Drilling Permit Obtained For New York Canyon Property

VANCOUVER - Emgold Mining Corporation reported that Kennecott Exploration Company, subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc, has obtained approval to conduct drilling activities at the New York Canyon Property, Nevada. The Property is subject to an Earn-In with Option to Joint Venture Agreement between Emgold and Kennecott Exploration. The Permit allows for drilling and other exploration activities to be conducted on the Property under a Notice of Intent (NOI). Any surface disturbance on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, subject to the NOI, is limited to less than five acres. The Permit allows drilling with an anticipated project duration of two years. Kennecott Exploration has also completed reclamation bonding for the planned drilling program.

The Property consists of 417 unpatented claims and 21 patented claims totaling approximately 8,700 acres. It is in the Santa Fe Mining District, Mineral County, in west-central Nevada, about 30 mi. (48 km) from the town of Hawthorne. The claims are divided into two groups - the North and South Groups. The North Group of claims comprising the Property covers historic past producing copper operations and gold occurrences and is adjacent to the past producing deposits.

The South Group of claims contain the Longshot Ridge, Champion, and Copper Queen deposits, which consist of copper skarn oxide, copper skarn sulfide, and copper porphyry sulfide mineralization. Copper mineralization is hosted primarily within the Triassic-age Gabbs Formation limestone sequence with some in the underlying Triassic-age Luning Formation limestone units and overlying Jurassic-age Sunrise Formation limestone sequence. Mineralization in skarns is adjacent to Cretaceous age felsic intrusive rocks.