Talon Metals Reports First Results from 2007 Drilling Program at Água Branca Project
Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands (Jan 8, 2008) – Talon Metals Corp. (“Talon” or the “Company”) (TSX: TLO) today announces the results of nine drill holes from the ongoing diamond drilling program on the Company’s 100%-owned Água Branca Project (“Água Branca” or the “Project”), located in the Tapajós Gold District, Pará State, Brazil.
The Company has drilled 1,260.96 metres to date in eleven diamond drill holes on this program at Água Branca. This news release includes assay results from eight drill holes at the Serra da Abelha target and one drill hole at the Jerimun target. Assay results are pending from the two holes drilled at the Heaven West zone.
Highlights of the results include:
- 1.31 g/t Au over 7.45 metres and 1.24 g/t over 7.14 metres in ABD-022-07 (Jerimun)
- 9.54 g/t Au over 0.98 meter in ABD-020-07 (Serra da Abelha)
- 3.05 g/t Au over 1.00 metre in ABD-014-07 (Serra da Abelha)
- 3.72 g/t Au over 1.00 metre in ABD-018-07 (Serra da Abelha)
- 1.50 g/t Au over 2.24 metres in ABD-015-07 (Serra da Abelha)
Drilling at Serra da Abelha intersected a very coarse-grained, syenogranitic intrusive body, which has intense hydrothermal alteration. The principal alteration assemblage includes silica, K-feldspar, chlorite, minor sericite and carbonate. The drilling has indicated that the mineralizing systems at Serra da Abelha are not enriched with sulphides and have low grade gold mineralization. No further work is planned at Serra da Abelha. Future work at Água Branca will be focused on the Heaven West zone and the Sierra Delta target which are now considered to be more prospective.
A single pilot drill hole (ABD-022-07) at Jerimun successfully intersected two mineralized shear zones in the saprolitic zone. Oxidised sulphides (between 1.0 up to 4.0% of the rock content) are disseminated in the sericitic alteration zones associated with these shear zones. Further drilling is being contemplated on this target.
Following a seasonal break, the drilling program will re-commence in January 2008, to complete the ongoing Heaven West exploration program and subsequently to test the Sierra Delta target.
The Heaven West zone is characterized by a series of north and north north-east trending quartz veins which have recorded high grade gold values (including 132.2, 109.9, 107.0 and 66.0 g/t Au in grab samples as reported in the Company’s September 5, 2007 news release) that occur within a strong hydrothermal system superimposed over a monzo-granitic stock.
Sierra Delta is defined by a significant north-south trending gold in soil anomaly. At the +100 ppb threshold level, the anomaly measures 650 metres long by between 250 and 500 metres wide.
Table 1. Água Branca 2007 Drill Program Assay SummaryABD-014-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -60°, azimuth: 360°, length: 120.60 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 68.19 | 69.19 | 1.00 | 3.05 |
| 79.23 | 81.23 | 2.00 | 1.27 |
| 81.23 | 92.10 | 10.87 | 0.26 |
ABD-015-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 130°, length: 115.00 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 58.00 | 59.15 | 1.15 | 1.40 |
| 88.76 | 91.00 | 2.24 | 1.50 |
ABD-016-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 180°, length: 115.10 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 97.72 | 104.35 | 6.63 | 0.24 |
ABD-017-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 180°, length: 113.20 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 17.46 | 23.22 | 5.76 | 0.43 |
| 26.73 | 32.60 | 5.87 | 0.55 |
ABD-018-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 180°, length: 118.10 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 37.79 | 43.34 | 5.55 | 0.21 |
| 43.34 | 44.34 | 1.00 | 3.73 |
| 79.66 | 80.58 | 0.92 | 1.84 |
| 80.58 | 84.76 | 4.18 | 0.22 |
| 105.91 | 107.04 | 1.13 | 1.07 |
| 113.83 | 114.97 | 1.14 | 1.04 |
ABD-019-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 180°, length: 112.10 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 58.29 | 58.76 | 0.47 | 0.73 |
ABD-020-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 150°, length: 118.10 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 109.90 | 110.88 | 0.98 | 9.54 |
ABD-021-07 – Serra da Abelha Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 150°, length: 113.45 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 61.44 | 63.75 | 2.31 | 0.50 |
| 94.35 | 95.15 | 0.80 | 0.72 |
ABD-022-07 – Jerimun Target (inclination: -50°, azimuth: 140°, length: 115.10 metres)
| From (metres) | To (metres) | Width* (metres) | Au ** (g/t) |
| 23.76 | 30.90 | 7.14 | 1.24 |
| including | 1.00 | 5.14 | |
| 35.50 | 42.95 | 7.45 | 1.31 |
| including | 0.93 | 4.33 |
* widths are drill intersected and do not represent true widths
** Au grades are uncut
Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Qualified Person
The drill holes reported in this release were collared using HQ (63.5mm)-sized core in the oxidized saprolite zone and NQ (47.6mm)-sized core in the fresh (sulphide) bedrock. The core is logged and photographed by Talon staff and then split using a diamond saw. Half the core is stored on-site in a secure core shed and the other half is sampled, bagged, secured, and stored on-site until several holes are ready for transporting by road to SGS-Geosol Laboratorio Ltda’s (“SGS”) sample-preparation laboratory in Itaituba, Brazil. The entire half-core is crushed and two kilograms is pulverized and homogenized. 150 gram pulps are then air-freighted by SGS to their main assay laboratory in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. SGS is ISO14001 and ISO 9001:2000 accredited and is independent of Talon.
Gold is determined by fire assay/atomic absorption with a detection limit of 5ppb 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. Selected samples will later be analyzed for other elements such as silver, copper, lead, zinc, etc. by ICP spectrometry/multi-acid digestion. The laboratory is instructed to automatically reanalyze abnormally high gold values. Quality assurance/quality control procedures include the submission by Talon of systematic duplicates, blanks and standard samples within the sample batches submitted to SGS. In addition, SGS inserts its own standards into each sample batch. The results from these control samples indicate acceptable consistency of analysis. Selected representative pulverized sample duplicates are submitted for referee analyses to ALS Chemex’s laboratory in Vancouver, an ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025 accredited laboratory which is independent of Talon.
Talon’s exploration programs are being managed by Talon’s VP Exploration, Mr. Paulo Ilidio de Brito (Member: AusIMM), who is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Ilidio de Brito, who is responsible for the technical material in this release, has verified the data disclosed in this release, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information. Geological logging, sampling and core handling procedures were carried out under the supervision of Mr. Ilidio.
About Talon
Talon is a TSX-listed company focused on the acquisition, exploration and advancement of high quality mineral resource projects. The Company has a well-qualified exploration and management team with extensive experience in exploration and project management.
Talon has a treasury of approximately CDN$14.6 million. For additional information on Talon please visit the Talon’s website at www.talonmetals.com or contact:
Erica Belling
VP Investor Relations
Tau Capital Corp.
Tel: (416) 361-9636 x 243
Email: ebelling@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 and objectives with respect to Água Branca, exploration results and potential mineralization) 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, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Company’s expectations, political developments in Brazil, changes to regulations affecting the Company’s activities, delays in obtaining or failures 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.
Talon Metals Reports First Results from 2007 Drilling Program at Água Branca Project