El Niño Provides Notice to Votorantim to Enter Into an Option on the Murray Brook Deposit, Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick
TSX.V: ELN FRANKFURT: E7Q
El Niño Provides Notice to Votorantim to Enter Into an Option on the Murray Brook Deposit, Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick
January 20, 2011, Vancouver, Canada. – El Niño Ventures Inc. (“ELN” and the “Company”) (TSX.V: ELN; Frankfurt: E7Q) is pleased to announce that it has provided notice to Votorantim Metals Canada Inc. (Votorantim) to enter into an Option Agreement on the Murray Brook Deposit, situated in the Bathurst Mining Camp in New Brunswick, Canada.
On November 1st, 2010 Votorantim
Figure 1 entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement with Murray Brook Minerals Inc. (MBM) and Murray Brook Resources Incorporated (MBR) concerning the Murray Brook Mining Lease No. 252 and the Camel Back Claims Block No. 4925 (the Properties). The properties are situated between the Caribou and Restigouche mine sites about 60 km west‐southwest of Bathurst, New Brunswick (Figure 1).
Under Votoratimʹs Option and Joint Venture Agreement with MBM and MBR, Votorantim can earn a 50% interst in the Properties, by funding $2,250,000 in exploration expenditures and making payments totalling $300,000 over a three year priod commencing November 1, 2011. Votorantim can earn an additional 20% interest in the Properties by funding an additional $2,250,000 in exploration expenditures over an additional two year period.
Under the provisions set forth in the existing tri‐party Joint Venture agreement between Xstrata Canada Corporation – Xstrata Zinc Canada Division (Xstrata Zinc), ELN and Votorantim, signed on May 4 2010, (see May 4, 2010 press release), whereby Votorantim is earning a 50% interest and has the option to earn an additional 20% interest in the Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC) project. ELN is granted, together with Xstrata Zinc, the option to acquire up to 50% of Votorantim’s acquisitions within the area of interest by funding 50% of the earn in commitment.
After reviewing drill results provided by Votorantim as part of a due diligence exercise, El Nino Ventures has provided notice to both parties to enter into an Option Agreement on the Murray Brook Deposit. The Company is planing to release these drill results over the next 30 days. ELN believes that the addition of the Properties to the current portfolio of projects under option and joint venture in the
ELN News Release Page 1 of 3 January 20, 2011
Bathurst Mining Camp will increase the potential to add shareholder value. Votorantim continues to explore the region and therefore, the Company has advised Votorantim that it has elected to exercise its right to acquire 50% of Votorantim’s interest in the Properties.
Votorantim is currently earning a 50% interest in the Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC) tri‐party Joint Venture project by incurring exploration expenditures of $10 million over a period of five years. Votorantim can increase its interest to 70% by spending another $10 million over an additional two years thereafter ELN and Xstrata Zinc interests would be reduced to 15% from 25% respectively.
About the Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC) Project
The BMC project is comprised of 1805
Figure 2 claims owned 50% ELN, 50% Xstrata Zinc, 2907 claims owned 100% by Xstrata Zinc, together with an Area of Interest in which ELN and Xstrata Zinc hold equal interest. Earlier drilling campaigns delineated several historical deposits of lead, zinc and copper mineralization within the 1805 claims in which ELN currently holds 50% interest (see June 4, 2008 press release).
Figure 2. Geology Map with outline of the Murray Brook and Camel Back Projects.
About the Murray Brook and Camel Back Properties
The 505 hectare Murray Brook
mining lease (ML252) contains the Murray Brook deposit, discovered in 1956 and mined by Novagold Resources from 1989 to 1992. Total production was 1,384 kg of gold and 9,829 kg of silver from 2.7 Mt of oxide ore (Gossan). A resource was defined below the open pit (Gossan) prior to the implementation of NI 43‐101 standards of disclosure and historically reported by NovaGold in 1988 to be 20.2 Mt grading 1.4% Zn, 0.3% Cu, 0.6% Pb, 25 g/t Ag and 0.3 g/t Au. A copper rich zone within this deposit contains an estimated 2.087 Mt grading 2.0% Cu, 1.1% Zn, 0.4% Pb, 46 g/t Ag and 0.3 g/t Au. Under the provisions of NI 43‐101, insufficient work has been carried out to classify any of the historic occurrences as current mineral resources and the historical estimates should not be relied upon.
ELN News Release Page 2 of 3 January 20, 2011
The Camel Back claim block consists of 215 claims covering 4100 hectares situated between the Murray Brook mining lease and the Caribou mining lease (ML246). The Caribou, Murray Brook and Restigouche deposits are all hosted within the California Lake Group: the Caribou deposit within volcano‐sedimentary rocks of the Spruce Lake Formation while the Murray Brook and Restigouche deposits within sedimentary rocks of the Mount Britain Formation. According to geological and geophysical data, the presence of favourable stratigraphic sequence and some untested EM anomalies shows that the Camel Back block still merits further exploration for discovering new deposits.
About Votorantim Metals Canada Inc.
Votorantim Metals Canada Inc. is a subsidiary of Votorantim Metals, a company that is part of the Votorantim Group, which was founded in Brazil in 1918 and now operates in twenty countries and has over sixty‐five thousand employees. Votorantim Metals is the largest electrolytic nickel producer in Latin America and one of the world’s leaders in production of zinc, aluminium and steel.
About El Niño Ventures Inc.
El Niño Ventures Inc. is an exploration company, focused on exploring for Copper/Cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (ʺDRCʺ). In addition the Company had entered into an Option agreement with Votorantim and Xstrata Zinc whereby Votorantim, by incurring exploration expenditures of $10 million over a period of 5 years. Votorantim may further elect to increase its interest to 70% by spending another $10 million over an additional two years. The Votorantim option is on an extensive land package in the Bathurst Mining Camp that ELN currently shares 50/50 with Xstrata Zinc Canada.
In the DRC, the Kasala Copper Project gives the Company a bona fide development project going forward. Exploration results on this project are very consistent and demonstrate the potential for a world class project over time.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
Harry Barr, Chairman & Acting CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Note: this release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results and are based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses words such as “continue”, “efforts”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “confident”, “intend”, “strategy”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “project”, “goal”, “target”, “prospects”, “optimistic” or similar expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others, the Company’s ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make available adequate current public information, additional or different regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’ expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
ELN News Release Page 3 of 3 January 20, 2011