VANCOUVER, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Freegold Ventures
Limited - ITF: TSX ("Freegold") and Western Standard Metals Ltd. -
WSM: TSX.V ("Western Standard") are pleased to announce that they
have signed an Option Agreement whereby Western Standard may earn a
50% interest in the Golden Summit Project ("Project"), which is
located in east central Alaska. The Project is host to a number of
gold occurrences that are similar in age and style to several
nearby multi-million ounce intrusion related gold deposits
including Fort Knox, True North and Ryan Lode. The Golden Summit
Project is located in the Tintina Gold Belt, Fairbanks Mining
District where over 9.5 million ounces of placer gold have been
recovered since the area was discovered in 1902. Streams draining
the Project account for over 6.75 million ounces of this gold and
over 0.5 million ounces of lode gold have been recovered from
underground mines, mostly before 1942. There are more than 80
occurrences that have been identified on the Project. The Project
is located 32 kilometres north of Fairbanks, Alaska and is
comprised of 14 patented Federal lode claims, 76 unpatented Federal
load claims and 83 State of Alaska mining claims covering
approximately 2,194 hectares. The Project is underlain by rocks of
the Yukon-Tanana Terrane consisting of Paleozoic metavolcanic and
metasedimentary rocks of the Cleary Sequence and Fairbanks Schist,
which are in thrust contact and interleaved with eclogite and
amphibolite facies rocks of the Chatanika Terrane. Bedrock geology
is dominated by east-northeast trending lithological and structural
features. The above rocks are cut by mid-Cretaceous intrusive rocks
that range in composition from diorite to granite. These intrusive
rocks are thought to be spatially and genetically related to
mineralization on the Project. Gold mineralization occurs in a
number of different geological settings including: discrete quartz
veins and stockworks within shear zones, replacement zones and
skarn within calcareous rocks, and as disseminations within
intrusive rocks. Geochemically the gold mineralization is commonly
associated with a distinct suite of one or more of the following
elements: bismuth, tellurium, tungsten, arsenic, antimony, copper,
mercury, silver, lead and zinc. Freegold acquired an interest in
the Golden Summit Project in 1991 and since then has conducted
numerous exploration programs consisting of mapping, soil sampling
(7,729 samples), trenching (5,500m), lithogeochemistry, geophysics,
and reverse circulation and diamond drilling (26,900m). This work
has identified a number of significant gold occurrences and/or
found extensions to mineralization adjacent to historic mines,
however a number of targets remain untested or have been tested by
limited exploration. Exploration targets with significant potential
include from west to east: Tolovana-Dolphin deposit, Newsboy Mine,
Cleary Hill Mine, American Eagle Vein Swarm and Hi Yu Mine.
Selected drill intersections from some of these deposits are
presented in Table 1. Table 1: Selected drill intersections from
the Golden Summit Project, Alaska.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drill Hole Area From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Gold (g/t)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLD0404 Tolovana-Dolphin 93.27 182.88 89.61 1.07
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLD9801 Tolovana-Dolphin 31.39 285.90 254.51 0.73
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLR9504 Tolovana-Dolphin 39.62 144.78 105.16 1.64
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLR9505 Tolovana-Dolphin 3.05 77.72 74.67 0.72
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLR9506 Tolovana-Dolphin 1.52 92.62 91.10 1.90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLR9507 Tolovana-Dolphin 18.29 73.15 54.86 1.22
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLR9610 Tolovana-Dolphin 59.44 146.00 86.56 1.02
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLR9626 Tolovana-Dolphin 80.77 126.49 45.72 4.33
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHD9704 Cleary Hill 111.25 166.42 55.17 1.95
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHD9801 Cleary Hill 89.61 244.45 153.01 0.72
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHD0301 Cleary Hill 12.50 137.01 124.51 1.02
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSDC0801 Cleary Hill 78.94 102.11 23.17 1.19
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSDC0804 Cleary Hill 2.13 20.73 18.60 1.62
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
90.53 96.62 6.09 1.85
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSDC0816 Cleary Hill 4.72 33.83 29.11 1.32
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Access to the Project area is by the paved Steese Highway and
privately maintained gravel roads allow easy access to most of the
property on a year round basis. Infrastructure includes high
voltage electrical power lines, land telephone lines and a cellular
phone service. The greater Fairbanks area supports a population of
approximately 75,000 people from which the Project can obtain
skilled labour and services. Fairbanks has an International Airport
with daily service to the lower 48-states and rail connects
Fairbanks to Anchorage, a port city. Mining operations such as
Kinross Gold's Fort Knox milling and valley leach operation can be
conducted on a year-round basis. Western Standard has the option to
earn a 50% interest in the Project by paying Freegold CAD$300,000
on execution and by incurring exploration expenses of US$5,750,000
over four years according to the schedule shown in Table 2. Western
Standard will be the operator of the Project until such time as the
option is fulfilled and a joint venture is formed. Table 2:
Exploration Expenses ---------------------------------------------
Anniversary Date Exploration Expenditures
--------------------------------------------- December 31, 2010
US$750,000 --------------------------------------------- December
31, 2011 US$1,000,000 ---------------------------------------------
December 31, 2012 US$1,500,000
--------------------------------------------- December 31, 2013
US$2,500,000 --------------------------------------------- TOTAL
US$5,750,000 --------------------------------------------- Western
Standard plans an exploration program consisting of data
compilation, verification and target generation to identify areas
for drilling in 2010. Initial drilling will be focused on extending
the near surface intrusion hosted gold mineralization intersected
in historic drill holes at the Tolovana-Dolphin deposit. The
Company is targeting large, bulk mineable zones in their
exploration program. Information in this News Release was extracted
from Technical Reports written by a Qualified Person and a drill
hole database supplied to the Company by Freegold. Walter Melnyk,
P.Eng., President of Western Standard Metals Ltd., is a Qualified
Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed
the technical disclosure contained in this News Release. Curtis J.
