Archive for category Corporate Updates

KINROSS GOLD CORPORATION ANNOUNCES PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF UNDERWORLD RESOURCES INC.

Underworld Resources Inc. and Kinross Gold Corp. have approved a business combination by way of a friendly offer by Kinross to acquire 100 per cent of the outstanding common shares of Underworld not already owned by Kinross. Subject to the execution of definitive agreements, the board of directors of Underworld unanimously recommends the offer to its shareholders and the directors and management team have agreed to tender their shares to the offer. Pursuant to the terms of the letter agreement, Underworld has agreed to work exclusively with Kinross toward the conclusion of a definitive support agreement which is anticipated to be executed and delivered by the parties by March 15, 2010.

Elements of the transaction include:

- For each common share of Underworld, Kinross will offer 0.141 of a Kinross common share, plus one cent in cash. The offer represents an implied offer price of approximately $2.62 per common share, based on the March 10, 2010, closing price of $18.54 per Kinross common share on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The transaction values the fully diluted share capital of Underworld at approximately $139.2-million.

- The offer represents an attractive and immediate premium of 36 per cent over the closing price of the common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on March 10, 2010, the last day of trading prior to announcement of the offer, and a premium of approximately 50.2 per cent based on the volume-weighted average prices of the common shares and Kinross’s common shares, for the 20 trading days ended March 10, 2010.

The board of directors of Underworld, after receiving the recommendation of a special committee of independent directors created by Underworld to oversee the transaction process, has unanimously determined that the offer is in the best interests of Underworld and Underworld’s shareholders, and unanimously recommends that Underworld shareholders tender their common shares to the offer. The directors and senior officers of Underworld will enter into customary lock-up agreements with Kinross to tender all of their common shares to the offer.

Underworld’s key asset is the White gold project, located in the Tintina gold belt, approximately 95 kilometres south of Dawson City, Yukon territory, Canada. Underworld chairman Michael Williams commented: “The Kinross offer brings substantial technical and financial resources to the White gold property which will further rapidly advance the project. We feel the Kinross offer provides immediate value to our shareholders.”

Underworld’s financial adviser Canaccord Financial Ltd. has provided an oral opinion to the Underworld board of directors that the consideration offered is fair, from a financial point of view, to Underworld’s shareholders.

Full details of the offer will be included in the formal offer and takeover bid circular to be mailed to Underworld shareholders shortly. The offer will be open for acceptance for at least 35 days following the commencement of the offer. The offer is subject to several conditions, including acceptance of the offer by the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding common shares (calculated on a fully diluted basis) and the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. If Kinross acquires at least two-thirds of the outstanding common shares, Kinross intends to take steps to acquire all outstanding common shares not acquired pursuant to the offer. If 100 per cent of the common shares are tendered, Kinross will issue approximately 6.8 million common shares pursuant to the transaction (based on the fully diluted share capital of Underworld), representing approximately 1 per cent of Kinross’s current outstanding common shares.

Underworld’s legal counsel is DuMoulin Black LLP. Kinross’s financial adviser is RBC Capital Markets, its strategic adviser is BMO Capital Markets and its legal counsel is Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.

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Underworld Resources Identifies New Drill Targets

Underworld Resources Inc. has identified a 40-kilometre-long trend of gold prospects and anomalous gold in soil geochemistry at the JP Ross and Maisy May property. This trend exhibits similar geologic and geochemical characteristics to the White Gold trend, which hosts the Golden Saddle and Arc Deposits. Within the trend, Underworld has identified a Golden Saddle-style geochemical signature that is underlain by similar host rocks. The company intends to aggressively drill test this area.

Underworld recently announced the initial resource estimation for the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits. The resource at Golden Saddle includes 1,004,570 ounces at a grade of 3.2 grams per tonne Au in an indicated category, with an additional 407,413 ounces of inferred resources at an average grade of 2.5 g/t Au. At the Arc zone, the initial resource includes 170,470 ounces at an average grade of 1.2 g/t Au in the inferred category.

