Drill Permit For Target 5 At Eastside Gold Project

VANCOUVER, BC - Columbus Gold Corp. has received a permit for drilling and associated road building and drill pad construction at Target 5 of its 100% owned Eastside gold project in Nevada. Target 5 is a geological and geochemical target located about 7 km south-southwest of the "Original Target", which is the site of essentially all previous drilling at Eastside so far.

Columbus geologic and alteration mapping, along with surface geochemical sampling, indicates that Target 5 is geologically identical to the Original Target. At Target 5 a rhyolite dome complex intrudes tuffs and volcanic breccia which were extruded as the rhyolite was emplaced. The rhyolite dome and eruptive complex was emplaced on a basement of Tertiary andesite lavas and lahars and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks.

Hydrothermal alteration is widespread at Target 5, consisting of widespread iron staining, replacement silicification, and zones of quartz veining, with large areas of acid leaching or steam-heated ground. The steam-heated ground, interpreted to have formed at surface above boiling hydrothermal solutions at depth, consists of opaline silica, kaolinite, and fine-grained alunite. North, northwest, and northeast-trending structures are present at Target 5 and control hydrothermal alteration in places. 

Geochemical sampling at Target 5 consists of about 150 surface samples of outcrop and float. Sampling results are similar to those at the Original Target where gold, silver, arsenic, antimony, and molybdenum are anomalous. Target 5 surface samples contain gold (ranging from 0-1.08 g/t gold), silver (ranging from 0-99 g/t silver), arsenic (ranging from 0-464 ppm), antimony (ranging from 0-240 ppm), and molybdenum (ranging from 0-69 ppm).

On a regional basis, Eastside gold mineralization occurs in a discrete package of overlapping, rhyolite flow dome complexes which were emplaced and/or erupted 7.2 million years ago. These flow dome complexes are confined to an outcrop belt about 3.2 km (2 miles) wide and 11.2 km (7 miles) long which is completely enclosed in Columbus Gold's claim block. Detailed mapping and sampling of the entire claim block by Columbus geologists has yielded numerous targets at Eastside.

The Eastside project has outstanding infrastructure for mining and processing, is 20 miles west of Tonopah, Nevada, and lies 9.7 km (6 miles) north of paved highway US 95, the main road route from Las Vegas to Reno. A good County-maintained, gravel road from the highway, along with a major power transmission line both pass through the claim block. The current drilling area is on the east flank of the Monte Cristo Range and a portion of the claim block extends well into the adjacent flats, which would provide excellent operating sites. The valley is known to have shallow water available in the same aquifer, which provided water for milling the Tonopah ores in the early 1900's. The area is high desert with sparse vegetation, and year-round drilling is possible.