APRIL 4, 2006 - 10:28 ET
MDN: First Drilling Programme in Eritrea
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--
(CCNMatthews - April 4, 2006) -
MDN NORTHERN MINING (MINIERES DU NORD) (TSX:MDN) is pleased
to announce the start of a drilling campaign at the Harab Suit exploration
licence in northwest Eritrea. The 260 km2 area is underlain by
metavolcanic and metasediments and dioritic intrusives, and is
traversed by major shear zones. One of these shear zones hosts the
abandoned Tamanti gold mine, which was operated during the Italian
colonial era in Eritrea during the late 1930s.
Two prime targets have been identified from extensive surface sampling
programs conducted over the last two years, the Tamanti mine area itself
and "Area 2", approximately 4 km to the south west of the mine. Access
to these sites required the rehabilitation of some 40 km of old roads with
the use of heavy earthmoving equipment.
It is planned to drill test Area 2 with at least fifteen reverse circulation
inclined drill holes arranged in "fences" across the strike of the shear
zone at hole depths of between 60 and 120 m. It is then planned to move
the drill to the site of the old Tamanti mine, where more than twelve sites
have been located to test the extent of the mineralization identified from
surface sampling.
The Australian drilling contractor General Exploration Drilling has been
retained to carry out the programs. The samples will be crushed and
prepared in Eritrea by a local laboratory and despatched to Genalysis
Laboratories in Perth, Australia for assay. The drilling program at Area 2
has been designed by Martin Taylor, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person in terms of NI 43-101.
MDN NORTHERN MINING
is a Montreal-based Canadian exploration company that holds a 30%
interest in the Tulawaka gold project (Tanzania), which went into
commercial production in March of 2005, a majority interest in 25
adjacent mineral licenses in Tanzania, a majority interest in three
licenses in Eritrea, and other gold and base metal exploration interests
in Quebec, Canada.