The JP Ross trend is road-accessible, located approximately 65 km south of Dawson City, Yukon, and 35 km north of the White Gold trend. Underworld recently completed additional claim staking, expanding this claim group to 312 square km. JP Ross includes the headwaters to multiple active, past-producing placer operations, including Henderson, Maisy May and Black Hills creeks. Production records from the Yukon Geological Survey (2009) report over 177,689 ounces of gold mined from these operations.

During 2009, Underworld collected over 6,200 soil samples on the property, primarily “ridge and spur” reconnaissance lines. Four soil grids were completed over select target areas, including the Frenzy, Marnie, Vertigo and Spellbound prospects. This work has identified a 40-kilometer-long and 12-kilometre-wide area of anomalous gold and pathfinder elements. The northwest trend at JP Ross is a parallel orientation to the 9.5-kilometre-by3.5-kilometre trend at White Gold.

The Frenzy gold-in-soil anomaly measures 2.7-by-one-kilometres and consists of 459 samples with an average grade of 18 parts per billion Au, ranging from trace to 1,142 ppb Au. The prospect is underlain by similar host rocks to the Golden Saddle deposit, with a similar geochemical signature. The Golden Saddle soil anomaly, 1.8-by-0.9-kilometre in area, consists of 348 samples which outline an “u”-shaped anomaly with an average grade of 22 ppb Au, ranging from trace to 364 ppb Au.

The ridge and spur sampling has identified numerous areas for additional grid soil sampling, including Sabotage Ridge, 1,600 metres long, which is a single ridge line gold with soil samples ranging from trace to 132 ppb Au, averaging 23 ppb. Samples for the entire property range from trace to 2,200 ppb Au, averaging five ppb.

The JP Ross and Maisy May area is underlain by a similar rock types and structures to White Gold, including metamorphosed mafic volcanic, intermediate intrusive and sedimentary rocks, as well as mid-Cretaceous to Early Tertiary plutons and volcanics. At White Gold, Golden Saddle is hosted within a metavolcanic sequence and Arc is hosted with sedimentary rocks.

Adrian Fleming, president, said: “The new soil geochemical results for JP Ross vindicate the exploration approach we have used, are similar or of larger magnitude to the footprint of the Golden Saddle deposit and confirm the potential of the White Gold district to host multiple occurrences of gold mineralization. We look forward to the results of our proposed aggressive 2010 regional drill program.”

Due to poor exposure of bedrock in White Gold, soil sampling is the primary reconnaissance exploration tool utilized by Underworld. It plans to set up an additional exploration camp at JP Ross to complete further soil sampling, trenching and diamond drilling during the 2010 field season.

SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. was engaged by Underworld in September, 2009, to evaluate the mineral resources for White Gold discovered and identified by drill programs carried out in 2008, and 2009.

Underworld has implemented a rigorous quality control and quality assurance program at White Gold using best industry practice. Elements of the program include chain of custody of samples, insertion of standard and blank samples, and check assays. Soil and rock samples were collected by experienced, trained geologists and geological technicians, and shipped in sealed bags to Acme Laboratories in Vancouver, B.C.

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Underworld’s Initial Resource Estimate at Golden Saddle: Indicated Resources of 1,004,570 Oz. at 3.2 g/t Au and Inferred Resources of 407,413 oz at 2.5 g/t Au

Underworld Resources Inc. has released the initial resource estimation for the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits at the White gold property, Yukon. The resource at Golden Saddle includes 1,004,570 ounces at a grade of 3.2 grams per tonne gold in an indicated category, with an additional 407,413 ounces of inferred resources at an average grade of 2.5 grams per tonne gold. At the Arc zone, the initial resource includes 170,470 ounces at an average grade of 1.2 grams per tonne gold in the inferred category.

