Columbus Gold Commences Drilling at Awakening

VANCOUVER, BC - Columbus Gold Corporation reported that it has commenced a Phase I drilling program at its Awakening gold project, located 45 miles north-northwest of Winnemucca, Nevada.
Twenty-four drill sites are permitted and bonded. The program will consist of up to approximately 7,200 ft of reverse circulation drilling in 10 to 12 holes.
The Awakening District produced 26,262 ounces of gold from 1914-1963, largely from the Jumbo Mine. Gold mineralization on the east side of the district occurs with narrow quartz veins cutting Mesozoic shale and sandstone. The mines on the east side of the district are best known for small but often very high-grade "pockets" of gold ore; recent drilling however has identified a new type of discovery in the district with broad zones of low grade mineralization in quartz stockworks, potentially minable by open pit.
The Property was recently explored with a series of excavator trenches followed by the drilling of six rotary holes in January 2008. Columbus confirmed the drill results by re-logging the drill holes and verifying the assay results, by both the duplicate assaying of pulps and also by assaying separate splits of cuttings taken at the rig. In addition, preliminary metallic screen assaying of cuttings, available from only one hole (ABZN), indicates the potential to significantly upgrade gold values in both high and low grade samples. Metallic screen assaying of the other holes is in progress.
The Awakening Property is centered in an area of considerable exploration. XCal is drilling at the Sleeper Mine to the northwest; Evolving Gold is planning a drill program to the west; and Newmont is earning into Fronteer's Sandman Project to the east-southeast.
The company's address is Suite 910 - 475 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2B3, 604-689-2599, fax: 604-689-3609, email: [email protected].