Moutain Lake and Marathon further expand Leprechaun gold deposit

Mountain Lake Resources (CVE:MOA) said Tuesday that a wide interval of gold mineralization was intersected on the northeast section of the Leprechaun gold deposit, part of the joint venture Valentine Lake property in central Newfoundland.
Drill hole VL-11-288 returned 2.09 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 65.6 metres, including 16.5 g/t gold over 3.2 metres and 76.0 g/t gold over 0.8 metres.
The company said the wide intersection confirms the potential for intersecting additional wide zones of high grade gold at depth within the Leprechaun deposit.
Additional new gold was also found in hole VL-11-287, with 9.39 g/t gold over 7.2 metres, including 16.68 g/t gold over 4 metres, and in hole VL-11-289, with 2.59 g/t gold over 8.8 metres. These results show that high grade gold continues along strike within the deposit.
Valentine Lake is a 50/50 joint venture between Marathon Gold (TSE:MOZ) and Mountain Lake, with Marathon as the operator of the project.
"For the balance of the year the focus of the drill program will be on expanding and delineating the Leprechaun Deposit in advance of the Preliminary Economic Assessment planned for release in the first half of 2012," said Mountain Lake president and CEO, Gary Woods.
"And these latest results certainly provide evidence that the resource can be significantly expanded."
Mountain Lake said the results extend the zone of gold mineralization more than 40 metres down dip, and over 50 metres along strike from previous drilling results, further expanding the resource.
Currently, the Leprechaun deposit, at a 0.5 g/t gold cutoff, has an NI 43-101 compliant measured and indicated resource of 277,000 ounces of gold, plus an inferred resource of 285,000 ounces.
The second rig at the site has now moved towards the southwest end of the current pit outline, and has intersected typical gold mineralization, with assay results expected over the next two weeks. A total of 73 holes, for over 10,000 metres, have been completed so far this year at Valentine Lake, of a planned 25,000 metres for 2011.
The Leprechaun deposit is situated at the south-western end of the Valentine Lake property with the Sprite Zone and the Valentine East Zone to the northeast. These gold occurrences form part of a 23 kilometre long, gold-bearing mineralized corridor.
Both Marathon and Mountain Lake have agreed to jointly fund a $7.1 million budget for this year. Reps from both companies have recently decided to defer the next resource estimation until the current drilling program has been completed, and an open pit resource can be estimated, which will be the basis of the forthcoming preliminary economic assessment.