The resource estimates were undertaken by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. and are reported in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Securities Administration National Instrument 43-101. SRK carried out database verification, grade shell geometry, variography and ordinary kriging exercises. A database with a total of 13,260 samples from 96 drill holes was used for the Golden Saddle and Arc areas. The indicated and inferred mineral resources were classified according to the CIM definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (December, 2005) by Marek Nowak, PEng, of SRK Consulting, a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

Indicated and inferred resources were categorized as open pit or underground using 10-metre-by-10-metre-by-10-metre blocks at 0.5 gram per tonne gold and 2.0 grams per tonne gold cut-off grades, respectively, and using a Whittle shell model. Resources were estimated from a total mineral inventory of 1,480,870 ounces averaging 2.71 grams per tonne gold at the Golden Saddle deposit, and 170,470 ounces averaging 1.21 grams per tonne gold at the Arc deposit. It should be cautioned that the mineral inventory estimates should not be misconstrued as mineral resources.

 

          GRADE TONNAGE REPORT USING AN ORDINARY KRIGING ESTIMATE

Area           Type         Classification  Tonnes       Gold       Contained
                                            (000s)       (g/t)       gold (oz)

Golden Saddle  Open Pit     Indicated        9,665       3.19         990,840
                            Inferred         4,104       2.33         307,820
               Underground  Indicated          132       3.23          13,730
                            Inferred           918       3.38          99,590
Arc            Open Pit     Inferred         4,369       1.21         170,470

(i)Reported at a cut-off of 0.5 gram per tonne gold for open pit and 2.0
grams per tonne gold for underground. Mineral resources are not mineral
reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. All numbers have
been rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates.

 

At Golden Saddle, drill holes completed on approximately 50-metre-by-50-metre collar spacing were used to establish the resource. Wireframes were constructed to enclose mineralized zones with composited assays greater than 0.5 gram per tonne gold. The wireframes are therefore grade shells guided by the geology and modelled on vertical sections with closed polygons. Composited lengths of three metres and 10 metres were used to further guide the width of the wireframe mineralized zones, with the understanding that parts of the resource would be considered for open-pit mining as well as underground mining. The mineralization was split into four distinct zones for Golden Saddle. The primary mineralized zone is coded as the 110 zone. The 120, 130 and 140 zones have less continuity along strike and are slightly shallower in dip. The 120 zone is modelled intersecting the 110 zone downdip, while the other zones are presumed to intersect the 110 zone at some depth below the current model extents. An overall deposit 580 metres in strike length and up to 560 metres in downdip length has been defined.

The Golden Saddle deposit remains open to expansion along strike to the northeast and downdip to the northwest. Strength of alteration and mineralization increases in intensity to the northeast. The most northeasterly and deepest holes completed to date include holes WD09-101, which intersected 4.86 grams per tonne gold over 23.38 metres and WD09-103 which intersected 5.07 grams per tonne gold over 25.38 metres. For a complete list of drill hole intercepts and location maps, please see Underworld’s website.

At Golden Saddle, gold mineralization is preferentially hosted within metamorphosed felsic intrusive units, as well as felsic and mafic metavolcanic rocks, and is associated with quartz veins, stockworks and breccia zones, as well as pyrite disseminations that form northeast-striking and moderately northwest-dipping (plus/minus-50-degree) tabular bodies of gold mineralization. Comprehensive metallurgical testing indicates that a 92-per-cent-or-better gold recovery can be expected with a conventional plant at Golden Saddle, with 6 per cent to 9 per cent of contained gold reporting to a gravity concentrator prior to cyanidation.

At Arc, a total of 15 holes at approximately 100-metre-by-100-metre collar spacing and a single wireframe were used to establish the resource. Gold mineralization is preferentially hosted within metamorphosed sedimentary rocks in a broad zone ranging from to 10 to 30 metres in thickness and dipping 34 degrees to the north-northeast. Mineralization is associated with pyrite and arsenopyrite within silicified breccia and shear zones. The zone extends from the surface, has a strike length of 600 metres and extends 230 metres downdip, and is still open along strike and downdip.

Underworld is currently planning an aggressive drill program for 2010 to further expand the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits, and to drill test several new regional targets at the company’s extensive land position in the White gold district.

