VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 1, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. (OTCBB:SLGLF) (Frankfurt:SLGL) (www.silverado.com) (the "Company" or "Silverado") intends to recommence diamond drilling in the area adjoining Pringle Bench immediately to the Northeast. (See Map 2 on www.silverado.com/maps). Call Garry Anselmo or Bob Dynes for an interpretation of these maps.) The last trench excavated here encountered 16.4 feet of 5.22 ounces of gold per ton. This area will be free of snow and open for drilling by early June 2009. From here, another 2500 foot long extension of this zone continues further northeast to the Hillside area where drilling encountered massive stibnite (antimony sulphide) and gold. This 2500 foot zone from Pringle Bench to the Hillside area represents a geochemically and geophysically anomalous area located uphill from the area of test placer gold mining conducted over the years by Silverado. This test mining area yielded about 20,000 ounces of placer (nugget) gold including many +/- 2, 10, 15, 20 and 30 ounce gold nuggets and one 41 ounce gold nugget. The Pringle to Hillside area is a logical target to discover the sources of the large nuggets.
By concentrating our drilling on this area, as well as "in-fill" and expansion drilling in the Workman's Bench area, we will have a chance to intersect some of the nugget source gold mineralization whose presence is indicated by placer samples immediately down hill from this area, while also expanding our current reserve base of high grade ore. (See our April 22, 2009 news release - www.silverado.com/s/NewsReleases.asp .)
Baseline studies will be completed this summer on the property's natural run off water. In conjunction with this work, nominal mine acid waste rock disposal, mill tailings and mill process water disposal studies will continue.
The Nolan ore encountered to date is relatively metallurgically simple and therefore it should be relatively easy to separate its constituents. It is envisioned that a simple gravity and water extraction process will be adequate for the concentrating process, thereby eliminating the need for chemicals. Mine planning shows most mine waste rock and mill tailings would remain underground and as such, minimizes handling and disposal costs.
Silverado's Grant hard rock gold mine near Fairbanks, Alaska was the first zero discharge to the environment hard rock mine in Alaska and possibly in North America. Silverado's Nolan Placer Gold Mine was one of the first zero discharge to the environment placer mines in Alaska. We are pleased to have the opportunity to carry on this environmentally desirable practice.
Technical information in this release is based on data provided the Company in NI 43-101 reports dated July 29, 2008 and January 1, 2009 by the Company's contracted qualified person, Mr. Thomas Bundtzen, AIPG Certified Professional Geologist of Pacific Rim Geological Consulting, Inc.; and from company geologist's samplings, all of which were conducted under the supervision of Mr. Bundtzen. Both technical reports may be viewed on Silverado's website at www.silverado.com or on Silverado's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Answer to a sometimes asked question, "When Silverado says it is diamond drilling, does that mean it is drilling for diamonds?" A legitimate question, but the answer is no. Diamond drilling in this context refers to a type of drilling wherein industrial diamonds are imbedded in the metal matrix on the drill bit so that it may cut through rock in order to return a rock core for study and analytical purposes.
About the Company
Silverado Gold Mines Ltd, a publicly traded company, is an exploration-stage enterprise focused on the exploration of gold properties with some past production. The Company has gold properties located throughout Alaska, which include a 100 percent (%) interest in numerous mining claims located on the Nolan Creek property. The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Silverado Green Fuel Inc, is developing a new environmentally friendly low-rank coal water fuel technology. The fuel is designed to be produced from low-rank coal and processed into an environmentally friendly oil substitute. For more information about Silverado Gold Mines Ltd or Silverado Green Fuel Inc, please visit www.silverado.com and www.silveradogreenfuel.com, respectively.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the Company's business and the industry and markets in which it operates. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties regarding the market price of gold, availability of funds, government regulations, common share prices, operating costs, capital costs, outcomes of test mining activities and other factors. Forward-looking statements are made, without limitation, in relation to operating plans, property exploration activities, including test mining activities, availability of funds, environmental reclamation, operating costs and permit acquisition. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", or "continue", and the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. Actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating these statements, you should consider various factors, including the risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Canadian Securities Authorities and the US SEC. These factors may cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update these statements, or disclose any difference between its actual results and those reflected in these statements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.