Jan. 5, 2011 (Filing Services Canada) -- Santa Barbara Resources Limited (SBL - TSX Venture), is pleased to report gold intersections from the first eleven drill holes of the current drill program at its epithermal high sulphidation gold Sancos Project in Peru.
Drill Program Update
Eighteen reverse circulation drill holes have been completed at Sancos in November and December 2010 for a total of 3,365 m, following up on anomalous trench sampling results. The holes were drilled north of the areas trenched in Sancos West and Sancos Central as well as northwest of the outcrops of Sancos East. Assay results have been received for eleven of the eighteen holes.
Most holes intercepted wide intervals of gold mineralization hosted in granular silica, massive silica, vuggy silica and hydrothermal breccias.
Of particular interest are intersections in SARC 011 of 154 metres (m) at an average grade of 0.45 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, including 12 m @ 0.77 g/t gold and 56 m @ 0.61 g/t gold. The gold mineralization starts at surface and the hole ends in gold mineralization. SARC 010 contains an intersection of 232 m at 0.20 g/t gold, including 38 m @ 0.36 g/t gold. The mineralization in SARC 010 starts at surface and the hole ends in mineralization. SARC 010 is located adjacent to and at a distance of approximately 210 m west of SARC 011. Both holes are located in Sancos Central.
Six of the eight holes with reported assay results drilled in Sancos West contain anomalous gold values over wide intercepts, including 118 m @ 0.18 g/t gold in SARC 001, 66 m @ 0.17 g/t gold in SARC 002, 22 m @ 0.46 g/t gold in SARC 003, 150 m @ 0.12 g/t gold in SARC 004, 88 m @ 0.18 g/t gold in SARC 005 and 78 m @ 0.14 g/t gold in SARC 006.
All mineralized intervals described for Sancos Central and Sancos West are contained within oxidized rocks.
A summary of all drill holes reported today is provided in the table below. Intersections of particular interest are highlighted in bold text. A map of the drill hole locations and images of the ongoing drill program as well as some selected drill chip boxes can be viewed on the Company's web site at www.sbr-ltd.com.
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Sancos RC Drilling Summary
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Drill Hole Mineralized From To Grade Oxide /
Hole Length interval (m) (m) (g/t) Sulphide
(m) (m)
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SARC 001 250 118 0 118 0.18 Oxide
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Including 14 0 14 0.35 Oxide
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SARC 002 260 66 124 190 0.17 Oxide
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Including 26 146 172 0.23 Oxide
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SARC 003 249 22 0 22 0.46 Oxide
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SARC 004 238 150 60 210 0.12 Oxide
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Including 34 80 114 0.16 Oxide
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Including 6 128 134 0.21 Oxide
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SARC 005 202 88 0 88 0.18 Oxide
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Including 22 0 22 0.27 Oxide
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Including 8 30 38 0.30 Oxide
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SARC 006 160 78 68 146 0.14 Oxide
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Including 8 98 106 0.29 Oxide
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SARC 007 222 8 88 96 0.16 Oxide
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And 4 112 116 0.20 Oxide
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SARC 008 110 - - No significant intercepts
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SARC 009 178 14 124 138 0.12 Oxide
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SARC 010 232 232 0 232 0.20 Oxide
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Including 38 42 80 0.36 Oxide
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SARC 011 154 154 0 154 0.45 Oxide
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Including 12 22 34 0.77 Oxide
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Including 56 64 120 0.61 Oxide
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Santa Barbara's President Christoph Lassl stated: "The holes drilled last year were designed to test several exploration targets at Sancos. Sancos Central has revealed a 154 m, potentially economic gold grade intercept in SARC 011. The adjacent 232 m gold mineralized interval in SARC 010 complements the SARC 011 discovery hole. Both holes start and end in mineralization and thus underscore that our exploration model of a thick gold mineralized alteration sequence at Sancos is correct. The mineralized envelope reaches over 200 m of vertical extent in places. Results from Sancos West suggest the presence of a significant sized target horizon with a series of highly anomalous gold drill intersections. It is evident that we have made substantial progress at Sancos over the last few months. Looking at the described discovery holes, we are confident that the Sancos project will develop into a significant advanced exploration project. Further drilling will be scheduled in the future. Considering all of these parameters, we are certainly excited about the potential to define a mineral resource on the Sancos property."
Sampling, Quality Control and Drill Intersection Grade Calculation
All of the Sancos drill chips were sampled in continuous two-metre intervals. Details of the sample procedure can be reviewed in Santa Barbara's press release dated December 20, 2010. The average grade of a drill interval is calculated by a weighted average of the contained sample results. Drill intervals containing greater than 0.1 g/t gold are included in the calculation. Selective higher grade portions of the respective interval are reported within wider general mineralization. Drill intercepts presented above are drill intersection width and may not represent true widths of mineralization. Gold assays have not been subject to a top cut.
All sample preparation and analytical procedures are conducted by ALS Chemex Laboratories in Lima, Peru. Samples are fire assayed with AAS finish on a 50 g assay charge. Additionally, all samples are analyzed by a 35 element aqua regia ICP-AES method plus trace mercury detection by cold vapour-AAS methods.
ALS Chemex's quality control system complies with International Standards ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 17025. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. As part of Santa Barbara's Quality Control and Quality Assurance program, certified reference materials, field duplicates and blank samples are inserted continuously into the sample stream.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed by Stewart Wallis, P. Geo, a Qualified Person and consultant to the Company.
Sancos Project Summary
The Sancos Project hosts a large high sulphidation epithermal gold system where surface mineralization with a footprint of approximately 650 m x 160 m at Sancos West and 750 m x 200 m at Sancos Central. Individual trenches have returned mineralization up to 59.8 m vertical extent @ 0.65 g/t gold and 60.0 m horizontally @ 0.69 g/t gold in Sancos West and up to 23.2 m vertical extent @ 0.89 g/t gold and 133.6 m @ 1.00 g/t gold horizontally, including 17.0 m @ 4.87 g/t gold at Sancos Central.
The mineralization is hosted in massive silica, granular silica, vuggy silica and hydrothermal beccias, extending vertically over 70 m to 200 m in outcrops and drill intersections. The host rock is a slightly northward dipping sequence of andesitic breccias, tuffs and domes with large phreatomagmatic breccias and hydrothermal breccias.
Results from preliminary metallurgical tests reported in the Technical Report dated February, 2010 indicate that the gold should be easily leached from oxidized rock, even at low grades. All six samples tested, ranging from 0.18 g/t gold to 8.65 g/t gold, showed gold recoveries in excess of 84% in standard bottle roll tests on material crushed to <2 mm.
Santa Barbara, subject to certain option requirements, has the right to acquire a 100 % interest in the 6,200 hectare Sancos Project from Barrick Gold Corporation's Peruvian subsidiary.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Christoph Lassl"
_______________________________
Christoph Lassl, President and
Chief Executive Officer
Please visit the Company's web site: www.sbr-ltd.com.
For further information, please contact Christoph Lassl, President and Chief Executive Officer. Telephone: 593-2-2904164, Fax: 593-2-2556204 or email: christoph@sbr-ltd.com
Address: Edificio In-Luxor - Oficina 102, Camilo Destruge N24-633 y Francisco Salazar, P.O. Box 17-07-9719, Quito, Ecuador
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.
This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Santa Barbara Resources Limited believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
SANTA BARBARA RESOURCES LIMITED
Unit 1, 15782 Marine Drive
White Rock, British Columbia V4B 1E6
Web page: www.sbr-ltd.com
Source: Santa Barbara Resources Limited (TSX V SBL)
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