Quality assurance

SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. was engaged by Underworld in September, 2009, to evaluate the mineral resources for the White gold project discovered and identified by drill program carried out in 2008 and 2009.

These mineral resource estimates represent the first resource evaluation on the White gold project. The resource evaluation incorporates all drilling completed by Underworld to date. In the opinion of SRK, the block model resource estimates reported herein are a reasonable representation of the global gold mineral resources found in the Golden Saddle and Arc zones at the current level of sampling. Mineral resources for the White gold project are reported in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101, and have been estimated in conformity with generally accepted CIM Estimation and Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Best Practices guidelines. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserves. The resource estimate was completed by Marek Nowak, PEng (APEGBC No. 16985), a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

Underworld has implemented a rigorous quality assurance/quality control program at the White gold property using best industry practice. Elements of the program include chain of custody of samples, insertion of standard and blank samples, and check assays. Drill core is sawn in half and shipped in sealed bags to ALS Chemex Laboratories in Vancouver, B.C. Check assays are being undertaken by Acme Laboratories, Vancouver. Optimized metallurgical testing is being undertaken by Inspectorate PRA laboratories, Vancouver, under the guidance of JDS Energy & Mining Inc.

The company’s exploration program is being directed by Adrian Fleming, MAIG, RPGeo, MgoldsIMM, president of Underworld Resources and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Fleming prepared and approves of the content of this release.

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Underworld Returns Excellent Gold Recoveries at White Gold Property

Underworld’s Optimized Metallurgical Testwork Returns Excellent Gold Recoveries at White Gold Property.

Underworld Resources Inc. has released the results of a comprehensive metallurgical testing program on samples from the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits, at the 100-per-cent-owned White Gold property, Yukon.

Recovery ranged from 78 per cent to 97 per cent at the Golden Saddle zone and the comprehensive metallurgical testing indicate that 92 per cent or better gold recovery can be expected with a conventional plant at Golden Saddle.

Five 72-hr bottle-roll cyanidation tests were carried out on the samples which assessed gold recoveries based on variable grind sizes and cyanidation intensity. CIL cyanidation boosted gold recoveries up to 98%. Gravity recovery tests showed that from 6% to 9% of contained gold could report to a gravity concentrator prior to cyanidation. Near-surface oxidized material returned 94% gold recovery. Surface oxidation due to weathering at Golden Saddle ranges from 10 to 40 meters, averaging about 20 meters below surface. Local partial oxidation occurs near post-mineralization fault zones. The majority of mineralization encountered to-date at Golden Saddle is unoxidized.

Test work included several conventional processing options including: gravity gold recovery, bottle-roll cyanidation, carbon in leach (CIL) cyanidation and flotation. The impact of grind size on cyanidation tests was also investigated. Test work for the Golden Saddle Deposit was completed on core samples exhibiting different mineralization styles, including: oxide, sulfide, mixed oxide-sulfide material, as well as a low grade composite sample. Testing was also completed on a composite sample from the Arc deposit, located one kilometer south of Golden Saddle.

At the Arc zone, a 72-hr bottle roll and CIL cyanidation tests on a composite sample suggest gold recoveries ranging from 28% to 37%, however, floatation tests boost gold recoveries to 86%. Cyanidation at the Arc zone is impacted by graphite, which is not present at the Golden Saddle Zone.
The metallurgical test work was completed by Inspectorate PRA Labs of Vancouver, B.C. Bottle roll cyanide leach tests were performed for a target grind size of 80% passing 105 microns in 1 g/L NaCN.

The contrasting mineralogy and gold recoveries at Golden Saddle and Arc are due to varying host rock lithologies. Golden Saddle occurs within metavolcanic and metaintrusive rocks, with gold mineralization associated with pyrite veining, silicification, quartz breccias and stockworks, whereas the Arc Deposit is hosted by metasedimentary rocks, and is typified by hydrothermal breccias and silicification.

Underworld is currently working on an NI-43-101 compliant initial resource estimate for the White Gold Property, results of which are expected within the next month.

