-fill drilling on the Sulfuro Vein at La Paloma and when completed, expected by the end of June, will move on to a similar exercise on the gold mineralization at Martinetas.  This will allow the resource to be substantially categorized as Measured and Indicated Resource.  The exploration focus is to make new discoveries near defined resources whilst progressively assessing several other existing exploration targets.
Good progress is being made on other aspects of the feasibility program such as the environmental EIA study, metallurgical testing, mining studies and a hydrology program aimed at securing adequate water resources.
Don Nicolas currently has an Indicated Resource of 1,078,000 tonnes at 5.8 g/t for 200,700 ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 1,075,000 tonnes at 4.6 g/t for 158,400 ounces of gold.
The amalgamation of Hidefield Argentina into Minera IRL Patagonia SA is now substantially complete and the 2010 program is in full swing.
"I am extremely pleased with our work program in Patagonia and am more convinced than ever that the Hidefield takeover was an excellent transaction." said Courtney Chamberlain, executive chairman of Minera IRL. "We have a high quality, enthusiastic team which has integrated very well and increasing potential is already emerging on our tenements."
Inaugural exploration field work success has already mapped a new, significantly wide breccia zone at Escondido, with a strike length of over 500 meters and up to 100 meters wide, located immediately south of Mariana Resources' (AIM: MARL) Las Calandrias project.
Of the 22 outcropping rock samples taken by Minera IRL at Escondidos, 11 returned values above 0.1g/t gold of which 7 were above 0.2g/t gold.  Twelve samples analysed also assayed above 4g/t silver.  The highest grade sample assayed 2.4g/t gold and 84g/t silver.
Analysts at broker FinnCap are currently in South America and noted that the closest intersection Mariana Resources drilled at Calandria Sur, Las Calandrias, was collared 10 metres from the Minera IRL property boundary.
Recent results show that the Las Calandrias mineralisation is present on both properties. FinnCap believes Las Calandrias has the potential to become a series of open pit mines extending over both properties. Minera IRL and Mariana Resources know each other well and may cooperate in the future as the projects become more advanced, it added.
Field work on Minera IRL’s property is also gearing up at Pan de Azucar where earlier Hidefield surface sampling obtained gold assays as high as 54g/t from the outcropping low-sulphidation quartz vein that has been mapped on surface over a strike length of 1 kilometre.  Environmental and archaeological clearance is in progress on both of these projects in preparation to the follow-up phase of exploration.
The group operates the Corihuarmi gold mine and the emerging Ollachea gold project in Peru as well as the Don Nicolas project.

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