Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands (Oct 17, 2006) – BrazMin Corp. (“BrazMin” or the “Company”) (TSX: BZM) is pleased to announce the commencement of drilling on its Água Branca Gold Project (“Água Branca” or the “Project”), located within the Tapajós Gold District in Pará State, Brazil.
A proposed 2,000 metre (12 to 15 holes) Phase I Diamond Drill Program has commenced at Água Branca. The program will test gold mineralized structures along the Camarão Hill target area. Camarão Hill is characterized by a 750 by 300 metre area of historic “garimpos” (artisanal workings) (see Company website at www.brazmin.com for maps of Água Branca).
Target selection for initial drill testing is based on the results of geological mapping, channel sampling and airborne geophysical surveys which commenced in July 2006. To date, a total of 395 channel samples of predominantly saprolite, with lesser mottled zone, from surface exposures, shafts and adits have been collected at Água Branca. Results from an initial 141 channel samples are included in a BrazMin news release dated September 19, 2006. Highlights from the next 225 channel samples include:
Horizontal channels:
- 10.72 g/t Au over 2.30 metres in channel ABC-079
- 9.49 g/t Au over 1.78 metres in channel ABC-059 (open in one direction)
- 9.69 g/t Au over 1.56 metres in channel ABC-210
- 15.88 g/t Au over 0.71 metres in channel ABC-264 (open in two directions)
Vertical channels (open in all directions, sample length limited by adit height):
- 12.17 g/t Au over 1.52 metres in channel ABC-275
- 12.78 g/t Au over 1.40 metres in channel ABC-269
- 6.45 g/t Au over 1.80 metres in channel ABC-241
- 6.03 g/t Au over 1.49 metres in channel ABC-263
- 4.48 g/t Au over 1.80 metres in channel ABC-050-B
Notification has been received from the Brazilian Mining Department (“DNPM”) that the recently converted exploration licences at Água Branca have been transferred into the name of BrazMin’s 100%-owned Brazilian subsidiary. Two final property payments totaling US$230,000 remain on the Água Branca exploration licences, which are subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty with a buyout of US$2 million.
Tony Ransom, President and CEO of BrazMin, states “We are pleased to have begun drilling on this highly prospective gold project and look forward to keeping our shareholders apprised of results over the coming months”.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Qualified Person
The channel samples reported in this release were collected by BrazMin geologists, prepared for analysis at SGS-Lakefield-Geosol Laboratorio Ltda’s (“Lakefield”) sample-preparation laboratory in Itaituba, Brazil and 150 gram pulps were air-freighted by Lakefield to their main assay laboratory in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Lakefield is ISO14001 and ISO 9001:2000 accredited and is independent of BrazMin. Gold is determined by fire assay/atomic absorption with a detection limit of 5 ppb Au using 50 gram aliquots. Lead fire assays use silver as a co-collector to facilitate easier handling of prills as well as to minimize losses during the cupellation process. Lakefield inserts its own standards and blanks into each sample batch. The results from these control samples indicate acceptable consistency of analysis. BrazMin’s exploration programs are being managed by the Company’s President and CEO, Mr. Tony Ransom (Pr.Sci.Nat.), and, on-site, by BrazMin’s VP Exploration, Mr. Paulo Ilidio de Brito (Member: AusIMM), both of whom are qualified persons within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Ilidio de Brito, who is responsible for the technical information in this release, has verified the data disclosed in this release. Geological mapping and sampling at Agua Branca are being conducted under the supervision of Mr. Ilidio de Brito.
About BrazMin
BrazMin is a TSX-listed company focused on the acquisition, exploration and advancement of high quality gold projects, primarily in Brazil. BrazMin has a well-qualified exploration and management team with extensive experience and expertise in gold exploration and project management, both within Brazil and worldwide.
BrazMin has a treasury of approximately CDN$ 12.6M. The Company has 27,054,222 shares outstanding and 33,403,018 shares fully diluted. For additional information on BrazMin and its projects visit the Company’s website at www.brazmin.com or contact:
Fiona Childe, Ph.D., P.Geo.
VP Corporate Communications
Tau Capital Corp.
Tel: (416) 361-9636 x 227
Email: fchilde@taucapital.com
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements”. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s exploration plans with respect to the Água Branca Gold Project and exploration results) are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, changes in gold prices, changes in equity markets, political developments in Brazil, changes to the regulations affecting the Company’s activities, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required regulatory approvals, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, and the other risks involved in the gold exploration and development industry. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of buy . Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.