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Pacific Ridge Provides Update Klondike Kate

Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. has completed the 2009 exploration programs on four properties located in the Yukon’s Southern Klondike region. The Pacific Ridge program has successfully outlined the presence of Underworld Resources Inc.’s White Gold property-style mineralization as indicated by anomalous geochemical signatures on the Goldcap, Polar-Stewart and Mariposa properties. The Goldcap and Polar-Stewart properties are adjacent to the northeast boundaries of Underworld’s White Gold discovery claims. Geochemical anomalies on the Eureka property, located in the northeast region of the Klondike region, indicate an epithermal-style alteration system with anomalous gold values.

Geochemical soil sampling has been the primary exploration tool for the recent discovery of gold mineralization in the South Klondike-Underworld camp.

Gold Cap and Polar-Stewart properties

Pacific Ridge established a two-kilometre-by-four-kilometre soil sampling grid within the source area of an historic, highly anomalous gold-in-silt anomaly. This season’s work has defined three sub-parallel, northerly trending, arsenic-antimony-nickel-gold soil anomalies measuring two to four km in length and open for expansion to the north. The linear nature of the anomalous soils suggests the presence of structurally controlled mineralization. Geochemical values for arsenic range from 20 to 200 parts per million, nickel from 75 to 1,200 ppm, antimony from one to four ppm and gold from 12 to 290 parts per billion.

The geochemical anomalies are within one to two km of Underworld’s eastern claims boundary and appear to be building in intensity toward the northern limits of the presently established soil sampling grid. Early next season, additional soil sampling will be required within a proposed three-kilometre, northerly extension to the existing grid.

Mariposa property

Located approximately 50 km east of and within a similar geological setting to the White Gold discovery, the Mariposa property was acquired by Pacific Ridge as previously reported in Stockwatch on Sept. 23, 2009.

Although late-season field work was terminated by winter conditions, Pacific Ridge completed a reconnaissance soil geochemical program on the Mariposa property that confirmed the presence of an open-ended, two-kilometre-long gold soil anomaly overlying an altered schist host unit and nearby intrusive rocks. All geochemical and geological data are being compiled.

Results to date confirm trends of the previously established gold exploration targets along with opportunity for expansion.

Eureka property

Located approximately 55 km north of White Gold and immediately adjacent to the east of claims owned by Strategic Metals Ltd., the company performed preliminary exploration work at Eureka this past season.

Initial, property-wide rock sampling at Eureka has identified an area measuring approximately one by two km of alteration, along with an epithermal gold signature comprising anomalous values for arsenic, mercury, barium, antimony and gold. Results warrant establishment of a geochemical soil grid to better define the potential source area of gold mineralization.

Pacific Ridge’s 2009 exploration programs have been successful in defining the presence of gold targets on its Klondike Kate properties. Expanded geochemical surveys are now warranted, followed by mechanical trenching to define in-rock gold values prior to drilling campaigns proposed for 2010. Final exploration data compilation is still in progress and will be presented for viewing in January, on the company’s website.

Pacific Ridge’s disclosure of a technical or scientific nature has been reviewed by Wayne J. Roberts, PGeo, vice-president of exploration and a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.

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Kaminak Identifies New “Granite-Hosted” Style of Gold Mineralization on the Coffee Property: Additional 284 Claims Staked to Cover Priority Targets

Kaminak Gold is pleased to announce final 2009 assays from the Company’s 100% owned Coffee Property. Results reported here are from the Kona and Espresso Zones and are in addition to high-grade trench results previously released from the Supremo and Latte Zones. Gold mineralization at the Kona and Espresso Zones is hosted by Cretaceous-aged granite, representing a new host rock to mineralization in the White Gold District. Until now, mineralization in the White Gold District was thought to be hosted entirely by much older Paleozoic gneissic and schistose rocks. Based on this work, Kaminak has acquired by staking additional Cretaceous granite hosted targets within the district.