Freeman, M.Sc. Geological Consultant to Freegold Ventures Limited
is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and
has reviewed the technical disclosure contained in this News
Release. FREEGOLD VENTURES LIMITED WESTERN STANDARD METALS LTD.
"Kristina Walcott" "Walter Melnyk" Kristina Walcott Walter Melnyk
President and CEO President About Freegold Ventures Limited
Freegold is a TSX listed company focused on the exploration of gold
projects in Alaska. In addition to the Golden Summit Project, the
company holds a 100% in lease interest in the Rob gold project,
near the Pogo Gold Mine in the Goodpaster Mining District of Alaska
and has an exploration agreement with option to lease the Vinasale
Gold project in central Alaska. About Western Standard Metals Ltd.
Western Standard Metals Ltd. is a newly re-organized Canadian based
company with a focus on acquisition, exploration and development of
gold properties in North America. The Company recently acquired a
100% interest in the Almaden Gold Project in Idaho, United States,
which hosts a NI43-101 compliant measured and indicated resource of
864,000 ounces ((measured 239,000 ounces of gold (9,810,000 tonnes
grading 0.754 grams per tonne), indicated 625,000 ounces of gold
(29,250,000 tonnes grading 0.651 grams per tonne)) and an inferred
resource of 84,000 ounces (4,780,000 tonnes grading 0.549 grams per
tonne). DISCLAIMER - This press release contains "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws
including, without limitation, statements and information regarding
the Company's exploration operations and financing needs. Such
forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or
beliefs of the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a
number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that may cause the
actual results of the Company to differ materially from those
discussed herein, including the possibility that future exploration
results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, the
uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration results, other
inherent risks in the mineral exploration and development industry
and the possibility that the loan facilities will not be completed
or completed on terms not currently contemplated by the Company.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking information because it is possible that
expectations, predictions, forecasts, projections and other form of
forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company. A
change in any one of these factors could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking information. Although the Company believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and
information are reasonable, the Company can give no assurance that
such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking
statements and information are based on current expectations,
estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those anticipated by the Company and described in the
forward-looking statements or information. The forward-looking
statements and information are based on a number of assumptions
which may prove to be incorrect. In addition to other assumptions
identified herein, the Company has made assumptions regarding,
among other things, the ability to conduct exploration activities
in a timely manner and in accordance with the Company's drilling
program, the availability and costs of financing, the degree of
risk that credit approvals may be delayed or withheld, and other
risks and uncertainties described elsewhere in this document or in
the Company's other filings with Canadian securities authorities.
Such forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on
which it is made and, unless required by applicable securities
laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or results or otherwise. CUSIP:
45953B107 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 NEWS RELEASE. CONTACT: Kristina Walcott, President
and CEO, Freegold Ventures Limited, 507 - 1540 West 2nd Avenue,
Vancouver, BC, V6J 1H2, Tel: (604) 662-7307, Fax: (604) 662-3791,
http://www.freegoldventures.com/; Walter Melnyk, President, Western
Standard Metals, Box 10351, 888-700 West Georgia Street, Vancouver,
BC, V7Y 1G5, Tel: (604) 718-5454, Fax: (604) 646-2054, ,
http://www.westernstandardmetals.com/ DATASOURCE: Freegold Ventures
Limited CONTACT: Kristina Walcott, President and CEO, Freegold
Ventures Limited, 507 - 1540 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6J
1H2, Tel: (604) 662-7307, Fax: (604) 662-3791,
http://www.freegoldventures.com/; Walter Melnyk, President, Western
Standard Metals, Box 10351, 888-700 West Georgia Street, Vancouver,
BC, V7Y 1G5, Tel: (604) 718-5454, Fax: (604) 646-2054, ,
http://www.westernstandardmetals.com/
Copyright