Inter-Citic reports "significant" trench results from Dachang

Inter-Citic Minerals (TSE:ICI) (OTCQX-ICMTF) unveiled Tuesday trenching results from the 2011 exploration season at its Dachang gold project in China.

The company said that trenching is the primary method used to make new discoveries at the project due to the thin soil cover and near surface mineralization at the property.

The results reported Tuesday represent the final results from the 21,00 metre trenching program in 2011, which uncovered four new areas of surface discovery - two in the southeast part of the Dachang property, one north of the original Dachang Main Zone, and one southwest of the Placer Valley Zone.

In addition, the trenching program also expanded the 861 and Acadia Zones.

The discoveries made were all fault controlled sulfide gold mineralization similar to the Dachang Main Zone. The company plans on expanding these new zones through additional drilling and trenching this year.

Highlights of the latest trench results include 17.0 metres of 6.65 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, or 113.05 gram-metres gold in the southeast area.
 
The company said in a statement that "a consistent spatial relationship has been observed between the gold in soil anomalies, trench values and underlying strongly altered and mineralized fault zones".
 
The most advanced new discovery at Dachang expanded by the 2011 trenching program is the 861/XP fault system, which has now been drill tested on its known western and eastern extents.

This fault system north of the Dachang Main Zone has now been delineated along a 2.8 kilometre extent, the company said.

The 861 Zone located on the fault's west end is still open to the west and has now been "consistently intersected in trenches and 40 metre spaced drill fences" along a 1.4 kilometre strike length to depths of 125 to 150 metres, Inter-Citic said.

The central section of this fault that lies between the 861 Zone and the nearby XP Zone requires further drill testing. The XP Zone remains open along strike to the east.

Notable trench highlights on the 861 Zone include 19.00 metres of 1.53 g/t gold or 29.07 gram-metres gold.

Last month, the Toronto-based company said it renewed three key exploration licenses at its Dachang gold project. It also combined two other licenses covering the Dachang Main Zone in order to facilitate permitting.

The renewal is effective immediately, and is valid until November 25, 2013, when it will be eligible for further renewal, the company said.

In addition, the company received from the Chinese government a re-drawing of the boundaries of the remaining two exploration licenses within the property area to facilitate the permitting of the Dachang Main Zone, which hosts most of the company's current NI 43-101 compliant inferred mineral resource estimate.

The 279 square kilometre Dachang project is now comprised of four licenses, all of which have been renewed successfully by Inter-Citic as they have come due in the past.

In February, Inter-Citic unveiled the fifth and final set of drill results from 26 holes that formed part of the 2011 exploration program at Dachang.

The results were all from the 861 Zone at Dachang, which now appears to be related to the same structure hosting the previously-reported XP Zone, Inter-Citic said.

Highlights of the latest results from the 861 Zone included hole CJV-1268, which intersected 6.0 metres with an average grade of 3.20 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, and hole CJV-1270, which returned 3.0 metres at an average of 3.21 g/t gold.

Moreover, hole CJV-1278 encountered an interval of 13.0 metres at an average grade of 3.61 g/t gold, while hole CJV-1280 reported 4.5 metres of 4.16 g/t gold.

The currently defined NI 43-101 compliant resource at Dachang, calculated in June 2011, consists of an estimated measured and indicated inventory of 1.88 million ounces of contained gold - 17.2 million tonnes gold grading 3.41 g/t - plus a further inferred mineral resource of 1.93 million ounces contained gold  - 21.3 million tonnes grading 2.83 g/t.

A new NI 43-101 compliant preliminary economic assessment for Dachang is due in 2012.