Key Results:

  • Kona trend grab samples yield up to 3.9 g/t Au within newly recognized host rock (Cretaceous-aged Coffee Creek granite)
  • New staking adds 284 claims (5,500 hectares) covering high-priority targets. Coffee property now totals 993 claims (19,900 hectares)
  • Espresso trend extended and remains open: soil values up to 1.04 g/t Au

“Our 2009 exploration program successfully defined four significant gold trends on the Coffee property over a total length of 11km,” stated Rob Carpenter, President and CEO of Kaminak. “We have only covered approximately 20% of the property with soil sampling and anticipate completing a significant soil sampling and trenching program next year in addition to diamond drilling “.

Kona Trend

The Kona Trend, 5km west of the high-grade Supremo Zone, comprises a northeast trending >50 ppb Au soil anomaly traceable for over 1,500m along strike and up to 500m wide. Updated maps are now available on the Company website at www.kaminak.com. A series of anomalous grab samples were obtained along the southern margin of the target, ranging from 0.19 g/t Au to 3.92 g/t Au. The area has not been trenched since results were received subsequent to the field season.

Geological mapping has confirmed that the mineralization is hosted by the Coffee Creek granite, which is inferred to be Cretaceous in age, representing a new host to gold mineralization in the White Gold District. Kaminak has staked an additional 284 claims covering the known extent of the Coffee Creek granite.

Espresso Trend

The Espresso target, 1km west of the Kona trend, was identified late in the summer of 2009 and constitutes a broadly northeast trending > 25 ppb Au soil anomaly traceable for 1200 meters by 750 meters that is open to the west. The 2010 program will target the western portion of the soil anomaly, not trenched in 2009, containing two soil values of 1.04 g/t Au and 0.72 g/t Au.

Anomalous gold values on the Coffee property are associated with heavily bleached and weathered rock comprised primarily of sericite and quartz. The host rock is heavily altered; however, a progression from fresh rock can be observed within the trenches. There also seems to be a correlation between high gold values and several pathfinder elements, including arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb). Overall, gold values for 100 total rock samples reported here ranged from below detection level to a high of 3.9 g/t Au. Trench sampling consisted of continuous chip samples over 5m intervals of oxidized and weathered rubble sub-crop that is interpreted as being near in-place.

QA / QC

Kaminak’s disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Rob Carpenter, Ph.D., P.Geo., Kaminak’s President and CEO, who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. Rock samples were shipped to Acme Laboratories of Vancouver, B.C. for analyses. Certified reference materials are inserted into the batch and results were verified by a British Columbia Certified Assayer. The Coffee property represents an early stage exploration property and does not contain any mineral resources as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

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Network Exploration Completes Airborne Survey on Yukon Property

Network Exploration Ltd. has completed an airborne geophysical survey of its 25 quartz mineral claims in the Yukon territory.

A low-level, multisensor airborne geophysical survey over the company’s Yukon property collected data from magnetic and radiometric instruments using a Bell 206 BIII helicopter equipped with a cesium vapour magnetometer sensor in a nose stringer (with sensitivity better than 0.01 nanoTesla with compensation) and 8.4 litres of of NaI gamma radiation detection crystals.

Precision GeoSurveys Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., was contracted to perform this survey which is designed to assist in the interpretation of bedrock units, structure and alteration. Survey lines were flown over the approximate 522-hectare property on an east-west orientation (as the regional trend is northwest-southeast) with 100-metre spacing and 1,000-metre spacing for tie lines.

Interpretation of results will be released when available.

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Kaminak Announces Trench Results, Plans for Drilling

Kaminak Gold Corp. has released new chip sample/trenching results from the Supremo gold-in-soil anomaly on the company’s 100-per-cent-owned Coffee property. Additional trench results from the Latte, Kona and Espresso gold-in-soil anomalies will be available in the coming weeks. Management has also approved plans for a minimum 5,000-metre phase one diamond drill program scheduled to begin in the spring/summer of 2010. This will be the first-ever drill program on the Coffee property and can be financed through Kaminak’s existing treasury.

Supremo trench results

Results are presented here from follow-up crosscut trenching that was completed near trench No. 3 where a previous result of 2.3 grams per tonne gold over 21 metres was obtained. This earlier result was from an east-west-trending shallow trench. Two new north-south-trending trenches six metres apart from one another were dug directly on top of the original east-west trench in hopes of expanding the known extent of the mineralization. Results include 11.72 grams per tonne gold over 10 metres from one trench and 8.56 grams per tonne gold over 15 metres from the other trench. Both of these high-grade results begin right next to the original trench and extend northerly.

The significance of these results is simplified on a sketch map available on the company website. The true width or extent of this zone is not fully known partially due to the oxidized and rubbly nature of the trench material, but it appears to have a roughly east-to-northeast trend. These new data have identified high-grade gold in rock as well as successfully extending the known area of mineralization in the trench No. 3 area.

A separate interval of 1.76 grams per tonne gold over 25 metres was uncovered from trench No. 2, approximately 100 metres from trench No. 3. The relationship between these occurrences is being investigated; however, initial observations suggest they are separate geological targets possibly hosted by a series of stacked structurally controlled zones.

These represent the final assays from the 2009 trenching program at the Supremo target. This program successfully identified several drill targets in addition to the results discussed in this release from trenches No. 2 and No. 3. Other notable targets include trench No. 6 (11.45 grams per tonne gold over five metres), trench No. 8 (1.37 grams per tonne gold over 30 metres) and trench No. 4 (0.53 gram per tonne gold over 45 metres). Additional trench results are pending from the Latte, Espresso and Kona targets and will be released in the coming weeks. Phase one drilling in 2010 will focus on evaluating priority targets from across the property and will be designed to test shallow, near-surface targets.

Anomalous gold values in the Supremo region are associated with heavily bleached and weathered rock comprising primarily sericite and quartz. This host rock is heavily altered; however, a progression from fresh felsic gneiss can be observed within the trenches. There also seems to be a correlation between high gold values and several pathfinder elements, including arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb). Over all, gold values for 25 total samples reported here ranged from below detection level to a high of 13.79 grams per tonne gold. Sampling consisted of continuous chip samples over five-metre intervals of oxidized and weathered rubble subcrop that is interpreted as being near in place.

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Hinterland Updates on Ballarat

Hinterland Metals Inc.’s soil geochemical and airborne geophysical surveys are now complete on the Ballarat property and preliminary interpretation of the results is encouraging. The exploration target at Ballarat is gold mineralization associated with soil geochemical and magnetic anomalies similar to Underworld’s white gold discovery located approximately 15 kilometres due north.

The soil survey has identified two parallel, northeast-trending, linear gold anomalies in the northwestern corner of the property. Each anomaly is roughly two kilometres long. The northern anomaly is better defined, more continuous and averages 100 to 150 metres wide. The second anomaly, located about 200 metres southeast of the first, is less definite, irregular and generally less than 50 metres wide. The anomalous gold area corresponds to a magnetic low that occurs on the northwestern margin of a circular magnetic high that covers most of the Ballarat property. The preliminary interpretation of the soil geochemical and magnetic data is that there is a sharp lithological contact between relatively gold-enriched rocks to the northwest with relatively gold-depleted rocks to the southeast. An exploration crew recently spent several days on the Ballarat property and located four quartz veins in the anomalous gold area.

The soil geochemical survey involved the collection and analysis of 1,478 B Horizon soils. The analytical work was completed at Acme Analytical Laboratories Ltd., in Vancouver, B.C. Samples were dried and sieved to minus-80-mesh size and analyzed for 36 elements (including gold) by 15-gram aqua regia digestion, ICP-MS finish technique. Acme is accredited under ISO 9001.

The multisensor geophysical survey airborne geophysical survey was completed by Precision Geosurveys Inc., of Vancouver, B.C., with a helicopter flying grid lines at 100-metre line spacing. A total of 300 line kilometers of data was collected. A high-resolution magnetometer system was used to assist in interpreting bedrock units, structure and alteration. A radiometric system consisting of a multichannel spectrometer with state-of-the-art design and large gamma-ray-sensing crystals was used to map lithologies and alteration.

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Underworld’s Metallurgical Tests Show Excellent Results

Underworld Resources Inc. has received non-optimized initial metallurgical testwork from the Golden Saddle and Arc gold deposits, at the White Gold property. These results returned excellent gold recoveries from the Golden Saddle zone.

At the Golden Saddle zone, a total of 23 samples from six 2008 drill holes averaging 6.60 grams per tonne (g/t) gold were analyzed by bottle roll cyanide leach methodology. All samples returned an average 85.5-per-cent recovery, ranging from 65.7 to 93.7 per cent. Samples included near-surface oxidized material, partially oxidized, and unoxidized material. Unoxidized and partially oxidized mineralization returned higher recoveries, averaging 87.7 per cent, with oxidized mineralization averaging 73.6 per cent. Additionally, higher-grade individual samples, over 10 g/t gold, typically displayed slightly lower recoveries averaging 83.7 per cent. This is potentially due to reduced leaching with coarse gold, which could possibly be amenable to gravity separation to boost recoveries.

Surface oxidation due to weathering at Golden Saddle ranges from 10 to 40 metres, averaging about 20 metres below surface. Local partial oxidation occurs near postmineralization fault zones. The majority of mineralization encountered to-date at Golden Saddle is unoxidized.

At the Arc zone, a total of 17 samples from two 2009 drill holes averaging 2.05 g/t gold were analyzed from the two styles of mineralization: graphite poor (WD09-39) and graphite rich (WD09-37). All samples averaged 51.2-per-cent recovery, however, gold mineralization without graphite averaged 81.7-per-cent recovery. The presence of preg-robbing graphite resulted in poor recovery, averaging 4.6 per cent. Graphite often occurs within sediment-hosted gold deposits, and can be removed using various metallurgical processes.

The Golden Saddle deposit is located 1,000 metres north of the Arc Deposit. The two deposits display different styles of gold mineralization, geochemistry and host rocks. Golden Saddle occurs within metavolcanic and intrusive rocks, with gold mineralization associated with pyrite veining, silicification, quartz breccias and stockworks, whereas the Arc Deposit is hosted with metasedimentary rocks, and is typified by hydrothermal breccias and silicification.

The different styles of mineralization and gold recoveries at Golden Saddle and Arc are due to varying host rock lithologies. The principal host rock at Golden Saddle was a granitoid that has been metamorphosed to an augen gneiss. Arc mineralisation is hosted by sediments which now outcrop as quartzite.

Underworld has initiated an optimized metallurgical testing program with Inspectorate PRA Metallurgical Division of Richmond BC, with results expected during the latter part 2009. Samples from the multiple styles of mineralization at the White Gold Property will be analyzed for cyanide leach, gravity recovery and Bond Work Index. Optimization studies such as gravity recovery have the potential to boost overall metallurgical recoveries.
Underworld is currently awaiting assay results from an additional 32 holes at the White Gold Project. At Golden Saddle, Mineralization remains open to expansion along strike to the northeast and at depth.

Quality Assurance

Underworld has implemented a rigorous QA/QC program at the White Gold Property using best industry practice. Elements of the program include: chain of custody of samples, insertion of standard and blank samples, and check assays. Drill core is sawn in half and shipped in sealed bags to ALS Chemex Laboratories in Vancouver, B.C. Check assays are being undertaken by Acme Laboratories, Vancouver. Bottle Roll cyanide-leach analysis from the 2008 samples were performed by Alaska Assay Labs in Fairbanks, AK, and for 2009 samples by ALS Chemex Laboratories in Vancouver, B.C.

The ongoing 2009 Exploration Program is directed by Adrian Fleming, M.A.I.G, RPGeo, M.Aus.I.M.M., President of Underworld Resources and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Fleming prepared, and approves of the content of this release.

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